There are many different kinds of joints in woodworking. Mortise and tenon is used frequently for joining two pieces together. Experts advise making the tenon first and then you can make the mortise to fit it.

When making joints it is imperative that they are a good fit. If not, the table, stool or whatever you’ve made will be loose and wobbly. To get that perfect fit, your measurements need to be perfect, so take great care with them. You can cut them out by hand if you are careful, or use a machine. Even so, you will still need to be careful. Machines are only as good as the person that is using them. If you’ve never done one before, practice on a scrap until you feel confident.

While the fit needs to be perfect, that doesn’t mean that it should be a tight fit. If it’s too tight, any glue will be forced out; if it’s too loose the glue will be too thick and weaken the join. You might think the more glue, the stronger the bond but this is not so.

The surfaces should be straight too. It’s no use having one board bowed and relying on a clamp to straighten it. Both surfaces need to be perfectly straight so that they touch each other along their length and the glue will not have an unreasonable amount of stress on it.

The surfaces should be totally free of dust, grime or anything that will interfere with the glue or prevent the surfaces from joining together. Only spread a thin layer of glue. Use a small brush and cut the bristles even shorter. Your layer of glue should be thinner than a dollar bill. Most glue can wait for about 10 minutes before the job needs to be finished, so you have only a small amount of time to assemble everything. Make sure you have everything ready before you paint the glue on.

Once the joint is glued and assembled, clamp it together to keep it in a fixed position. Small beads of glue will squeeze out the sides and this is normal. Don’t wipe them off, because that will smear glue along the wood and ruin your staining or painting, since it will prevent either one from penetrating the wood. Wait until the glue is quite dry, and then chip off the beads with a chisel or scraper.

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