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Dave Polaschek
2031 posts
and
44 followers
in almost 3 years
in almost 3 years
Building a cane #2: Mortising the handle
This is
part 2
in a
2 part
series:
Building a cane
-
Intro / Roughing the handle
-
Mortising the handle
- Intro / Roughing the handle
- Mortising the handle
I grabbed another 45 minutes in the shop this afternoon, and got one handle mortised.
Started by drilling a pair of ¼ inch holes through the mortise using my post drill. That was a pretty good workout, and the cross-slide vise worked just as intended to get my holes in a straight line. Wasn’t quite bold enough to drill two ⅜ holes to try and get everything in one shot, though.
Started by drilling a pair of ¼ inch holes through the mortise using my post drill. That was a pretty good workout, and the cross-slide vise worked just as intended to get my holes in a straight line. Wasn’t quite bold enough to drill two ⅜ holes to try and get everything in one shot, though.
Next up was using a ¼ inch and ⅜ inch chisel to chop most of the way through. I used the ⅜ from the top in the relatively softer ash.
Then started from the bottom using the ¼ inch chisel, as granadillo is harder and more brittle, and I didn’t want big blowout, even though this end of the joint will be completely hidden by the shoulder of the cane’s shaft.
Finally, I used a ¼ inch and ¾ inch float to clean up the edges a little, then headed inside for dinner.
May you have the day you deserve!
6 Comments
That's going nicely!
The Other Steven
Nice work Dave, looks like a pretty good mortise, nice and rectangular, with straight walls.
i wont be commenting much but i will be following dave !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
Thumbs up Dave
Petey
Thanks folks! The top of the mortise is more critical for looks. On the bottom, it’s mostly a matter of having a flat enough surface for the shoulder of the cane shaft to mate to. And as I’m going to be drawboring the pieces together, I’ll have some pretty decent clamping force there.
The plan is to initially cut the tenon on the shaft to 7/16 x 13/16 inch, which is about 1/16 oversize each way, then nibble away at the tenon until it just fits. As such, I cut the mortise a hair wider at the bottom than the top (maybe 1/64 wider, according to my calipers), so I can do a very slight taper on the tenon as well, and get a rock-solid fit. My plan is to put pencil shading on the sides of the tenon, and slide the mortise and tenon together and see where the pencil gets rubbed off, and slowly adjust the tenon with floats. Should get me a pretty dang exact fit.
I can set my existing cane (from 2016) across two boards set 24” apart with the handle on one and the shaft of the cane on the other, and I can stand on the side of the cane. I figure that gives me plenty of strength for the finished product when used as a cane, even for someone quite a bit heavier than me.
The plan is to initially cut the tenon on the shaft to 7/16 x 13/16 inch, which is about 1/16 oversize each way, then nibble away at the tenon until it just fits. As such, I cut the mortise a hair wider at the bottom than the top (maybe 1/64 wider, according to my calipers), so I can do a very slight taper on the tenon as well, and get a rock-solid fit. My plan is to put pencil shading on the sides of the tenon, and slide the mortise and tenon together and see where the pencil gets rubbed off, and slowly adjust the tenon with floats. Should get me a pretty dang exact fit.
I can set my existing cane (from 2016) across two boards set 24” apart with the handle on one and the shaft of the cane on the other, and I can stand on the side of the cane. I figure that gives me plenty of strength for the finished product when used as a cane, even for someone quite a bit heavier than me.
May you have the day you deserve!
Coming along!
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
