Making
Mortise and Tenon Joints- DVD
with Frank Klausz
Published
by Taunton Press, USA
Originally published in VHS format in 1986
R.R.P.$29.90
ON BACK ORDER
As reviewed in The Australian Woodworker Issue 140
The mortise and tenon is an exceptionally strong joint which, not surprisingly, finds wide application in all forms of cabinetmaking.
In Making Mortise & Tenon Joints, Frank Klausz (who may already be familiar to readers from his other videos) begins by exploring some of the many variations of the joint and shows how they are applied.
He uses three Jointed pieces for this short demonstration: a small table, panelled door and a chair.
On the table, he shows the haunched tenon style joints at the corners of the rails. On the panelled door, he points out the wedged mortise and tenon joints, also at the corners, though he also mentions the use of the same kind of joint elsewhere in the door frame.
Then he shows the mortise and tenon joints that are typically used in the construction of a traditional chair - slip joints in the seat frame, simple angled joints connecting the rear legs to the seat rail, joints in the seat back and compound angled joints between the rear legs and the stretchers.
The rest of the video is devoted to a detailed description of the way in which each of these joints is made. As has been remarked before, Frank Klausz has a fairly strong accent but his voice is pleasant to listen to and his knowledge and skills are presented with an enthusiasm that is infectious.
The lighting of the video is more than adequate and the camera angles well considered.
Perhaps the most important feature of this DVD is that Frank Klausz covers not only the main kinds of mortise and tenon joint, but also the main methods of making them.
He begins with the layout of the mortise and tenon joints for the small table and proceeds to make the joints using only hand tools - chiselling the mortises and sawing the tenons by hand.
When he turns to the corner joints of the panelled door, he shows how the mortises for the tenon and wedges are cut with a plunge router and then how the tenons are cut on a bandsaw.
Finally, for the angled joints of the chair, he demonstrates the use of a drill-press mounted square chisel mortiser and then the cutting of the tenons on a tablesaw.
The video ends with a section called, appropriately, Finishing Up.
All of the demonstrations given in the video are marked by an economy of movement that only comes from long practice in a workshop. Although this may make the work appear somewhat easier than it would be to a novice woodworker, it also makes it easier to follow.
This video would be an ideal place to start for those who wish to hone their skills in making one of the joints on which much of woodworking is based.
Duration: 60min
DVD - English - NTSC