On Sat, 08 Oct 2005 12:31:52 +0000, TWS wrote:

I would still like to know (since I'd rather not learn from my own
experience) how you can cut a thumb cutting a mortise. I can
understand how it could be done if the workpiece is not clamped down
well enough and slips.

This is close to how I did it. But replace "not clamped down well" with
"was holding the piece with right hand while wielding chisel with left*"
See I was trying to clean up the mortise because the tenon just wasn't
fitting right and it hadn't yet occurred to me that it would be easier
(and safer) to pare down the tenon instead. In any case the chisel slipped
out of the mortise and smacked into my thumb.

I'm just glad I've learned this lesson with hand tools now, instead of
waiting to learn it with a table saw :-)

Cheers,

Josh

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* I'm a southpaw