cutting tenons

[Vince Shriver]

Just curious, does anyone use a spacer between two dado blades to cut the cheeks of a tenon?

[Sean Hughto]

http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=46629.4

[Vince Shriver]

http://forums.taunton.com/fw-knots/messages?msg=46629.4


That's a sign-up form.... (?)

[Leo Vogel]

I use a Freud box joint cutter blade. Works better than a dado blade, much smoother cut and leaves no ridges.

[Sean Hughto]

On my computer it's a thread that has detailed pictures addressing cutting tenons with spacers and dado blades. Sign up, it's free, and then you should be able to see it.

[John Thompson]

It's what Sean describes on my screen also, Vince. Mike Hennesey over at another location has a pretty in-depth pictorial of use of the spacer. Mike has been around that location for awhile. With that said... I use a Freud Box Cutter Set as Leo as it leaves a cut that doesn't have to be cleaned at all and the flat teeth on the cutters leave a flat bottom with no corner clean-up.

Sarge..

[Rod Sheridan]

Yes, I used to do that using two rip blades.

Regards, Rod

[Frank Drew]

I've never tried the two-blade method, but as long as you're setting dado blades anyway, for me an easier and faster method would be to cut the tenons entirely with the full dado set, with your work laying flat on the table and using your miter guide or sliding table, depending on your setup. Saves having to calibrate and use another piece of equipment (the RAS) to complete the job.

There might be a score mark or two on the cheeks from the outer dado blades, but those won't hurt anything.

[joe milana]

I've never tried the two-blade method, but as long as you're setting dado blades anyway, for me an easier and faster method would be to cut the tenons entirely with the full dado set, with your work laying flat on the table and using your miter guide or sliding table, depending on your setup. Saves having to calibrate and use another piece of equipment (the RAS) to complete the job.

There might be a score mark or two on the cheeks from the outer dado blades, but those won't hurt anything.

The problem for me with this method is slight variances in stock thickness cause some tenons to fit tight, while others are loose (if you are cutting multiple pieces)

PS: what do you use for spacers when using the box joint blade method?

[Frank Drew]

The problem for me with this method is slight variances in stock thickness cause some tenons to fit tight, while others are loose (if you are cutting multiple pieces)

J,

Even if you buy already surfaced material, you still might need to do some flattening after cutting out your parts, and it's always a good idea to give the pieces a final light pass through the planer.

So, if your stock's carefully dimensioned and nice and flat so that it sits flat on your saw table (and without any sawdust of chips underneath which could throw things off), you should get pretty accurate results. If not, or if your dado set gives a slightly raggedy cut, that's what they make shoulder planes for :D.


PS: what do you use for spacers when using the box joint blade method?If you mean in cutting tenons, I've never used that method, and in fact have never cut a box joint as such. Closest thing was dentil moulding for a piece of furniture, and that was a one-off so I just made a jig for my miter gauge and used the two dado saw blades.

But just about anything would work for spacers... plywood, metal, masonite, whatever.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I have contemplated doing exactly that using two matched saw blades.

The up side is you get the same tenon each time.
The down side is ----- ummm - - - - well - - - - uhhh

It's been my experience with tenons that the tenon jigs, flipping the board, the miter slot & guide bar fit all work together to maximize error.
If you can cut the tenon in one operation you eliminate all that mess.


Which was one of the principle reasons why I went to floating tenons.

It's just more muss and fuss than any of it was worth when the tenon stock could be mass produced to exacting specifications which fit the slot that my cutter produces with perfect repetitive precision every single time.
Loose tenons take all the struggle and guesswork out of the joint.