"Doug Winterburn" wrote in message
You can do the mortises using 3/4" material glued and laminated together
after ploughing out 3/8" deep on each half to receive the tenon. You
could use 1-1/2" material for a beefier look and make the mortise
ploughs about 1/2" deep for 1" tenons.

I have routers and chisels and can get access to my tablesaw which currently
resides at a friend's place. But, I'm not understanding completely what
you're saying to me. Are you suggesting that I basically cut a slot along
the centre wide edge of both halves and essentially put in a floating
through tenon? I was intending to use 2x8 or 2x10 lumber for the vertical
and horizontal pieces. With the 10" blade on the tablesaw, I can cut close
to 4" deep for the slots.