1. Establish exacly where the joint is to be made, and use the try square to draw square line right around the wood.
2. Set the two pins of the mortise gauge at exactly one-third and two-third of the width of the wood.
3. working from the face side on the both pieces, mark the guide line for the mortise hole and the tenon cut. Draw in these lines with a pencil point.
4. A drill press is useful at this stage to drill out the bulk of the mortise hole. Use a drill bit about  a millimeter narrower than the hole should be. If you do not have access to a drill press, fix the wood firmly in a bench vice and drill out the hole with hand-held electric drill, making every effort to ensure that the drill is vertical to the wood.
5. Cut out the remaining wood in the hole with a mortise chisel and trim off the flat sides with bevel-edge chisel, making sure that the ends and the sides are exactly vertical and parallel.
6. Now on the tenon section. Use the tenon saw to cut down the wood on the scrap side of the tenon lines so that you have a completed tenon, which looks like the one in step 7 below.
7. Fit the join together dry (without glue) and make any adjustment with a board bladed bevel-edge chisel until the join is accurate.
8. When the joins fits well, apply glue to all the surface to be joined and clamp into position. make sure that all the glue that has been squeezed out of the joint is wiped away with a damp cloth.

Medium-density fibreboard (MFD) : this board is manufactured by reducing wood to very fine fibre, mixing it with rein and then compressing it under pressure to form sheets. Standard sizes and thicknesses vary from country to country, with 12 mm or the closest available thickness being the most suitable for general furniture-making. Your local hardware store or woodyard should be able to supply sheets of almost any size you require. This wood has a very smooth finish, which can be hand or spray-painted, and is also very versatile as it can be routed and shaped relatively easily. In blocks thick enough, it also turns remarkably well.

Plywood : in woodworking, there is often a need for relatively thin boards that have a high strength-to-weight ratio, for example panels in doors or cabinets, and drawer bottoms. This is where plywood comes into its own. It is made by  laminating thin sheets of wood so that the grain of each sheet is at right angles to the one adjacent to it. Plywood is usually produced in sheets of 2.44 m by 1.22 m and it a variety of thicknesses, ranging  from a very thin tree-ply (about 3 mm) to multi-ply (about 25 mm). Although the surface is not as smooth as MDF, plywood has a natural-wood appearance and is far stronger than MDF.

Blockboard (copine, pre-glued panels) : while long, wide boards of natural wood can be unstable, there is still a demand for them. To meet this demand teh timber industry has come up with the solution of  gluing together strips of pine or oak, which are about 35 mm wide and 6-22 mm thick, to form boards up to 700 mm wide. Blockboard, while being very strong and stable, retains the appearance of natural wood. Boards are manufactured in a variety of widths and lengths, up to about 700 mm wide by up to 4 m long and usually in a standard thickness of 22 mm.

Chipboard : Similar in some way to MDF, chipboard is made by mixing wood chips with resin and then compressing it under pressure to form sheets of similar size and thickness to MDF.

American red oak: this wood is heavy, durable and very strong. It has similiar qualities to American white oak, but tends to be redder in colour and has a more interesting grain.

American white oak: Although similiar in appearance to other oak varieties, American white oak has a yellowish-red colour and a less attractive grain. What it loses in attractiveness, however, it gains in a reputation for toughness and durability.

Australian red cedar: Unlike other cedar varieties, this timber is a hardwood. It is slightly redder in colour than other cedars and has a grain very similiar in appearance to Oregon  pine when finished. It is most commonly used for small cabinets and other furniture.

Beech : this is another  popular furniture-making wood as it is light, strong and hard. The whiter the wood, the younger it is and the more popular for furniture making. Avoid using the darker or discoloured wood as this comes from much older trees and has the tendency to split quite easily. Beech has an excellent texture, making for easy planing, joining and finishing. It takes the bumps and scrapes of normal household use very well, and because of its smooth finish it is also a favourite  choice for use in tool handles.

Elm : this attractive timber is often used for making large pieces of furniture. It is light red-brown in colour and some species, such as European elm, hace a beautiful figure and burl pattern.

Iroko : is generally golden-brown in colour, and has a pungent and irritating aroma when worked in machines. Similiar to teak in appearance and durability, but not as oily, iroko is a good choice for outdoor furniture.

Jelutong : This light-yellow timber is often used as substiture four South African yellowwood as its appearance and characteristics are very similiar, but it is a great deal less expensive. Although strong and durable, boards need to be selected carefully because they have a tendency to contain oval holes, as well as circular worm holes.

Mahogany : this is very beautiful timber with a red-brown colour and a distinctive grain. Most varieties are quite heavy in comparison to other woods, and they are strong and durable. Although it is a popular choice for furniture-making, and has been for many years.

Maple : there are many varieties of maple, but generally it has a very light-brown colour with an attractive grain that finishes well. It is a tough wood and versatile for all aspects of woodworking. One particularly pretty variety is bird’s-eyes maple, which has regular dark-brown marking that look like its name suggests. Bird’s-eye maple is often used for small-scale woodworking projects such as presentation boxes, and veneers.

Meranti : is very similar in many ways to mahogany, It is a plain but attractive straight-grained hardwood with a reddish colour. Because of its straight and event grain, meranti is most often used in the construction of door dan window frames and for skirting boards. when working this wood keep a pair of tweezers in your workshop as more splinters end up in fingers and hands from meranti than any other kind of timber.

Oak: this very beautiful hardwood is grown in many parts of the world and the type of oak you use will depend upon where you live. Oak is a popular choice for lounge and dining room furniture and tends to darken with age. It is an amazing strong wood which, in days gone by, was used in the construction of ships. Is was sawn into massive beams for the construction of houses .

Rosewood : there are many varieties of rosewood available. This species takes it name from the aroma of the wood-the underground section of  canary rosewood is, in fact, used in the preparation of perfume. Rosewood has a dark-red to red-brown colour and finishes beautifully. It is used for showpieces of furniture, pianos, veneers and turned bowls.

Sapele (sapele mahogany) : this very grainy and coarse-textured wood is mainly used as a veneer on manufactured boards, and is popularly, used in this form from making pianos and other furniture. It is red-brown in colour, strong and durable, but has a rather dull appearance.

Sycamore : This is a beautiful wood when finished, if you can get it to the stage, as it does not take well to seasoning or to changes in climatic conditions. This wood is compact, has a fine grain and can be worked quite easily. It usualy has a light-cream to white colour, but tends to darken with age. Sycamore is commonly used for in the making of violins and general furniture, but beware of warping and shrinkage.

Teak : this straight-grained, heavy, but particularly durable wood has a greasy feel to it that is caused by its high out content. It is suitable for outdoor furniture, deck planks and shipbuilding, although the oiliness makes the use of wood glues a little tricky. Light-brown to burnt-gold in colour, its is a classically beautiful wood to work and gives a lovely finish, but it tends to be hard on blades.

Tulipwood : this beautifully striped, very hard wood, erroneously referred to as poplar, is a light red-brown in colour and finishes well. It is often used for turning and decorative purposes, but is not a common choice for pieces of furniture.

Walnut : is an exquisitely beautiful hardwood with a dark-brown, grey or red colour. This wood is a pleasure to work and a joy to see. Unfortunately, due to high demand, it is becoming quite expensive and is therefore only used for small project, for example in the production of high-quality gun stocks.

Construction-grade lumber warps for two main reasons. First, boards often contain unstable wood from the center of the tree. You can spot this by looking at the growth rings at the end of the board. If you see rings that are almost a full circle, that area ofthe board is likely to cup and twist.

Second, it’s too wet. The industry standard for construction-grade lumber is about 19-percent moisture content. For making furniture, the moisture content should be far less, about 7 to 9 percent. At this point, boards are unlikely to warp any further.

Both problems are easy to solve. First, cut out the unstable center wood by ripping your board on the tablesaw. Second, crosscut the boards on either side of large knots, which cause a board to kink as it dries. Don’t worry about small knots. Third, stack and sticker the wood indoors until it dries out. Weight your lumber with cinder blocks or sandbags to help keep it flat. Drying may take anywhere from a few weeks in a very dry environment to a few months in a more humid one.

The different woods will be in two major categories: natural wood (direct from the tree) and man-made ‘wood’ (manufactured from by-products of wood from the tree).

Natural wood: This category is devided into two major groups: softwoods and hardwoods. when applied to wood, the terms ’soft’ and ‘hard’ are usually in relation to each other, but there are exeception. Balsa, for example, is physically probably one of the softest woods available commercially, but due to its make-up, it is scientifically classified as a hardwood. Balsa is a light wood, both in weight and in colour, and has very little structural strength. It is not used for furniture making, but mainly in the construction of model aeroplanes and othe such projects. At the other end of the scale are hardwoods, such as teak and ironwood, which are amazingly strong, hard and durable.

Softwoods : are harvested from trees that take about 20-25 years to mature, the most prolific wood in this category comes from the family of trees known collectively as pine. Pine is available almost all over the world and still relatively inexpensive. The trees grow tall and straight, a characterictic which, in year gone by, made them suitable for the masts of sailing vessels as well as large constructions beams. Their long, uninterrupted growth makes pine tress perfect for use in the furniture and building industries.

Cedar : generally the colour of liquid  honey, most varieties of cedar are aromatic and have a straight, clearly defined grain. Western red cedar is often used in the construction of houses and joinery, while cedar of Lebanon is a popular choice for cabinet-making as its chemical make-up deters insects. Many varieties in the cedar family are not particularly strong, but they are very durable.

Oregon pine (Oregon cedar, Douglas fir) : is a popular wood used in country-style furniture. it is easy to work, has a pacticularly attractive grain and a lovely brown-yellow colour. This wood giver off a pleasant aroma when being worked.

Pine (all varieties) : is generally a clean white or creamy yellow colour. It is easy to work, is in plentiful supply and is therefore usually inexpensive. Pine can be obtained in a variety of sizes, but good-quality, solid boards are not easy to come by. When selecting pine for furniture making, watch out for knots as they can be a feature or a problem. Knots in timber are  caused by the growth of a branch out of the trunk and if they are ‘dead’ they can fall out of the board(literally), but if they are ‘live’ they can be very attractive feature in the finished product.

Put on your clamps, but only apply enough pressure to keep the clamps upright. Then tighten each clamp a little bit at a time, like putting lug nuts on a wheel. The glue tack and the gradual tightening will keep the pieces just where you want them.

Lubricate the tap with oil. (Machinists use special cutting oil, but ordinary household oil works fine.) Turn the tap with one hand and apply downward pressure through the drill press with the other. After a few revolutions, or if turning becomes difficult, back the tap out one-half turn to break up metal chips. Then continue tapping until the tap spins freely in the hole.

Baltic birch and ApplePly are made from many more layers of thinner veneers. The inner veneers of both of these high-density plywoods are very smooth, and the greater number of thin inner plies makes chip-out much less likely.

The top edges of your drawers will look better, too, because there are fewer and smaller voids in high-density plywood. You won’t have nearly as many unsightly holes to fill.

Baltic birch is a generic term for imported plywood with birch faces and birch-core veneers. ApplePly is a trade name for one domestic manufacturer’s plywood with maple faces and birch- or alder-core veneers.

Baltic birch is available at many lumber dealers in various thicknesses, but it only comes in 5-ft. by 5-ft. pieces. One annoying problem: a whole sheet may not fit into the back of your truck or van without cutting first. ApplePly also comes in a variety of thicknesses and is made in standard 4×8 sheets.