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Assembly

With the recess to depth and cleaned up, lay your piece flat on the bench top and offer the corresponding divider piece to test the joint. Use a chisel hammer to tap in lightly, but stop if it’s too tight. If that’s the case, clamp the divider piece in the vice and take a few fine shavings from the end using a sharp plane set to a very light cut. Check again and take off a few more shavings if necessary. If the joint is coming together, you can tap more decisively with the chisel hammer until it bottoms out.

Begin by applying just hand pressure to see if it's a good fit
Begin by applying just hand pressure to see if it's a good fit
If it's too tight, take a few shavings off the end of the divider piece or put a slight leading edge with a sharp plane
If it's too tight, take a few shavings off the end of the divider piece or put a slight leading edge with a sharp plane
Tap in with a chisel hammer until it bottoms out
Tap in with a chisel hammer until it bottoms out
The finished joint should be square with no gaps along the edges
The finished joint should be square with no gaps along the edges

If, for some reason, the joint is a little loose, it can still work but with supplementary fixings, like screws for example. It does take a bit of practice with housing dados, but stay with it and you will soon be able to apply it in simple joinery projects such as wall shelves.

Next up, we recommend you enroll on the Mortise and Tenon course.

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