Tenoning jig--Rockler or Woodcraft

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Both Rocker and Woodcraft have their tenoning jigs on sale. With BD discount at Woodcraft and a $15 off card at Rocker they are about the same price. I've looked at them in the past and seem to prefer the Woodcraft, but I have not used either. :( I have a Shop Fox cabinet saw. :) How do you feel about these options? Have you used either or, better yet, both. It seems that I have seen the Woodcraft jig favorably compared to the Delta. Thanks for your input!

[Lamar Horton]

I don't know about the Woodcraft or the Rockler but I have the Delta and only use it when I have a lot of tenons to make. It's a good piece of equipment and easy to use but as I said only if I have a lot to make. The reason is you cannot or (should not) form the whole tenon with this jig. So if you only have a few to make it may be faster to just use the TS.

[Hal Flynt]

I bought the WoodCraft and looked at it side by side with the Delta and about the only difference that I noticed was the color.

[chris kirk]

I just bought the Woodcraft tenon jig (because it was on sale and I needed one) at the local Woodcraft store here in metro Atlanta. I have to say I am a disappointed in this jig. It took me over an hour to make it even functional. I had to shim the bracket that holds the vertical support and I had to drive into town to the Home Depot to buy some 6 mm washers or the vertical support lock down would not even work. I should have taken it back to the store and gotten a replacement. As a general observation, I have say that I am sorry to see that as consumers we are becoming satisfied with stone age looking, poor fitting, imported tools and accessories with gross metal castings that sometimes won't even fit together. I hope yours works better than mine. I am going to be a more careful shopper from now on.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Ron,

While in Dallas/Ft.Worth 18 months ago, I bought the Rockler tenoning jig while it was on sale and had it shipped to my home. It works well as advertised.

One bit of advice. Check the bottom of the tenoning jig regardless of which one you buy. Make sure you have the capability of moving the bar that fits in your miter slot to different positions.

When I got home I put mine together and guess what? I couldn't get it to adjust over far enough to do a tenon. I really didn't want to spend the $$ to ship it back to Arlington, TX. Then I noticed the other mounting holes. I moved the bar over to the 2nd set of mounting holes on the base and BINGO! Now I was in the middle of the adjustment range of the tool and could do those cuts well.

The point being....to the best of my knowledge, the distance from the miter slot in your tablesaw to the blade is not standard between all saws. Make sure the tenoning jig you buy will function correctly on your saw.

[Rick Boyett]

Ron,

One bit of advice. Check the bottom of the tenoning jig regardless of which one you buy. Make sure you have the capability of moving the bar that fits in your miter slot to different positions.


Quoted for truth..

BTW, the Woodcraft jig is capable of doing this.

[Jamie Buxton]

I had a Delta tenoning jig, but I stopped using it. I cut tenon cheeks by just using the rip fence. It is faster to set up, and is easier to adjust to the precision needed. The fence has a micro-adjuster, just for this purpose.

[Dave Lehnert]

I have the Rockler and it works well.

[Jack Camillo]

I'm happy with TS, then BS and good sharp chisels. I can see a tenoning jig for rough stuff that doesn't matter.

[MichaelA Cooper]

Ummm, why don't you just make one?
There are several plans out there.
I made one that rides the fence and it works great!
Michael

[harry strasil]

+1 for make one, I have been using this one for about 20 yrs, added the quick clamp this year, I normally cut tenons oversize and then use my hand tenon router to finish to size.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/tenonjib.jpg