cutting tenons on a sliding shaper

[James Baker SD]

Those of you who have a sliding shaper or saw/shaper combo, how do you cut tenons (if you use the shaper)?

1. Do you use a pair of matched cutters and cut both cheeks at the same time? If so, I would assume the thickness of the tenon is limited to the various spacers that came with the spindle. How do you then cut the mortise to match?

2. Do you cut one cheek at a time using a single cutter? If so do you raise the spindle for the second cut or flip the wood over while leaving the spindle height unchanged? Is it hard to get predictable (an repeatable tenon thickness this way?

3. Do you use a special tenoning hood? Looking at catalog pictures they would seem to me to create a lot of limitations in slider stroke (almost requiring a plunge cut followed by movement of the sliding table)? What am I missing here?

4. Any other comments you want to make on cutting the tenons and mortises to match?

Thanks,

James

[Stephen Cherry]

I messed around with a sliding table on my shaper, but ended up preferring a sled. If I had a sliding table where the cutter was very close to the slide, I would use that.

One of the benefits of this type of setup is that you very accurately cut both sides of the tenon at the same time. I have some big 8" tenoning discs for this, and you use normal spacers to match the width of the tool for my hollow chisel mortiser. It may take a few tries to get the right combination of spacers and shims, so these can be set aside with a little twist tie to save this combination. You can buy extra shims and spacers from companies that sell shaper stuff (Oella saw, Schmidt, etc).

Unless I was really in a bind, I would not cut one cheek at a time because you will end up with a block plane trying to get the fit right. By cutting both sides, you can get consistently correct fit of the tenons.

For tables, I try to leave the bottom of the tenon full length, and cut a shoulder only on the top. The top shoulder can be cut very quickly with a hand saw, and a sharp chisel.

[David Kumm]

All of the above. I use a tenoning table on the shaper for the shorter stock. If the tenon is centered I make sure the stock is all the same thickness and use one cutter on the bottom and flip the wood. For shorter length tenons I have a used cutter from Oella that you can dial in the thickness of the tenon and cut everything at once. I think the cutter weights over ten pounds so it takes a big machine. Most often though i avoid the shaper and cut cheeks on the saw and the tenons on the bandsaw. Much faster set up and very accurate if the bandsaw is good. I generally don't bother with a tenoning hood if I can leave the shaper fence on even if I take off the wings and reference off the back end of the board. Dave

[Stephen Cherry]

262896


Looks pretty scary, cuts like a Cadillac.

[Peter Quinn]

I have a cutter set from garniga that can make tenons or dados depending on how it's stacked, it will handle up to 2" thick material, does just over a 2 1/4" tenon maximum. It came with a complete shim kit, add to that the spacers I already own, the possibilities are nearly infinite and results are very precise. I always make the mortises first then match the tenons to those. I use a slot mortiser for the mortising, so that's fairly consistant too. I don't use a special hood, if my cutters were any bigger I would have no choice but to step up to a hood. For really large tenons I use the BS.

I forgot to mention I typically mark a reference face on any joinery I'm doing, be it tenons or cope and stick, and run all parts with the reference face down. This puts any deviation in thickness to what is usual the back or blind side making it invisible or less obvious. This is why I prefer the stacked tenon cutters with a single pass. This may be irreverent if your thickness planer is highly accurate and repeatable. Mine is, but it I still follow the reference face practice as good measure. Plus I've usually chosen a piece of wood for best grain orientation as well, the marking keeps that organized as well.

[Richard McComas]

I use two large rebate cutters with the right sized spacer between them. I don't use a special hood. The is my favorite way of making tenons.

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/rmccomas0043/tenons.jpg (http://s119.photobucket.com/user/rmccomas0043/media/tenons.jpg.html)


http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/rmccomas0043/Felderinsert.jpg (http://s119.photobucket.com/user/rmccomas0043/media/Felderinsert.jpg.html)

[David Kumm]

James, the key to life here with big cutters and tenons is to have the stock clamped well to the fence. Even though tempting I don't hold stock by hand when taking big cuts or especially when the stock is trapped in the cutter. Dave

[Jeff Duncan]

James, the key to life here with big cutters and tenons is to have the stock clamped well to the fence. Even though tempting I don't hold stock by hand when taking big cuts or especially when the stock is trapped in the cutter. Dave

And add to that a big heavy shaper! Spinning large diameter heads for coping requires a solid quill, and depending on the thickness/size of the tenons your cutting.....a healthy amount of HP;) I myself don't do tenons very often but use slot mortises for everything I can:D

JeffD

[Ben West]

I don't have a lot of experience with a shaper, but those pictures make me pucker!

[Rod Sheridan]

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Hi, the first photo shows the tenon hood installed on my shaper, complete with a 125mm cutter. I also have a 220mm cutter for deep tenons.

The second photo shows the tenon table and guard installed. The guard moves with the table so the cutter isn't exposed while you're loading or unloading the workpiece.

The third photo shows the fence with length stop installed.

[Rod Sheridan]

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Hi, the first photo shows the workpiece with backer board installed, note that the cutter is fully guarded while this is taking place.

The second is a photo with the shaper stopped, and clamp removed to give a view of what's happening.

The third is the completed tenon, the fourth the completed rail/style.

Regards, Rod.

[Jeff Monson]

Nice photos Rod, is that tenon table a Felder product? or where did you acquire it?

[Kevin Jenness]

We use a heavy sliding table shaper for tenons using matched diameter cutters and spacers fine tuned with shims available from Charles G.G. Schmidt among others. For yellow glue a good glueline thickness is about .002". If you need a hammer to close the joint, it's too tight, if you can use your hat it's too loose. A good dial or digital caliper and dial indicator is helpful for setup. A hood is easily made in the shop on a plywood base to the dimensions of your cutters. We butt the stock up to a stop screwed to the fence and clamp it to the tenoning table with a clamp that came with the machine. This indexing method produces an equal length tenon on any length workpiece, as opposed to using a stop at the opposite end.If the cutters are quite sharp and the wood cooperative, a backup block screwed to the sliding table fence will prevent tearout at the exit. I like to renew the backer after each cut to ensure no blowout, so I use a loose backer, slide it in !/8" after each cut, and clamp it sandwiched between the workpiece and the fence as well as using the holddown clamp. It is essential to clamp the workpiece and the backer securely, as the cutters tend to suck them in with potentially disastrous results.

[Rod Sheridan]

Nice photos Rod, is that tenon table a Felder product? or where did you acquire it?

Thanks Jeff, yes they are Hammer accessories for the shaper..........Rod.

[Dave Cav]

I used to use a sled and a pair of custom made rebate-type brazed cutters from Freeborn. I made a set of spacers so the finished tenons matched my mortiser chisels. It was pretty easy to set up and fast, but was limited to about 1 1/2" long tenons. Eventually I got a Millbury tenoner, and I use it for nearly everything now.

[Kevin Jenness]

I should add that Aigner makes a safety fence with removable, adjustable height fingers against which to ride the uncut tenon end. The same effect could be achieved with a homemade fence using an auxiliary fence face. In both cases, the fence would have to be parallel to the sliding table travel.

[peter gagliardi]

Further to what Kevin said above, Aigner does make a fence for this. But.. You won't be making anything thinner than a 5/16" or 3/8" thick tenon, unless you like freshly milled aluminum, he he. Also, your cutter diameter is going to need to be 7-8" to overcome the depth of the fingers+ the spacer collars+ 1/2 the spindle diameter. That being said the Aigner fence is hands down the best fence I've seen or used in terms of flexibility.

[Richard McComas]

Check out this shop made Aigner style fence.

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/ShopBuilt_Adjustable_Shaper_Fence.html

[Jack Wilson]

I have a shaper set up with 2 cutters, I use a home made sled, 1/4" steel plate bolted to a miter gauge, and a toggle clamp to secure the work piece. I have a Minimax J/P with a mortising attachment and I have that set up with a 1/4" bit; so I make the tennon on the shaper and mortise out the hole on my J/P. I knock the corners off the tennon with a file, (very fast, not a big deal). Everything slides together real smooth. And like Peter Quinn said, I put face down to keep any variation in thickness inside and unseen. Usually I run stuff thru my 36" Performax sander, but still...