Floating Tenons

With 60 mortises awaiting, I'm now in the process of making 30 floating tenons. The black walnut off-cuts I've selected will work fine.

After machine-planing the tenon stock to near-final thickness, I begin to quickly shape the rounded edges to fit the oval shape of the mortise using a block plane held in the bench vise.

Filing a small bevel on the ends of the tenons makes it easier to insert and fit into the mortise.

The small adjustments needed for the final fit are done on sandpaper adhered to a wood block.

With all the tenons dry-fitted, It's a pleasure, as always, to see the piece come together. I have yet to cut the long center stretcher to length. That will be done after I complete the shaping of the curved end stretchers.

There is a lot of shaping to do on not only the end stretchers, but also the four legs. The shaping will reduce their mass and provide a much lighter appearance in the finished piece. Now, it's on with the shaping.

Hej då!

Craig