Mortise_and_tenon

A mortise is a cavity cut into a timber to receive a tenon. There are several kinds of mortises:

There are several kinds of tenons:

• Stub tenon - a short tenon; depth depends on the size of the timber; also a tenon that is shorter than the width of the mortised piece so the tenon does not show (as opposed to a "through tenon").
• Tusk tenon - a kind of mortise and tenon joint that uses a wedge-shaped key to hold the joint together
• Through tenon - a tenon which passes entirely through the piece of wood it is inserted into, being clearly visible on the back side
• Teasel tenon - a term used for the tenon on top of a jowled or gunstock post, which is typically received by the mortise in the underside of a tie beam. A common element of the English tying joint
• Top tenon - the tenon which occurs on top of a post.
• Feather Tenon - a round shouldered machined fillet or feather which is glued into a machine (router) made slot or mortise on each side of the joint.

Generally the size of the mortise and tenon is related to the thickness of the timbers. It is considered good practice to proportion the tenon as 1/3rd the thickness of the rail, or as close to this as is practical. The haunch, the cut away part of a sash corner joint that prevents the tenon coming loose, is one third the length of the tenon and one sixth of the width of the tenon in its depth.

In anatomy, a mortise is an anatomic part of the distal tibia joining the talus bone to form an ankle joint.

Gallery

History

This is an ancient joint, and has been found in archeological sites in the Middle East, Europe and Asia In traditional Chinese architecture, wood components such as beams, brackets, roof frames and struts were made to interlock with perfect fit, without using fasteners or glues, enabling the wood to expand and contract according to humidity.Steinhardt, Nancy W. (2002). Chinese Architecture, English Ed., Yale University Press, p. 1. ISBN 0-300-09559-7.  Archaeological evidence from Chinese sites show that by the end of the Neolithic, mortise and tenon joinery was employed in Chinese construction.Xujie, Liu (2002). Chinese Architecture - The Origins of Chinese Architecture, English Ed., Yale University Press, p. 11. ISBN 0-300-09559-7. 

References

• This article is partly based on a Quicksilver wiki article at A Glossary of Terms For Traditional Timber Framing (Timberbee) under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.

See also

• Box joint
• Dado
• Dovetail joint

External links

• DIYinfo.org\'s Timber Joints Wiki - Heaps of practical information on various types of timber joints.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia