A guide to mortise and tenon joinery, a core technique of woodworking.

Mortises are one of the strongest woodworking joints and are a sign of quality whether in fine furniture or timber-frame cabins. A skilled carpenter can make them by hand, but it’s a laborious process ...

A chisel is one of the most utilitarian and oldest hand tools for woodworking. And a good wood chisel, in particular, has sharp beveled cutting edges, holds those edges well, sharpens easily, and ...

Simple mortise-and-tenon joints that meet at right angles can be made satisfactorily with power tools, but the ability to cut a mortise and tenon by hand opens up a much wider range of applications ...

Mortisers come in several different types, but they all have the same purpose: to create holes in wood pieces for tenons to fit into. These “mortise and tenon” joints are popular because of the ...

Every toolbox needs a decent chisel set, and inexpensive tools are available for DIY and jobsite use. Keen amateur or professional woodworkers might want to invest more, and there’s plenty of choice, ...