They condemned two pairs of forklift truck forks a few weeks back when I was on site, they were destined for the scrap skip after a firm came in and NDT tested them and found cracks.

The tenoned rail should be as dry as possible and it is worth drying on a radiator or other source of dry heat.In a video I once saw the same technique used in wooden boatbuilding when fastening the outer boards of the hull to the frames with wooden (round) plugs. My first thought was that I would have to relieve the mortise all the way around, but dovetailing the sides of the mortise on either side of the spreading action was really all that was necessary.

While I’ve not used one in actual making work, I do use a version of the technique, (sans dovetailing the mortise) when I do repair work on chairs and tables where the extant joints loosened a few years prior and the piece has remained in use. even when the joint is cut tightly between the end walls, that wood does yield, especially in less dense woods like oak and the wide range of soft-grained woods.Eventually I took one of the forks back to work and cut it into fox wedges using the metal cutting bandsaw. Bear in mind that the maximum cutting capacity of the Rage 2 is 6mm and that the forks are about three inches by 1. It maybe a regional thing, Wedges/fox wedges are a just a very useful tool that have multiple uses, always have a few handy . It may not be needed in this case where the mortise walls will be pressing inward on the tenon, combined with wood’s flexibility … but if you’re concerned, it’s a legitimate approach and it’s cheap insurance.

It’s good to see additional areas like the ends of the wedges indenting into the bottom of the mortise and the retention properties afforded adjacent to the extended area on either side of the mortise opening. I can see this in many applications of boatbuilding and for several good reasons not the least of which is the permanence of swollen wood once the dried-down peg is inserted and living in wet areas permanently and then the non-erosion of key metal components through exposure to saltwater and water in general. When this happens, you rely on glue alone, which may well hold, but the idea of the joint is to create additional mechanical strength within the wood and the whole joint — integrity — integrated, whole, complete.

On the glass washing machines there are some rollers that have wheels which are held in place with split collars, which are made from 316 stainless. Calculating what will take place inside the joint can depend on the wood type, its compressibility, strength, and more. One wedge secured the plug to the frame and another at the outer end of the plug secured the board to the plug.

Rather than the danger of pounding your joint and the tenon shoulders not closing, which would be a glue up night mare. I was going to ask what the forklift driver is going to say on Monday morning, but then I saw they were scrap! When I was a young journeyman I was in charge of a small gang that plumbed up and refixed cast iron columns in a Victorian era wallpaper mill. Which, again, doesn’t matter all that much in most cases but is worth keeping in mind for the occasions when it might prove useful. Key to a good fox wedging of the tenon is straight, knot-free, non-fractious grain in the tenon area.Another common use for steel wedges is to raise and position steel columns, a wedge will lift it as required and also hold it in position whilst fixing down and packing. This maximises wood where it is needed and the shouldered sides seat the joint and work as long-term lateral stabilizers. In boatbuilding, planks can be fixed to the frames using oak trenails, wedged at each end and driven into blind holes in the frames. In most cases, when the joinery is executed dead to size and accurately, there is no need to place holes at the ends of the saw kerfs.