Hey everyone! I've run into a problem while working on my chair seat. I'm trying to create tapered mortises, but it seems like I didn't ream straight enough. Now, all four mortises have too much wiggle room—I actually had to replace half the seat after splitting it while driving a leg home.
I've made some adjustments to the rake during reaming which helped a bit, but they still aren't tight enough. The pivot points of the mortises are about two-thirds down, and even my reamer has some wiggle when it's in there. I used a Veritas reamer and tenon cutter, which worked well in my test joints, so I believe it's a technique issue rather than tool compatibility.
While reaming, I followed Curtis Buchanan's advice about checking my angle and adjusting my pressure, but I'm wondering if I might have overdone the adjustments. I've noticed that the end grain reacts differently than the face grain, especially on steeper angles, which complicates maintaining a consistent angle.
My current thought is to ream a bit more to find a balance in the wiggle. Since the legs are sturdy, they should cover the difference, but I'm hesitant that further reaming might just make things worse. Any suggestions on how to fix these mortises or tips for improving my reaming technique?
1 Answer
Tapered mortises can be tricky! One thing I've learned is that using a wedge can help a lot, but make sure it’s perpendicular to the grain of the seat. If you wedge along the grain, you risk splitting it—so think of it like a chisel's action. When seating the legs, give them a solid push; they can usually take more than you’d expect!
Yeah, that’s exactly what happened to me! I split the seat just from the leg pressure. I’ve heard that you can really pound them in, and I'll definitely try that next time!