Then plane the ends of each piece perfectly square to the face side and face edge.
An exercise that was made by a careful student and one that was made by a careless student are shown at [Fig. 63], revealing the final results of careful as against careless work.
Having cut out the center pieces and finished the ends we fit them together, seeing that the surfaces come flush; then smooth off the surfaces, being careful not to cut too much off the ends, for this will round the surfaces and thus spoil the work. Sharp tools are essential to good work.
Lines drawn in their proper places, and then cut to, will give the results sought for in fitting.
EXERCISE NUMBER 3.
MORTISE AND TENON.
When beams or pieces of wood stand square with each other, and the strains are also square with the pieces and in the plane of the frame, the most common junction is the mortise and tenon.
A mortise is an opening, which may be square or oblong, intended to receive the tenon, and which may go into the work only a short distance, or may go all the way through. Where it goes only part way through it is called a blind mortise, and where it passes all the way through, a through mortise. A tenon is a projection on the end of a piece and fits into the mortise. The tenon usually has two shoulders formed by cutting away the sides, and should be about one third the thickness of the piece.
Fig. 64.
There are a number of different styles of this joint and methods of fastening, which we will consider later in our work.