Turn the piece over, and repeat the operation on the other side, when the chips can be easily removed. Proceed to test the work; see that the mortise is straight on the ends. Generally the student will leave the ends rounding as shown in [Fig. 70]; this, if the tenon is driven into the mortise, will squeeze the edges out of true ([Fig. 71]) and leave an opening on the ends of the mortise, as shown in [Fig. 72].
Fig. 71.
Fig. 72.
Care should be taken to avoid this fault in this exercise. (A mortise gauge such as a joiner uses is shown in [Fig. 73]; it has two spurs, one being adjusted by the thumb screw at the end of the shank. We will use a mortise gauge in our work later on.)
Fig. 73.
After the pieces have been cut, put them together, having the face sides together, and finish smoothly.