Router Cut Mortise & Tenon

[Mike Zilis]

I've cut lots of M&Ts by hand and a few using a Powermatic Benchtop Mortiser. I can't say that I'm really happy with either method. Not to say that my hand tool skills don't need a lot of work, but I'm interested in trying my hand at routing them.

I've spent some time researching a few options:

Pat Warner's Mortise Jig
The Mortise Pal
Leigh Super MFT

Regarding the tenons; I'm fine with cutting them on the bandsaw so a jig that only helps with the Mortise is ok.

I like the flexibility that Pat's jig provides in being able to vary the width of the mortise. The Mortise Pal seems to limit me to a 1/2 inch. The Leigh uses different plastic template guides which come in many length and width combinations (so I believe) which seems good. Of course it also cuts the Tenon along with the Mortise in a single set up which adds a huge advantage.

Does anyone want to weigh in with their experiences/advice regarding router cut M&T?

Thanks,

Mike

[Van Huskey]

I am a fan of square tenons and my "current" favorite setup is using a square chisel mortiser for the mortice and the CMT tenon cutter router bits for the tenon.

Here is the cheapest I found the bit set:

http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/TG5-8627/Tenon-Cutting-CMT-Router-Bit-800627

There is a video on the CMT site showing it in action.

[glenn bradley]

Everyone has their favorite methods. Kinda like making drawer boxes; you find a method and just keep using it. I love the Mortise Pal. I have the original version which has been much improved on if that's possible. For floating or standard tenons it is just oo easy. If the mortises will show as with through tenons, it is very easy to square off the round ends.

[John TenEyck]

I prefer to use a router for most mortising applications. I've made all sorts of jigs over the years. I recently built a slot mortiser using a horizontal router. It is about the fastest, most accurate way of cutting mortises that I've used, and works for most applications. It cost me less than $50 and about 6 hours to build. It can make mortises of nearly any length and width you want. I use shop made loose tenons with it. Here's a link to some photos of the "machine" and parts made with it:

http://picasaweb.google.com/JohnTenEyck54/SlotMortiser?feat=directlink

[Nelson Howe]

I built Michael Fortune's router jig. You can find it at FWW online, or in the latest Woodworking (used to be Popular Woodworking) magazine. FWW's article has more information on how to build the jig. I like it a lot. I suspect it's kind of like a home built mortise pal.

Nelson

[Neal Clayton]

i used to have the leigh jig and honestly, it's very good.

the only reason i didn't keep it was it's not really that great for making mortises inside of a cope/stick joint, for that you're better off just using the cope cutter to make a square tenon.

but for simple flat shouldered joints, the leigh jig is the best option i saw for router use.

it's simple to set up and deadly accurate.

the only limitation is depth, but that's a limitation with any router solution.