I marked the Tenon cut marks all the way around. I also made sure to X off the scrap on both ends at the same time so I didn’t accidentally end up with a 90 degree twist in my tenons.
I cut the ends on my miter box down to the lines.
It really helps to cut at a 45 degree angle like this. You can see both lines that your trying to cut along. Spinning the piece, you cut at a 45 down the remaining line, and then about 5 strokes square to the lines will finish the cut.
At first I tried using a rasp and file to clean up my cuts, but I found that the 3/4 inch chisel works much better when used like a knife to clean up the cuts. I keep the chisel sharp, so it is actually really easy to shave the wood smooth with it.
You can see where I marked my chisels with a cut depth mark in permanent marker so I knew how deep to cut my mortises. I didn’t need to drill any holes in the corners. Besides cutting the 4 uprights to size with a jigsaw, I am making the whole shelf using only hand tools. Well, I will probably drill pilot holes for the hinges, so that won’t be true.
