First time I tried mortise and tenon by hand and it actually worked

I've been mostly using pocket screws and dowels for the last 3 years on my projects, but last weekend I decided to cut a mortise and tenon joint by hand on a cherry table leg I was working on in my garage near Omaha. I figured it would take me a couple hours and probably end up sloppy, but I took my time marking it out with a marking knife instead of a pencil. After maybe 45 minutes of chiseling and fitting, the joint slid together tighter than anything I've ever done with a jig. I didn't even need glue to hold it, it was that snug. Idk if it's the cherry being forgiving or me finally getting the chisel sharp enough, but it felt like a real milestone for me. Has anyone else had that moment where a traditional technique just clicked after avoiding it for years?

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juliam401d ago

Was the tightness mostly from the cherry being soft or your chisel technique? I've heard cherry is pretty forgiving for hand work but I've never tried it myself. Did you pare the tenon cheeks with a shoulder plane or just chisels?