Another one of the labs we did in our Technical Direction class was constructing our joinery project. Our task was to construct two frames. One of which was a smaller ¾” x 2” that had half laps to connect each corner and a slightly bigger 1×3 which had two half laps, one miter and a mortise & tenon. The half lap cuts on the smaller frame we built were pretty easy to make with the band saw so I didn’t run into too many problems on that part. One issue was getting all the different cuts to connect on each corner of the bigger 1×3 frame. Based on the molding lab, I had a basic understanding of how to use the miter saw and how to position my 1×3 to get a 45-degree angle cut. The half lap corner I cut using the bandsaw as I cut all my other half laps for the smaller frame. But when it came to the mortise and the tenon, I had to be more precise with how I made my cuts. The first thing I did was use a quarter inch drill bit in a mortising tool and create my tenon. I then used the bandsaw again to cut my mortise. The joint didn’t fit together at first so I had to use a sanding block to flush the pieces so that the joint would come together. I found it easier, however, to use the wood shaver because I was able to use it for the mortise and tenon pieces of my frame.
As we know many doors and pictures have frames. In our houses, for example, we see that many if not all our doorframes have miter cuts at their corners. I feel like carpenters cut miters because it is one of the easier cuts to make that look good in your modern-day household. One thing that I would do different in this project is cut my half laps not so close to the lines that I drew on my lumber. I realize that the bandsaw’s blade would wiggle in and out a bit.
