Doing a good housing joint and m

[Keitai]

Are there any tips for cutting a good housing joint? I find it hard to measure exactly half of wood's thickness. The wood has a curve on edges which I find tricky to measure.

Sometimes the wood was rocking up and down in the joint. Does this mean chipping a bit out of other side?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

That's a cross halving joint, not a housing joint AFAIK. The trick for setting out is to use a marking gauge and check that you have the centre point from both sides adjusting once or twice until you hit the centre. As you've discovered it's all but impossible to measure to the centre

 

[Tigercubrider]

If you have a chop saw then you can adjust the depth of the cut and test on an offcut. Start cutting too little and adjust a tiny bit at a time, flipping the wood.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Two things I'd say about doing it that way is that it requires a sliding crosscut saw, and even then not all of those have a cut depth limier and secondly that as a technique it simply isn't consistent - put a little extra pressure on the arm of the saw whilst making a cut and it will cut a little deeper (because the arms on SCMS saws tend to flex a wee bit). Good for roughing but tedious and potentially inaccurate

 

[big-all]

i personally would do it slightly different
i would make the trough with the ends on the ends covering the end grain rather than in the "V" i would also have the grooves facing outwards on the ends to match the lip on each side as that will be what you notice most on the outside
i would do the legs as a simple overlapped "X" set back from the ends perhaps 100mm

 

[Keitai]

That's a cross halving joint, not a housing joint AFAIK. The trick for setting out is to use a marking gauge and check that you have the centre point from both sides adjusting once or twice until you hit the centre. As you've discovered it's all but impossible to measure to the centre

I have one. Forgot about it. Thxs. When cutting the grooves with a saw before chiselling out is it just the case of checking both sides so the saw doesn't go below the gauged centre line?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

When cutting the grooves with a saw before chiselling out is it just the case of checking both sides so the saw doesn't go below the gauged centre line?

Yes. The initial chiselling cuts should b made in an upwards direction from the outside to the middle from both sides to remove the bulk of the waste.

The "hump" in the middle is then pared out flat with a good, sharp chisel. Use a combi squere to check the depth for consistency. As an alternative the joint can be easily worked with an electric router and decent-size (12 to 20mm, depending on the router) straight cutter

 

[Keitai]

Yes. The initial chiselling cuts should b made in an upwards direction from the outside to the middle from both sides to remove the bulk of the waste.

View attachment 161526


The "hump" in the middle is then pared out flat with a good, sharp chisel. Use a combi squere to check the depth for consistency. As an alternative the joint can be easily worked with an electric router and decent-size (12 to 20mm, depending on the router) straight cutter

Would you use a normal saw or tenon saw?

One of the legs was not touching the ground, is it the case of cutting the adjacent leg down a bit

 

[blup]

Have used a half inch router to cut housings, with a narrow bit not the wide cutters. Or a circular saw a which will not flex like the arm of a SCMS.

Practise on off cuts and when both fit perfectly you have your depth of cut.

Clean out with chisel.

You get better with practice.

Blup

 

[Tigercubrider]

Must admit that I used the chop saw term rather loosely - I use a festool sliding saw so it's pretty accurate
I would cut the edges and make loads of cuts in the centre

You could do the same with a tracksaw

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Would you use a normal saw or tenon saw?

If you are using a hand sa then a tenon saw is easier to control. TBH I use anything I have to hand - tenon saw, cordless circular saw, router, etc. More than one way to skin a cat!

One of the legs was not touching the ground, is it the case of cutting the adjacent leg down a bit

The technique is to set the piece on a level surface then mark round ll the legs using a block of timber (e.g. a piece of 2 x 1 PAR softwood) and a pencil so that you have a level. Then hand saw to the line and Bob's your dad's brother