Your preferred method for cutting tenons

[Victor Robinson]

Just want to see how the different tenoning methods break down among creekers...

[Joe Shinall]

I'm interested in seeing the results on this one too.

Table Saw and Dado stack for me. Easier and quicker setup to me.

[Tony De Masi]

Table saw and stacked dado for me also.

Tony

[Joe Scharle]

Woodrat......

[Frank Drew]

In my own shop, table saw with dado stack.

In a well-equipped production shop, a single- or double-ended tenoner, which also can do the coping cut(s) at the same time. They take a while to set up so they're only worthwhile for multiples.

[scott allen]

Radial Arm Saw.

[Andrew Nemeth]

Depends on the size of the tenon and how many I have to cut. For most tasks that involve a fair number of cuts, like cabinet doors, I like a mortising jig for the tablesaw. If I am just cutting a few, a dado stack is faster for me. If the peice is large, like bedrails, I like to make a simple jig and cut them with a handheld router. If I was working with timbers I would probably want a circular saw and some wide chisels.

Whatever it takes to get the job done!

Andrew

[Frank Drew]

For most tasks that involve a fair number of cuts, like cabinet doors, I like a mortising jig for the tablesaw.

I'm probably just having a senior moment, but what's a mortising jig for the tablesaw, and how do you use it to cut tenons? Did you mean a tenoning jig?

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

I use a tenon jig on the table saw with the outside blades of my dado set and a machined spacer between them. If there are flaps that need to be trimmed, I will use my miter gauge and a WWII to finish it up.

[Victor Robinson]

Woodrat......

Sooo, technically that'd be a router, yes? :D

[John Lanciani]

For multiples like kitchen cabinet doors, I use the shaper w/ sliding table, with an insert head with scoring and hogging cutters. (When I move up to the big league I'll get a second head so I can cut both sides in one pass.)

If I figure that the setup time for the shaper will be more than the time saved I will use the tablesaw for the shoulders and the bandsaw for the cheeks.

[Terry Welty]

Currently using a very large tenoning bit on a shaper (utilizing a home made sled) The equipment is from a local High School. Does a great job, uniform tenons... easy to adjust. Unfortunately, my access to the equipment is nearing an end (I take an adult education woodworking class)... I'm looking at setting up a smilar system for my table based router.

Leaning on a system using this CMT bit->

http://www.woodshopdemos.com/cmt-ten-1.htm

Let me know your experience or thoughts...

[Kent A Bathurst]

No vote button for "all of the above" or "It depends how many" or "I dunno - whatever I feel like at the moment" or "that new plane looks cool - let's take it out for a spin and see how she corners" or "On odd-numbered Tuesdays between 9am and noon..." Or...........

Multiples with centered tenons and qty greater than ??? - Uni + Delta tenoning jig. Set it up. Tee it up. Crank 'em out. Move on.

One/two-offs.........Heck, no rhyme or reason. Hand saw + router plane? Or BS + router plane? Or TS shoulders then hand saw or BS + block + shoulder planes? or............I guess whatever I haven't done in a while that I'd like to do.

See Wilde's opinion in sig line below.......

[Al Navas]

http://sandal-woodsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/stretcher-double-tenons-2.png

FMT, Super FMT, etc.


.

[Joe Scharle]

Sooo, technically that'd be a router, yes? :D

True, but the closest selection was router table...

[Frank Drew]

Al,

Are those integral tenons?

[pat warner]

Fixtured work, then plunge router attacks, creates square shouldered tenons (http://patwarner.com/images/index_tenon.jpg) of any reasonable X-section.

[Jamie Buxton]

On simple joinery, a table saw to cut the shoulders. Then for shorter tenons, the table saw for the cheek cuts. I hold the workpiece vertical, against the rip fence. There's no jig involved at all. For longer tenons, I use the bandsaw for the cheek cuts. Getting the fence adjusted correctly is a little more fussy, but it works.

On complicated joinery -- angled tenons or curved shoulders -- I'm likely to use a floating tenon.

[Andrew Nemeth]

I'm probably just having a senior moment, but what's a mortising jig for the tablesaw, and how do you use it to cut tenons? Did you mean a tenoning jig?

Thanks for pointing out my flaws Frank! ;)
I meant tenoning jig.

[Rick Fisher]

I like using a bandsaw, with the fence.

Since getting a domino.. I dont really do it much anymore..

Mortiser for the holes..

[Norman Pyles]

Mortise Pal

[Jason Hallowell]

Another vote for all of the above. For me it depends on the size/shape/style of the tenons, how precise they need to be, how many there are to cut, what machines are currently set up for what, etc. etc. etc. For just a couple, I'm apt to use whatever is handy at the moment. I'd guess that I use the tablesaw and my shop-made jig more than anything else.

[Al Navas]

Al,

Are those integral tenons?

Frank,

They are. I made them with the Leigh FMT Pro. You are able to get perfect registration of the tenons with the mortise, and you are able to dial in the fit in 0.001" increments. The photo shows the joinery for a desk I completed building recently.

.

[Russell Sansom]

Clearly, I'm odd boy out here. I've been using a 3/4-size manual vertical mill for a couple years when I choose not to go the hand-only route.

A vertical mill is the cat's meow for mortises. It's almost like cheating.
For tenons, one has to register off the back side, then get quite creative to mill the 2nd face and still register off that same face...but once the setup is done it's fast and really, really accurate. Cross grain takes a lot of care to avoid blowing out the back side of the cut, same as a router table cross grain.

[Gary Muto]

I use a Super FMT since one set up does the Mortise and tenon. My preferred method for cutting tenons, like I did last weekend for a mating groove is the table saw with a tenoning jig. very fast!!

[Rod Sheridan]

I previously used a shaper and wood coping sled, now I have a shaper with a sliding table for tenons.

Regards, Rod.

P.S. I make the mortices with a hollow chisel mortiser.

[Thomas Pender]

I built a tenon jig that as designed, permits me to use a rabbeting bit on a plunge router. When I change the collar size it changes the size of the tenon. Length is set with the stop on the router. Gives me very square and very clean results. I can make many tenons rather fast. Does require bench with woodworking vise. Matches the mortising chisels on my mortising machine exactly.

I will use a bandsaw occasionally if appearance is not a big deal and tenon saws for very fine work.

In any event, on the bench with me is my LV Medium Shoulder Plane and sharp chisels - they are key.

I have used a friend's Leigh FMT and when I feel my wife will not notice, I will buy one.;)

[Charles Lent]

I've been using an FMT and a Dewalt 618 router to do this for the past 4 years. I've tried the table saw, home built jigs, router table, etc. before buying the FMT and nothing has been as reliable for producing perfect fitting joints. Yes, the mortises and tenons that the FMT and Super FMT makes look just like the photo that Al Navas posted every time that I make them.

Charley

[Al Navas]

I should have also mentioned that the Super FMT has the exact same accuracy as the (now called) FMT Pro. It is remarkable!

.

[Michael MacDonald]

surprised to see so many TS with dado stack... instead of tenoning jig.

I learned by watching Norm/NYW, so I naturally migreated to the tenon jig method after building a tenoning jig that rides on my TS fence. I like how the single TS blade makes perfect shoulder cuts.

Now, I was under the impression that the smoother the cheek, the better the glue joint... so I had thought that the side cut of the tenoning jig was superior... but perhaps I should rethink the dado cut...

Regards,
Michael

[Kirk Poore]

At the moment, I use both a tenoning jig and jigs on a shaper. On the tenoning jig tenons, I cut the shoulders with my radial arm saw. Both the methods can be pretty fast, but that's only after the initial setup.

However, I just bought a Levi Houston tenoner (circa 1880) and once I've got that restored I expect to use it for most of my tenons. Most folks, though, are not willing to have a dedicated tenoning machine, and even fewer are willing to deal with babbitt bearings and 130-year-old cast iron.

Kirk

[Kent A Bathurst]

Whooa, Buddy, Kirk.....now THAT is cool.

How many steer hides does it take for the drive belts? And - you got an overhead power transmission shaft in the shop? I've always wanted one 'a them, with a buncha fan blade assemblies, pointed right at the door - scrap the DC, eh?

Pics to share?

[John Thompson]

Tenoning jig and a Freud Box Cutter set with flat tipped teeth. I saw this thread a few hours ago and had 80 tenons to cut this morning. Twenty 15" slats and twenty 33" slats for a twin Mission bed. I got lucky as the slats are 1" wide and my tenon jig clamp head is 2" wide so so the 320 individual cuts were reduced to 160 passed.

Took 1 1/2 hours in this case and would normally have taken about 3 to do. I would dis-agree with anyone that thinks you cannot do precise tenons on a tenoning jig as a few have mentioned. And.. using a flat head blade as on the Box Joint set there is no shoulder clean-up in the corner. I can cut them as quick as I can rotate them from end to end in the jig and I frankly don't get in a hurry as I am retired. :)

If I have tenons on pieces that won't stand on top of my TS with the jig.. I simply use a 19 T pull saw and cut them by hand as I started out doing years ago. I have cut them on BS.. routers but the tenon jig is what I find to be the quickest with no loss of accuracy.

[Kirk Poore]

Whooa, Buddy, Kirk.....now THAT is cool.

How many steer hides does it take for the drive belts? And - you got an overhead power transmission shaft in the shop? I've always wanted one 'a them, with a buncha fan blade assemblies, pointed right at the door - scrap the DC, eh?

Pics to share?

Here it is:http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/4985/unload1.jpg

That's my friend Eric, who does have line shaft shop, but I'll be running this with a motor belted to the underslung countershaft.
After unloading:
http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/5945/unload5.jpg

Head shot:
http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3376/headoa.jpg

Though difficult to see here, it did come with both cope heads and the relevant shafts & pullies. It also has the cutoff saw, plus the table (slider, not a roller, but you can't have everything).

Kirk

[scott allen]

I was under the impression that the smoother the cheek, the better the glue joint... so I had thought that the side cut of the tenoning jig was superior...

It likely is, but I bet you'd have a real hard time finding anyone who has had a (well-made) tenon cut with a dado stack fail on them. I know I haven't. I'd say as long as the pieces fit together without falling apart on their own, the glue joint will be plenty strong regardless of how you cut the tenon.

Scott

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

I made a machine that routes the mortises for loose tenons (they are not really loose they are quite snug actually).
I like it much better than the TS. The pockets are always consistent within 0.005" easy and usually 0.0025" is as much variation as I'll see coming off the machine. Let it set over night and all that goes out the window with the moisture. I can angle the mortises any way I please the placement and angles never vary after it's set up and tenon stock is easy as pie to make lots of.

If I screw up a piece I can fill the mortise with a loose tenon, glue it in and start over when the glue cures.

I believe that I'll never cut a tenon on a piece again.

[Joe Hynes]

I just used this setup doing my first mortise and tenon joints. I made the spacer and it worked pretty good. It is just a little under .250" so you can shim it to the perfect fit of the mortise. All you have to do is adjust it to cut in the center on the piece.

Joe

[Ross Canant]

Tenon jig and double saw blades with a spacer.

[David Nelson1]

I used a band saw today, but didn't care for it much cant really see the cutting. I going to try a few other ways before I have a preference.

[Brian Mills]

I'm a complete NOOB and have yet to find a preference. I can however say that I'm not a fan of the way I've been doing it. Knocking off 1/8" at a time on the table saw is not fun and I have to say the tenon's I've turned out so far are less the accurate or pretty.

I have multiple issue with them; tear-out, size, accuracy, reference etc. I guess part of that is my mortises as well.

It's been a steep learning curve but I have been learning fast. I made a tenon jig for the supersled I built but have yet to try it. The FMT Pro and the like look awesome but I can't bring myself to drop the coin for them when I have other tools that can do the same for free. Not to mention I can't see how to use them on longer boards. The nice easy to handle 12" boards everyone uses in their demo videos are nice and all but how does that baby perform on a long board....and more importantly how do you even do it without a second story shop and hanging the board out the window in some type of crazy contraption.

I love the strength and simplicity of the M&T, I just have to find a less painful/more accurate way of doing them.

[Kevin L. Pauba]

Radial Arm Saw

[Brian Penning]

I use cylindrically ganged spiralled loose tenons. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.