Mortice/tenon/dowel

[WhinYett]

My question concerns a heavy folding garden table made of some heavy hard wood - teak I think. It was damaged in a storm last Autumn. Today I got round to looking at the damage. Part of the folding leg structure has collapsed. None of the hardwoods seem to be damaged. They were joined by what I thought were mortice and tenon joints but it seems the tenons are actually all dowels about 4cm x 1cm cross section. I can't see any sign of glue having been used but there seem to be (rusty) panel pins through the base of some of he dowels diagonally into the inside of the mortice in the hard wood.

What is my best method of remaking these joints? Incidentally those that are still in place are rather loose.

TIA Frank

[The Medway Handyman]

If they are rectangular in section it sounds like a loose tenon joint.

If its long enough, glue then assemble & fix with a small screw.

For the loose joints, you can get a glue that swells the wood, then dries, saving the need to clamp.

[John Rumm]

Sounds like a slip tenon rather than a dowel as such. You can take a suitable plank, saw and plane it down to the same cross section, and then cut off sections to replace the broken ones as required.

It would probably be better to pull the pins and glue in the new tenons.

Cut the new ones to be a nice snug fit. Glue up with an exterior wood glue like Titebond III or Evostick Resin W exterior.

[fred]

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If you feel like acquiring a new tool then get yourself a Festool Domino ma chine. Exactly what you want for this job. Trouble is you could probably bu y 3 new tables for the price of it but on the other hand you would have a n ice new toy when you were finished and a nice Festool Systainer case, in th ose special Festool colours, to set at eye level in pride of place in your workshop.

[WhinYett]

Are slip tenons available to buy? What wood should I use to make my own?

Thanks for info' - so far? Frank

[John Rumm]

The nearest ready made things would probably be Festool dominos (designed for use with their Domino jointer system). However they may not be available in the size you need since you are constrained by the mortices you already have.

e.g.

You can make your own from pretty much anything - normal pine from one of the DIY sheds would be fine since its all going to be buried in the mortices and covered in waterproof glue. You could also use a scrap of similar hardwood if you have any - but I probably would not buy it specially.

[The Other Mike]

But a tenon saw, a square, a pencil, some glue and a suitable piece of wood are exactly what any *sane* person would require IMHO.