Paul Sellers | Mortise and tenon joint by hand, in oak 

Yes, the wood makes no difference and the process works well regardless of hardnes, density or grain structure. it's the oder, structure and discipline that ensures the accuracy i strive for. A mortise gauge delineates the parallel lines running along the wood's axis and a square and knife guarantees the extremes of the mortise width or length. These are not my methods alone but the inherited methods passed down by craftsmen for generations and centuries. Here I am in the continuum of tradition.

And not one damn micro jig, table saw or sheet of ply was seen anywhere. How refreshing!

Sellers is the man!! He's makes wood working look gangster.

Finally a video that doesn't require a chisel that seems impossible to find. Thank you sir.

I've just started a furniture conservation course at university and this week I made my very first mortice and tenon joint, which took me at least 3 hours!! I hope one day I can perform the same task as quickly and effectively as this wonderful video illustrates.

That was faster and more accurate than a machine. Stunning display of skills

Great video ! A true craftsman. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

Jeff, I think this is something you do because you love doing it. If you receive a rush order for two dozen dining chairs, router-dug mortises are the way to go. Nobody would go looking for chisel marks. But if you want to make something special for yourself or someone you care for, or the job itself is the reward, then nothing could hope to beat this method.

10min Including explanations. Thank you much for your precious sharing.

Its funny watching these old videos now compared to how he currently does his instruction. These old videos felt rushed as though to show the speed at which these techniques could be done. Now, the focus seems more on taking the time to show technique.

Dear Paul, you seem a little bit more time pressed when you were younger 😀(i can relate to that). From later videos of you I am trying to learn to take it easy and have fun doing so. Thank you so much for teaching me how nice woodworking can be.

Okay, that was amazing. The simple tools used and I know it takes a bit of patience to be that good and quick but still. That was pretty amazing.

I am amazed by the number of people that are amazed that this can be done solely with hand tools.What Mr Sellers does is indeed an amazing bit of craft that is seen quite rare these days. But think about the skill that went into building a ship of the line 200 yeas ago, or all the furniture in the world up until 100 years ago o less when any carpenter would have a similar skill set as Mr Sellers. We are doing a bit of everything but not enough of one thing....craft is going away....a truly big loss. I have seen my grandfather use some of these simple ways 20 years ago and I know of stuff he build 60 years ago that is still in use an he only had about 20 or 30 tools in his entire toolbox and I don't recall him ever using anything electric except the lights in his house.

Mr. Seller made the whole mortise and tennon making process look easy.

I'm gratified to see that the work also sinks down into the vice for experts and not just me.

Excellent video of this venerable craftsman at work! I like the close ups and clear narration without any distracting music.

Thank you so much for posting these videos. I feel like we have very little opportunity to learn these techniques nowadays. Most people just run over to the drill press to cut their mortises. Woodworking with hand tools is a beautiful art that is very relaxing.

I missed this and apologise for the delay. You can use any sharpening stones, but I use only diamond plates at the schools because they cut steel fast, stay flat and are cleaner and less messy than water stones, oil stones and most other methods people tout as being great, like abrasive paper and stuff.

Paul seemed to be working so fast, I almost checked twice to see if I had inadvertently sped up this YT video! Makes it look sooo easy.

Amazing!!!! You truly are a craftsman! Thanks to Paul I have taken a disliking to all my power tools, and started buying hand tools. I take more pride in my work now! I have learned so much just by watching Paul's videos!

Nice to know you can do almost everything with hand tools! Excellent job and example!

Damn you make that look easy! I am a bowyer venturing into furniture making. Thank you so much for your videos. Matt

God of WoodWorking. Thank you and Salute to you!

Extremely strong. I doubt it could ever be pulled apart without the wood breaking.

Paul in the "Tall Ship" era you would have been one of the most sought after "Ships Carpenters." Just imagine if Captain FitzRoy had you on the Beagle... Maybe he would have been better thought of when his boat was stolen. I have yet to find books where the carpenter wrote of their times on a expeditionary ship. Thank you once again with your videos, I have been embarking on a hobby that will keep me occupied when I complete my 30yrs of Naval Service.

Really to the point without large array of tools. Impressive. Will do same, on Japanese oak. Thank you.

Simply Beautiful. That is one good mortise and tenon joint indeed.

Paul Sellers is NOT sponsored by Festfool

Thank you so much for your videos. I never knew.

You make it look so easy.

that's right. the walls are best kept the exact width of the chisel used for chopping as much as possible. That way, when you cut the tennon, you work to your gauge lines and you have a perfect fit. It's just easier to use the smaller chisel and you wont wallow out the walls of the hole as you might using the first full-width chisel.

The beauty of learning and mastering hand crafting techniques is the fact that - whilst machine work can prove faster if producing multiple identical pieces - the set-up time taken with machinery and jigs can prove slower if making one-off pieces. There's also a downside to relying solely on machine work if the machine breaks down. Without hand tooling skills you run the risk of becoming frozen mid-stream if/when machinery breaks down.

wow, you make it look easy!

Nice work! A real pro!

Shelf liner...Brilliant!

thank you sir; i joined a dog fence, a bird house, and now ive gathered enough confidence to join a bed frame.

Exactly, I only said that to clarify that I was not using the chisel to cut material. I just used it because it is easier to clean out the waste when it is narrower than the mortise.

It takes me forever to properly cut mortises and even then they aren't always a snug fit. Very impressive.

nice work ,quality

Only a British woodworker would wear a button down dress shirt whilst working in his woodshop. :-)

All great apart from I gave up in the vice years ago as it drove me insane keep sinking. I always mortice on bench top now!

I use EZE Lap diamond plates and a leather strop charged with buffing compound like chromium oxide.

I can do that too...but it would take me 4 hours.

Hello Paul, many thanks for posting these excellent videos and generously sharing the technique and craft you've perfected over the years. I'm in the process of assembling a half dozen three legged stools for my wife's classroom. For legs, I've chosen to go with 1.5-2 inch diameter pine branches lopped directly from trees on my land. Given the non-linear nature of raw wood, I can't turn round tenons on these legs. Should I opt for square M & T joints in this case?

Good and very beautiful

Paul I love your videos How do you clean up the mortise when cutting a through mortises For a blind mortise the shoulders of the tenons hide any imperfections.

To @paulsellers ‘ son: great video, just curious about the image jumping. I had the same problem years ago with a Canon camera. Was the image stabilization turned on? Was that the camera’s software attempting to stabilize the image while your dad was working? Thanks. Love you’re work, both you and your father! Seen every video and sometimes I like to go back and watch from the beginning. 👏🏼❤️ Technology has come a LONG way in this decade.

wicked

He's the man.. he doesn't need all that caffeine

Paul, why do you not touch the inside walls of the mortise with the smaller chisel? Are you only using it to remove already cut material? Thanks!

Would you be glueing it up next or keep it dry?

That is proper man art, that.

Hi Paul, Love your Craftsmanship, What Kind of Mallet are you using, I have a deadblow I purchased years ago when I installed a hardwood floor, seems a little too heavy ?

I have two questions. One, do you use this same process with all wood types (e.g. pine vs. maple)? Second, what are you using to mark the dimensions of the hole from both sides so they align.

If the materials are the same thickness, then I often check the cheek of the tenon against the side of the mortise on the outside to see if the shoulder lines up with the mortise. Stops the pieces being to far out of alinement.

This is a video of a man, who has cut this joint 10,000 times

When you used the chisel across the face of the tenon, I was surprised the far side didn't tear out. Is that ever an issue?

Never seen him in such a hurry, was he late for dinner 🤣🤣🤣

When Paul has too much coffee

Instead of holding the work-piece in the vice to chisel the mortise, it's more solid to rest it on the bench top and secure it in place with a hold fast.

I didn’t know you could use regular bench chisels to cut mortises.

what do yo use to sharpen your chisels

I wish i did something For 50 years

Does this method work equally well with a blind mortise? If so, how do you then gauge the depth using just a chisel? Really enjoyed this video.

Paul seemed to be in quite a hurry in this video. Perhaps he drank too much tea before the camera started filming.

I'm only concerned with the tight fit. Are you not worried about expansion/contraction busting the wood/joint?

YES! Thank the Lord there is no stupid, pulsing music in the background (to keep the bone-heads from switching off.)

That piece of wood didn't know what hit it. Rapid!

God damn, it's like he is in a race or something.

Is it rare for a bevel chisel to bend when doing mortises in hardwood like Oak?

I didn't see you clean up the mortise. Is that something you do?

Faster then with any machine

"feels good... nice and tight"

All that banging I am glad he’s not my neighbour. As for the trick, well I could see it a mile off he’d never fool Penn and Teller with that.

Does anyone know what brand of chisels he's using?

I am waiting for your "5 second mortise with a router" video. LOL beforehand ;)

wondering if he wedged the tenons and the pegs,that is, if he uses pegs

Excellent techniques and content. But the video made me motion sick.

when you have to cut a mortice and tenon joint at 7:49 but meet a tinder date at 8

thanks for showing us we dont need to spend $150 for a mortising chisel ..

i hate this joint just because it ruined one of my projects and i am freaking bad a cuting them but nice video thanks

Heck.. nothing special.. even at 68 years of age and working in the field for 50 years I can't do a mortise and tenon that fast.. Well done!

Poul showing..Wood working After double aspresso

He’s Gordon Ramseying this thing

I am not daunted by mortice and tenon joints, in fact I say bring them on. I’ll show ‘em the bloody bastards.

I love your workmanship. But with all the machinery available these days why would you go to such time consuming methods that a bench mortiser can do in just a couple of minutes. I learned these techniques when I first started woodworking but I can't see how you can make any money with these methods. It would be lovely if people would pay for your time and care in producing such nice pieces but these days time is money and people aren't willing to pay for handcrafted furniture.

This is witch craft!!

Holy crap! That tenoned piece is going nowhere.

That joint is too tight.

I'm so tired of trying to find informative vids about woodworking. Its either a young, bearded, ex gamer-twicher with some 'fell from heaven' kit in his garage, 'easily' building something with some smooth video editing skills explaining how to build something he's building for the 1st time or its some american geyser with the latest festool veritas Lie-Nielsen tools explaining why it can only be done with those tools. Watching Paul or (not a plug) watching Work of Wood making some amazing stuff in a cellar, his early work till now showing where he spent his hard earned money in his shop (subtitles & auto translate needed tho).

Not sure about that technique see other guys have better technique first time perfect no adjustments