I start out with a knife then I take my dremel tool with a 60 grit sanding barrel and sand it down till I get a tight fit then glue it. I make mine 3/4 inch.Those look great. Do you cut your tenon by knife or tenon cutter?
The first one is Sassafras really not sure about the second I made it out of two different kinds of woods.Good looking work Randy, what kind of woods?