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Monday, April 7, 2014

Making A Monkey Tool


I went through a phase where I made some grilles and gate and railing which used peened tenon joinery.  I made several monkey tools to true up the tenons and create a square shoulder for a nice fit.

I don’t remember who showed me how to make these tools but I remember he said to be careful to relieve the inner edge so there was a little radius at the takeoff point of the tenon rather than a sharp edge which may be a stress raiser.

I found one old handled monkey tool in a flea market and made all the others from jack hammer drill rod which was once abundant at my scrapyard.  I just drilled out the center hold to the sizes needed.

I remember using them once to put tenons on flat bar slats that made a table shelf.  After the round tenons were formed I flattened them into an oval and made a corresponding drift.  When assembled the slats stayed in the horizontal plane nicely because they could not rotate.

Here is one reference on how to make a monkey tool:


And you can buy them:


My Monkey tools.


In driving position.

Monkey seated.

Slight edge relief on Monkey gives the tenon base a stress relieving radius.


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