Thread: How to tighten sloppy Mortise & Tennon

Dave
You need not continue to make sloppy mortice and tenon joints. Just use my morticing and tenoning jigs. See the Jigs forum.


Secondly, you are asking for trouble if you use PVA glue on a garden bench. It is not water-resistant. You need to use a water resistant glue, such as a resorcinol, urea formaldehyde, or polyurethane glue (see http://www.avsyntec.com.au ).

Rocker

Dave,

Make them slightly oversize and then trim them with a chisel or a shoulder plane.

- Wood Borer

120 M&T joints for a garden bench? WOW!

If the joint is just a little sloppy, extra glue I guess You could also try scraps of veneer on the cheeks of the tenon, or even glueing on slices of timber or thin ply and re-cutting the tenon. Assuming the joints in question aren't going to be under major stress of course - in which case you're better off to re-cut the pieces from scratch.

i would use a wedge to tighten the joint. just one sawcut through the tennon, then glue the wedge and hammer it in, and trim it off once the glue dries. these can even be made from a contrasting colour timber and made into a feature. if the tennons don't go through, a blind wedge can be used.
the tennons can also be pinned with a dowel, again with a different coloured wooden dowel.
i would suggest maybe a boatbuilding glue for any outdoor projects. there always seems to be more new types of glue for boatbuilding that furniture making. just pick up a copy of Australian Amateur Boatbuilder magazine and check-out the ad's.

good luck.

If its exterior, don't use AV260..... AV Syntec have far better options as Rocker pointed out

Thank you all for your replies.
I feel much more confident. On the plus side produced another 5 or 6 joints on the weekend and they continue to improve.

I will re-investigate the glue situation thanks.