Best way to do mortise & tenons?

[dennis thompson]

I am a hobbiest and have been reading up on the best way to do mortise & tenon joints (tablesaw, router, bandsaw,loose tenons, jigs, etc) and am getting confused. How do you do them?
Thanks
Dennis

[Gary Herrmann]

It depends on the time and tools you have available, Dennis. I don't know that there is a best way, just different ways. What tools do you have and what is the application of your M&T joint?

Even if you ask this question on the Neander forum, you're going to get a variety of answers.

[Rod Sheridan]

Dennis, Gary has asked you the correct questions.

I make mine with a hollow chisel mortiser and a shaper.

I also make them with a drill, chisels and a back saw.

There are many methods of making that joint, and often the size of the pieces dictates the method.

(You're not going to cut the tenon on the end of a 12 foot long piece of 8 X 8 using your tenon jig on a tablesaw.)

Regards, Rod.

[dennis thompson]

Gary
I'm retired so I have the time. I have a table saw,router table,bandsaw, planer, jointer & more routers than I want my wife to know about. I'm building a library table with many M&T joints so I'd like to get them right, I consider myself a beginner. Right now I'm leaning towards a router & router table.
Dennis

[Don Dorn]

I also choose to the use the router and loose tenons, however you it wouldn't have to be loose with tenons being cut on the tablesaw. There are plans for jigs that allow you to cut mortises very accuratley with a plunge straight bit and a template guide. Google shop made mortise jigs and I think you'll have many viable choices.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I use loose tenons and a slot mortiser

Up side: I can control the tenon thickness with enormous precision - as I can run the stock through the planer to size it, I can control the geometry of the mortise with enormous precision because nothing moves out of place in the slot mortiser and I can use jibs for odd angles and my mortiser head tilts. Both are exceptionally repeatable

But don't get me wrong. I've seen guys to it all by hand who can produce work as nicely fitted and closely toleranced as anything I've seen elsewhere.

So I'd submit that there is no best way. There is only the way you go about it.

[Gary Herrmann]

Personally, I've never made M&T joints using a router and router table, but I can see how it would work very well. Like Rod, I use my TS and a mortiser. Prior to that, I used my TS, DP and chisels.

I never thought I would buy a mortiser, but then that deal came up last year on the Jet JFM5 with 30% cashback and a $200 rebate on top of a cost of $565, so how could I resist a floor model motiser for cheap...

Dennis, I think the key here is to do it the way you feel most comfortable and confident in your abilities and tools. There have been a number of posts of shop made router jigs for M&T joints. I think one of the magazines - Shopnotes maybe? had a very good article on one recently.

[Von Bickley]

Dennis,

I haven't made any M&T's lately, but I have the Jet mortise machine and the Delta tenoning jig, and they will help you make pretty good M&T joints.

[Matthew Hills]

mortise: plunge router with edge guide (can make a Tage Frid jig to set end points, or just put it in vise with wood on either side to increase support on base of router). Table is possible too, but I dislike lowering wood on to spinning bit and not being able to see it.

tenon: table saw, either with dado blade and miter gauge, or make a tenoning jig (mine is a simple affair that fits over my fence and runs on that)

If you do have time, the hand tool approach is particularly satisfying. Ray Isles mortising chisel and take your pick of saws for the tenons.

Matt

[Chris Rosenberger]

I tried all of the different way over the years. What I found that worked the best for me was to cut the mortises with a hollow chisel mortiser & cut the tenons on a tablesaw with a dado blade.

[Greg Cole]

The above answers have ya well covered. My $0.02 is to try a few different ways and see which one you like best or which one suits your shop tools & work habits best.
I do some 100% by hand, some by machine and some by a loose tenon machine I won't mention the name of as to avoid the rabid discourse it usually brings. ;)

[Charles Lent]

You should try making M&T joints using the different ways that are available and then decide what type of equipment to buy based on your experiences.
I've tried them all over the past 50 years. I now have a Leigh FMT jig. It was expensive, but I will never use the hollow chisel methods again. I can cut perfect mortises and matching tenons all day long now, and do it much faster than I ever could any other way. If you don't have the money for an FMT, a Mortise Pal or a home made jig for a router will make good mortises and you can make floating tenons with your table saw and router table. The hollow chisel methods are no where near as accurate. Save your money and try doing it with a router and floating tenons. Then try somebody's hollow chisel mortiser before you buy one. Once you have made them with a router I'm sure you won't want a hollow chisel mortiser.

Charley

[Rick Fisher]

I use a hollow chisel mortiser. For the tennon's, I use a router table.

[Brent Leonard]

I cut my mortises on a shopsmith Mark V using a carbide spiral router bit, in drill press mode. I do not square the corners of the mortise. I found a drill bit is not stiff as I need, not to mention I cannot route out the slot at the same time I drill it out.

I cut the tenons on the table saw with maybe a cut or two on the bandsaw. I then use a rasp to round the sides of the tenon to fit the mortise.


I can do them very fast, clean and easy.

[Danny Thompson]

Mortises: Drill press with a Forstner bit. Hand chisel for the corners (if you want square corners) and to smooth the sides.

Table saw & tenoning jig for the tenons.

[Peter Scoma]

I make my tenons with a router and chop my mortises after removing some stock on the DP. I bought a mortising attachment for my DP that was a POS. I quite like chopping mortises by hand.

PS

[Ben Kautz]

I haven't seen anyone describe a way to make sure the face showing will have flush edges from the rail to the style. Which is the best method?
Make the tenons first or the mortise? I have tried the router table for tenons, the tenoning jig on the saw. I still have trouble getting the face that shows flush.
Any suggestions?

[glenn bradley]

The project drives the method for me. I have haunch tenons, floating and traditional on a current hutch I'm building. I would pretty much use a flaoting tenon anywhere one might use a domino or a dowel. I prefer traditional tenons for through or tusk tenons. I use haunches on frames to add twist strength.

If there is no other driving incentive, I will grab the Mortise Pal every time. Quick, repeatable, and doesn't take up much room when not in use. Since the reference face is always the same, the faces are flush. This can, of course be changed if a stepped relationship is desired.

262214 . 262215
262217 . 262216

[Myk Rian]

Tenoning jig on the table saw, and a mortiser in the drill press.

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[Myk Rian]

Just noticed this thread is from 2009.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Last summer I built a Norm Abrams version porch swing. The only structural joint used is mortise and tenon. The seat slats are screwed on. The back slats use moritse and tenon. I used a General International dedicated mortiser and my table saw with a stacked dado head to cut the tenons. The trick to getting a good fit on the shoulders is make sure the blade is perpendicular to the face of the wood when making the tenons. There are close 50 M&T joints in that swing and they all came out fine.

The trick is developing a simple repeatable procedure, being picky during setup, use the developed procedure without any variances and spot check your progress as you go. Things do change while in use, sadly.

[glenn bradley]

Just noticed this thread is from 2009.

True. But, Ben's question was from yesterday ;-)

[pat warner]

Tenons with platform fixturing, straight bits and plunge routers. Always perfect shoulders (http://patwarner.com/images/index_tenon.jpg) all in the same plane.

[Frank Drew]

Pat,

What's platform fixturing?

Hand methods are satisfying, if slow. I used Tage Frid's plunge router mortising method for a while and it worked well, then I got a slot mortiser and that was that. I used a dado set on the table saw for the tenons, which were really easy and very accurate once I got a sliding table saw with stops, etc.

Rod, for your shaper tenoning, does your shaper have a sliding table, or do you use a miter gauge in the groove?

[Jim Rimmer]

Here's a link to a video I made of mortising legs for an end table. There are a couple of more videos on my channel about mortising, as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeiIh5vIcok&list=UUO4XJL_GDUzqjtvceSDBO7w&index=7

[Bill Maietta]

Yes, first by hand. Add more technology. Take your time to be very confident with layout and marking, then get a Festool Domino or Domino XL. Don't hurry early steps.

[Alan Lightstone]

Leigh FMT Pro. Real pricey, but totally repeatable and very precise. A luxury, for sure, but sweet!!!

[Rick Fisher]

Lately I have made tenons with a dozuki saw and chisel. Under cut and chop downwards.. I have been doing it because its fun .. not faster or cleaner.. Just more fun ..

Basically like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=3vhs4hFoLag

[Bud Millis]

Dennis,

When I started doing them I used what I had and what I thought was the best way. I went to Big Lots and got a cheap bench top drill press. Already had the table saw & chisels. For years I used this setup and made a ton of furniture. Mark out the area, drill the holes and clean up with the chisel. Made the tennons on the TS and did some light cleanup = very good quality. The first thing I made this way was a wine rack with 28 M&Ts. After that, I could knock them out very quick.

I have since moved up to a bench top mortiser that I pick up off Craigslist cheap. That's even better.

[Dave Cav]

I wonder if Dennis ever finished his library table, and if so, where are the pictures?

[dennis thompson]

Here it is, in fact I made a second one for my shore house. Interesting that this came up now since I'm making a couple of chairs which require a lot of M&T joints. Using the table saw & band saw for the tenons & router for the mortises

[Ben Thomas]

That is a beautiful table. Not to hijack the thread here but what were your finishing steps?

[dennis thompson]

I don't remember the actual steps I used on that table but my usual finishing is pretty basic: sand down to 220, stain with Min Wax stain, polyurethane with Minwax polycrylic satin (3 or 4 coats)

[Tai Fu]

I cut the tenon with a bandsaw... it works great without expensive tenon jigs. The mortise I would hollow out with a drill and then route it out, or sometimes I'll just drill and use a chisel.