Angled through mortise and tenon joinery question

[Greg Heichel]

i am a beginner woodworker and working on a round dining room table. I am making it out of pine first as a prototype before investing in better wood. The legs are angled with a through mortise and tenon. First time I’ve done this and ran into a snag when trying to dry fit it. The leg won‘t seat into the angle and I’m not sure why. Is the mortise too tight?

 

[Jim DeLaney]

The top and bottom of your mortise need to be angled to correspond with the angle of your tenon's shoulder.

Welcome aboard, BTW.

 

[Greg Heichel]

The top and bottom of your mortise need to be angled to correspond with the angle of your tenon's shoulder.

Welcome aboard, BTW.

Thank you Jim. Good to be aboard. Any thoughts on if I can get an angle now that the top and bottom are straight or is this a learning moment and the leg gets scrapped?

 

[Ryan Mooney]

You can take some wood off of the inside top of the mortise and glue a shim piece into the bottom and it should be ok.

Use a sliding T bevel to transfer the angle.

Most of the strength in a M&T joint is in the shoulders (and the sides when it's glued). I'm guessing? you're planning to do a tusked tenon here so no glue? In either case the end grain bits on the mortise are helpful for registering but not as structurally important as the shoulders on the tenon fitting tightly.