Hello Clark,
A mortice could be one example of an opening that I'm meaning, so cutting it necessarily exposes end grain at the top and bottom generally and since the pathway an arch makes is longer than a straight line a pill shaped mortice degrades the wood more or exposes more end grain than a comparable rectilinear mortice. This is one reason that in Japan square pegs are preferred. In a glued joint, so certain types of furniture construction, a rectangular mortice provides more glue surface than a mortice cut by say a router or a slot borer with rounded short ends where a rounded off tenon would be inserted.
Greetings,
Don Wagstaff
Last edited by D Wagstaff; 05/22/12 09:23 PM. Reason: and
