Thread: EWW - Textured Holdfasts

Yes, it was Paul Sellers splitting tenons. A good little video that made me think about woodgrain and fibres. Do (Western) Australian timbers lend themselves to splitting?

Originally Posted by homesy135

Yes, it was Paul Sellers splitting tenons. A good little video that made me think about woodgrain and fibres. Do (Western) Australian timbers lend themselves to splitting?

That sheoak 'tree' I (progressively) picked up did.

No seriously, I don't know - I have a feeling Derek has mentioned something on this in the past.

Cheers,
Paul

Splitting the waste off tenon cheeks was something the old chippies of my father's generation did all the time when framing with semi-wet hardwood. Most eucalypts split very easily & cleanly if they are straight-grained - you just saw the cheeks, take a wide chisel, & smack off the waste as clean as a whistle. I often use the technique when building anything with hard woods - saves a lot of sawing & a lot of time. If the grain is running into the tenon, apply the chisel well clear of the line, so that you won't run into the 'wanted' parts, & pare cross-grain to level it (dead easy if the wood is not quite 'dry'). You are usually not looking for an absolute precision fit on such M&Ts (like on your "outdoor" bench ), especially if you intend pinning them. However, if done with reasonable care, & especially if trimmed afterwards, there is no reason you can't get chiselled tenons just as precise as sawn ones, though I wouldn't advise doing it this way with really cranky-grained woods...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

You are usually not looking for an absolute precision fit on such M&Ts (like on your "outdoor" bench )

Hey!
Just cos precision won't be achieved, doesn't mean there isn't a dictionary somewhere in this house that very probably might have that word in it somewhere.
So there.

Paul