Other hobby teminology-a riddle of sorts

[ezdays]

Well, I'm not much of a woodworker, but that term was gleaned from a Time-Life book which was part of a series on DIY. As some may have guessed, it's Japanese in origin and is an elaboration on the mortise and tenon. The mortise is cut to be wider at its blind end, and the tenon is double-slotted on its end and contains two wedges. When driven into place, the wedges contact the rear surface of the mortise, spreading the tenon. Properly-done, the joint cannot be separated. The literal translation means "hell's wedge". Glue? We doan need no steenkin' glue!

I did mention that it was obscure, eh?

Wayne

Yeah, obscure, but I did Google it afterwards and it did come up, but nothing showed the details. I've seen Norm Abrams make those kind of joints, I believe he called them "split tenons" or something like that since he probably couldn't pronounce the Japanese term for it either. If it's what I'm thinking, it's what they use to fasten legs to a stool or table.