Woodworking science, how is mortise and tenon furniture made?

Mortise and tenon furniture is made by interlocking the complementary concave and convex parts of wood blocks. The characteristic of mortise and tenon furniture is that it does not need any glue and nails, and completely retains the characteristics of wood raw materials.

The manufacturing method of mortise and tenon furniture is a common decoration method in ancient Chinese architecture. In addition to traditional furniture, many wooden buildings in China are completely built by tenon and mortise. The largest existing tenon-mortise joint building is Sagata in Shuozhou City, Shanxi Province. As the tallest wooden structure connecting pagodas with tenons and mortises, Sagata, the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy and the Eiffel Tower in Paris are also called the three wonders of the world. What is even more amazing is that the area where Yarra is located has suffered many strong earthquakes in history. Under such a high-intensity earthquake, the tower with tenon-mortise structure can still ensure that Sakya Tower stands for thousands of years, which shows the magic of tenon-mortise structure and the wisdom of traditional craftsmen in China.

Tenon and mortise structure is widely used in furniture manufacturing. Traditional carpenters in China closely combine all parts of furniture through tenon-mortise structure. If the tenon-mortise structure is used properly, the whole furniture can even reach a seamless level. Through the different application of tenon-mortise structure, the technical level of wood craftsmen can be observed very intuitively. Mastering mortise and tenon structure is one of the skills that a qualified carpenter must master.

Commonly used mortise and tenon structures can be divided into three categories according to their functions. A connecting structure responsible for splicing two surfaces, such as dovetail connection and tenon connection. In furniture, this mortise and tenon structure is usually used on the surfaces of doors and wardrobes. The second is the structure responsible for the connection between points. This structure has strong activity and wide applicability. The main structures are double tenon and oblique tenon. The last one is tenon-mortise structure, which combines the three parts together. This kind of structure is complicated, such as hanging tenon and half tenon.