Budget round end tenon machine.

[George Konis]

Hello :)

I just got an old used Casadei L'artigiana combo which has a slot mortiser.What i want to know is if theres a budget round end tenoning machine out there? Dont have the money for one of those dedicated machines and i wont be making that many tenons anyway. :)

Or shall i stick to my rasp?

regards,

George

[Mats Bengtsson]

...What i want to know is if theres a budget round end tenoning machine out there? Dont have the money for one of those dedicated machines and i wont be making that many tenons anyway. :)Or shall i stick to my rasp?...

Assuming you already do square tenons easily enough (router table or table saw) I would say stick to the rasp, or even do them a bit less wide. There is little loss of important strength in such a solution, unless you talk about load similar to chairs. There a rasp is fine.

--- Mats ---

[Anthony Whitesell]

The machine I use for round tenons is the table saw. I slide the tenon stock inside a piece of PVC pipe, move it over the dado blade and rotate the stock into the blade (top towards you) while using the miter gauge to keep it square. Works like a charm.

P.S. I see the trick published annually in one magazine or another.

[david brum]

Tasteful stealth gloat on your new machine! I know this doesn't exactly address your question, but the beauty of a slot mortiser is that you can make loose tenons easily. For that, you just make up a bunch of long lengths of tenon stock, then round it over with a router. I rough cut the tenon stock on the bandsaw, then sneak up on the thickness with the planer. You can make up a bunch at once, since the mortises will always be the same width.

[glenn bradley]

The machine I use for round tenons is the table saw. I slide the tenon stock inside a piece of PVC pipe, move it over the dado blade and rotate the stock into the blade (top towards you) while using the miter gauge to keep it square. Works like a charm.

P.S. I see the trick published annually in one magazine or another.

I believe the slot mortiser he speaks of make slots with rounded ends, not round.


Tasteful stealth gloat on your new machine! I know this doesn't exactly address your question, but the beauty of a slot mortiser is that you can make loose tenons easily. For that, you just make up a bunch of long lengths of tenon stock, then round it over with a router. I rough cut the tenon stock on the bandsaw, then sneak up on the thickness with the planer. You can make up a bunch at once, since the mortises will always be the same width.

Agreed. I use floating tenons whenever the M&T is not aesthetic (through or tusk tenons and such). No problems.

[Peter Quinn]

I use a router table with a quarter round bit and a stop block to get 90% of it and a rasp or chisel to quickly get the rest. I use loose tenons when ever possible because I find it quicker to make two slots than to tune tenons to the slots. I've never seen an inexpensive machine that made round edge tenons, I guess the base line price would be a couple of grand for something like a Richline, or a Multi Router and straight up from there to more industrial machines?

[Bill Huber]

I plan the wood to the correct thickness then rip it to the width I need and as has been stated just use the router table and a round over bit with 4 passes. I then cut the length I need and I am ready to go, I make up a bunch at a time and store them in a sealed plastic jar.