Tenons too thin to saw?

[Andy Kev.]

I'm currently making a simple shaker-style side table in order to use up some offcuts and I'm treating it as a practice piece. The side rails weren't much more than 1/2" thick which led me to cut 1/4" tenons. That meant that the waste was definitely under 3/16" thick. Once you've allowed for the kerf, this seems to me to be a very thin piece of waste indeed.

As it was it went well and the tenons, after a bit of cleaning up with a router plane, were a nice, snug fit.

However, it got me thinking: does there come a point where the waste is thin to the point of using a saw not being a good idea? Would one perhaps go for a paring chisel or use nothing more than the router plane?

I ask the question in the expectation that the more experienced hands might have a sensible rule of thumb and perhaps some tips in this area.

 

[Droogs]

For me, If I have to remove less than 6mm my go to tool is a router plane. I would saw the shoulders as normal and then remove the cheek waste using a nice sharp bit of appropriate width for the size of the tenon. Pivot the router in an arc working from the shoulder out to the end and take 1mm deep sweeps working up to depth

hth

 

[MikeG.]

I would use a saw first even if the waste were only 2 kerfs wide, then clean up with a chisel.

 

[Droogs]

I would use a saw first even if the waste were only 2 kerfs wide, then clean up with a chisel.

brave man

 

[Mike Jordan]

Why not solve the problem by using a bare faced tenon, the work will be reduced by half.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

assuming the piece it's going into is thicker...

 

[Sideways]

I'm slow when working precisely with a chisel. Assuming the cheeks are large enough to warrant, I'd cheat and fix the router under a board to remove most of the waste while keeping a flat surface at precise depth. Fine saw and small shoulder plane to get the shoulders right.

Probably similar to droogs method but using a powered router as I don't have a router plane

 

[Tasky]

However, it got me thinking: does there come a point where the waste is thin to the point of using a saw not being a good idea?

Depends how good you are with a saw, really...

3/16ths is about 4mm and I'm fairly sure even I could manage that.... I'd bet as much as a McDonalds breakfast on it, certainly. Conversely, I've seen certain YouTube peeps hand-sawing a load of splines for mitred picture frames, that were about 2mm thick, or less. So it can be done... and these were instructional videos, so the implication is that a relative newbie should be able to cope with it.

Myself, though, I'd likely saw the shoulders and chisel the cheeks a bit, finishing off with the router plane, like others have already said.

 

[John15]

Bandsaw?

John

 

[AndyT]

I did mine, on a similar table, by sawing the shoulders, splitting away the waste, then planing to fit, using a shoulder plane.

post1196748.html#p1196748

 

[Andy Kev.]

Thanks for the replies, chaps.

With respect to AndyT's splitting job: I did that on something else (forgotten what) a couple of weeks before and although the cheeks split well, it seemed to me that, after final paring from the marked line, they ended up a mite too thin and I was glad that the PVA would snug them up. That's why I went for the saw with the this project and I did my usual trick of putting my thumb nail in the marked line and the result, after tidying with the router plane, was nicely snug tenons.

That experience led me to think that splitting, while brilliant because it is so quick, might need to be done so that you know the tenons will have to be routered/pared down to the final thickness simply in order to get the optimal fit.

 

[Dovetaildave]

[quote I ask the question in the expectation that the more experienced hands might have a sensible rule of thumb and perhaps some tips in this area.[/quote]

No one has said it so far so I think I should mention; Generally M&T's are 1/3, dependant on the nearest chisel size you have for the mortise.

Regards
Dave

 

[Mike Jordan]

The one third rule is more applicable to instances where the two components are the same thickness. This appears to refer to apron rails being mortised into legs.

 

[Dovetaildave]

And your suggestion of bare faced tenon is exactly what I would do in that instance.