Looking at tenoning jigs

[Terry Starch]

I need help purchasing a tenoning jig. Any recomendations will be great. I have looked at the Delta jig. It seemed cheaply made.

[Dave Gaul]

I bought one of the super cheap China made ones from Woodcraft when they had one of their super blowout tent sales last year. When it arrived, I took plenty of time to set it up correctly. I've used it several times, and it has worked perfectly.

[Terry Starch]

I would like a nice one. I seen the price goes from like $70 up to $200. Is the price difference worth it? The one Grizzly carries is the cheapest I have found, but unsure of quality.

[Michael Weber]

Terry, there seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction with the later table saw tenoning jigs. I'm looking at building one from www.woodgears.ca Seems like a better method and very accurate and fast, but then I like to build jigs (YMMV). I can't supply a complete link for you because I'm at work and his website is blocked but you should be able to get there. It's not the one for the router that also does mortises but is for a table saw. Uses a micrometer gauge for precision. The combination mortise/tenon machine he built is worth looking at because it's really complex with XY movement. I actually purchased his plan for it because it was just pretty facinating.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I need help purchasing a tenoning jig. Any recomendations will be great. I have looked at the Delta jig. It seemed cheaply made.

My Delta is fine. BUT - it is over 10 yrs old, and I don't know what the newer stuff is like.

[Steve Roxberg]

I built the Woodsmith plan and it works great. You can make one and save some money.

[Gary Herrmann]

A lot of people consider the Delta 1172 to be the best tenoning jig ever made. Not sure when they stopped making it. 70s or 80s I think. All cast iron (mine feels like it weighs 30 lbs). Adjusts easily. They can be expensive and hard to find. I've seen them for sale up to $400 and down to $125. I'm sure people have gotten them for less though.

They were made for the old style unisaw, so the miter bar may not be where you need it for your saw. You can tap new holes though. That's what I did. It's a very good jig.

There is one for sale on the bay right now: 250778738082.

[Jason Pinsonneault]

my general seams to be quite good

[Ray Newman]

Gary H: I also have one of those older cast iron tenoning jigs. Well made and with all that weight, it does not move or vibrate at all.
It will also work with older Delta shapers of the same timeframe.

Was ‘sorta’ surprised when you mentioned how much they can now go for.

[Gary Herrmann]

Ray, I'm surprised by it myself. A friend of mine is looking for one. so I surfed a bit this past weekend.

I know they're great jigs, but you can get a vintage Unisaw in good shape for $400.

I wonder if there was an article on a blog or in a magazine recently that drove up the price. The days of finding them at garage sales seem to be just about gone.

[Stephen Cherry]

I've got one that I use with my inca saw. It seems to me that the way to take a lot of the potential for error out is to use a block of wood to move the board to cut each of the cheeks. The block of wood is sized to be approximately the thickness of the mortising tool, plus one saw kerf (it will take a little adjustment). The jig is set up with the block between the jig and show face of the board, then the jig is adjusted to put the show face cheek in right place. The opposite side of the cheek is made by keeping the board in the jig in the same orientation, but the block is moved so that it is between the back side of the board and the clamp part of the jig. Then the next cut is made.

With this way of using the jig, you only adjust the jig once, for the thickness of the show face shoulder, and keep it locked down, so you really do not need a super good jig for consistent cuts because the block of wood is what determines the thickness of the tenon.

[Bill White]

Made mine to ride the fence on the TS. Works just fine, and it didn't cost anything but some time and some scrap plywood.
Bill

[Josiah Bartlett]

I'm fairly happy with my older Rockler jig but I really tend to use my bandsaw unless I need to make a lot of repeated cuts. Its just less hassle to set up and use.

[Chris Jackson]

I have a Grizzly that I've used twice...works fine, no complaints, even has some nice fine adjustments...however, I've gotten in the habbit of hand working my Tenons these days.