Tennon Testing

Pacific Post and Beam entered three tenons in the Tenon Testing at the 2012 Western Timber Framer's Guild conference at Assilomar.  The first tenon pictured was a tenon with blind wedges.  As the tenon approached the bottom of  the dovetail shaped mortise, the wedges were forced into the tenon deforming it into the shape of the mortise.  This connection held close to 5000 lbs before the tenon was pulled out of the mortise.
The second entry is a shaped tenon with a wedge/block.  The tenon is inserted into the mortise.  (The shape of the mortise is drawn on the side of the beam)  The dovetail side of the tenon is then shifted to the side of the mortise with the matching shape.  Everything is held in place by inserting an oak wedge/block.