Traditional Mortise and Tenon Joinery is a method often beyond the skill-set and tool budget for most woodworkers. Although machines can now bore deep mortises and shape long tenons those come at a cost, often a major cost. There are alternative joinery methods such as Dominos, BeadLock and dowels but NONE OF THE ABOVE ARE KNOCK-DOWN.
My workshop is very well equipped so when building custom stair systems, railings, and bunks for clients it was much more productive to fabricate, test-fit and apply finishes before project components were taken to the jobsite. To do this the joinery needed to be "knock-down" but the only available hardware were Tee-Nuts and Threaded Inserts.
Initially I fabricated my own Threaded Metal Tenons from flat-bar steel. I'd cut the steel, drill the holes and then thread tap. A very time-consuming process and not very accurate. Later, with several signed projects on the docket, I contracted a small-order fabricator to laser-cut and tap metal tenons. After several iterations it came down to this funny-looking, overlapping-circles shape. This shape allows mortises to be bore using either a router or a Forstner drill bit.
It was time to retire from building homes for others. With time on my hands, encouragement from others, as silly as it sounds, I decided I'd allocate half of my new upcoming Social Security checks towards fulfilling a "Bucket List" item by applying for two U.S. Patents! The first to be approved was U.S. Design Patent #856 , 786 S This Design Patent protects the goofy overlapping-circles "shape" of the Threaded Metal Tenons.
When the patent attorney asked for my birthdate he laughed and said "The USPTO gives priority to old people like you!" A year later the USPTO issued Utility Patent #US 10,690,164 B2. Although this was the more expensive patent it provides protection of the "System" of Threaded Tenon Joinery. Those familiar with patenting can appreciate it when I say "...the USPTO approved ALL 17 Claims". This is a rare situation as I understand it.
Mortise and Tenon Joinery is hugely strong and nothing new, in fact, it's been around for over 7,000 years but is not very Knock-Downish. Modern knock-down hardware is out there, as this article in WOOD Magazine explains, but there goes the strength! (Think bed frames that loosen with use). Threaded Tenon Joinery™ is the best of many worlds: It's strong: repeatable; glue-less; easy-to-install; and very, very knock-down-ish. For these reasons it was worth the time, effort and expense which resulted in the USPTO's approval of It’s About Knock-Down® as a registered trademark.
With two US Patents and a Trademark Threaded Tenon Joinery™ is "all dressed up and ready to go". Initially I planned to rent booth space to demo and sell at the series of Woodworking Shows but those were cancelled due to COVID. With the "biological clock" ticking, no desire to become a YouTuber or engulfed in social media I am looking to collaborate with Retailers, Content Creators, Custom Furniture Builders and/or Manufacturers that realize the potential of this very new, very functional, very strong, high-buzz-factor, patented joinery system. Licensing, bulk sales and even an outright purchase of the patent/trademark rights are on the table.
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