First a little background. I’m in the middle of building an A-frame type quilt rack. The 2 main A-frame members are 1″ x 4″ cherry, and are connected by 1 1/2″ x 1″ x 34″ rails. There is one rail at the top of the A-frame and two down each side. The rails are connected to the A-frame by 1″ x 1/2″ through tenons. The A-frame stands about 50″ high when assembled. In addition, there are two braces within the A-frame for each side (one high and one low – imagine the cross bar of the A and that’s essentially how they are oriented).
Anyhow, the idea was to use some design elements from Greene and Greene with the rounded through tenon look. So, that’s how I designed it. Now, in hindsight, I’m a little worried about racking, with only the 5 through tenons on each side to resist the inherent lateral movement. I don’t have a lot of experience with how sturdy through tenons are, so anyone who has used that type of joinery can chime in here and let me know what they think. Will 5 through tenons be enough, or should I be thinking about additional cross bracing?
Sorry for not posting a picture for illustration purposes. I just didn’t have one with me at the time, but can post one later if it helps.
Thanks in advance for your advice, much appreciated.
Replies
j,
assuming you have cut your tenons and chopped you mortises, can you do a dry fit? a well-cut through tenon joint is very strong and if placed correctly, will be highly rack resistant.
eef
If your tenons have shoulders, and you wedge them from the outside you'll go a long way to putting your concerns to rest. Any racking will come from the inherent flexibility of the members, not loose joints.
First, thank you all very much for your input. It's much appreciated.
To answer your questions collectively; yes, the tenons all have shoulders. 1/4" to be exact. Since this was my first crack at this type of joinery, I've done my best to make sure they are tight fitting (some by router, most by hand chisel). That said, they may not be as good as "professional quality", but they are as close as I can get them at this point.
I'm going to trust the collective opinion here and go with the tenons as they were originally intended and leave off additional bracing. If it's not sturdy enough, well....I'll cover that bridge when I get to it. I'm always accused of overbuilding stuff anyhow.
Thanks again. Always nice to get some feedback from others, especially when the bulk of your learning has come from four-letter individual experiences.
Joe
joe,
yeah, tough way to go, that 4-letter word learning experience. mostly, it isn't like that around here.
eef
It should be noted that darn, dang, and even oops are all four-letter words. ;-)
You forgot some 4 letter words..
GOOD, LIFE, LOVE, GIRL, SWEET, COCO, HARP, PAINT, STAIN, WOOD, TOOL, SOAP, FAST, SLOW, EASY, SOFT, WARM, COOL.. Hundreds of them in Elglish... Most 4 letter words are nice words.
Eef,
Saw a "Family Circus"
Eef,
Saw a "Family Circus" cartoon the other day, wherein the young boy is showing his buddy around the house. In front of the garage workbench, he says to his friend,"This is the desk where Dad makes up naughty words."
Years ago, I was working under the pickup truck, with my 4-yr old son standing by, "helping". Crawling out from under the bed of the truck, I raised up too soon, and cracked my head on the corner of the tailgate.
A minute or so later, the wife comes around the corner of the shop, and my boy says excitedly, "Mom! Daddy hit his head so hard on the truck, it knocked a bad word out of him!"
Ray
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