Beadlock mortiser...opinions?

[paul in colorado]

I'd like user comments on the Beadlock loose mortise system. As sold, it looks like an easy way to make M&T joints. I've always predrilled mortises and chiseled out the hole. The concern is always just how perpendicular the mortise is when done by hand. This looks like a way to get vertical holes as a guide to shipshape mortises [not using the overpriced loose tenon material they sell]. I'm reluctant to consider a drill press/mortising machine.
thanks

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Paul, tool purchasing is all a compromise. There are better tools for making M&T joints, but they cost money. I make mine with a Delta mortiser and tenoning jig. Before I got those I used a router for the mortises and a dado blade to make the tenons. Before that I used dowels, which is what the beadlock really is. One of the reasons I went to M&T from dowels was the slop in the joints. I have a good quality dowling jig with replacable guides, but the guides wear pretty quickly so you get some sloppy holes and its easy to get off a 32nd or 64th when you're measuring and get a tight fit. It worked most of the time, but sometimes I had to do a lot of sanding. If you are meticulous in your setup and careful when you drill, the system will work, but drilling all those holes seems tedious.

[Mark Mazzo]

Hi Paul,

I have the BeadLock system. I made a mistake on my last project and did not account for the length of the tenons when rough cutting some of th stock. Rather than start over, I opted to purchase the BeadLock system and try it out.

The system is very easy to use. Almost foolproof. You make a mark on the stock (both pieces) at the center of where you want the tenon located and align the mark on the jig adjacent to the marks on the stock. Then clamp the jig in place. The jig has two "settings" A and B. You first set it to the A setting and drill the holes and then slide it over to the B setting and drill the remaining holes between thos already drilled. It's really tough to make any mistake. What I found was that if you mark carefully, alignment was not a real issue. I was using this on some door frames and I expected to trim the doors to final length and width anyway so I did not expect edges to line up perfectly. I also expected to (and did) scrape down the surfaces between rails and styles smooth, because they did not end up perfectly flush. The kit does come with shims to offest the jig, but I did not use them.

There is very litttle if any play in the joint once drilled out and the tenon stock is inserted. This is because of the little pointed serations between holes meshing with the Beadlock tenon stock.

It sounded from your post that you intend to not use the Beadlock tenon stock (by the way they do sell a router bit to make the stock but I do not have it). If you are going to do that , it does not seem that you gain much advantage with the jig over drilling out a series of holes with a Fortsner bit in the drill press and then chiseling it out square, then adding a loose tenon. On the otherhand if you do not have a drill press then this would be a way to overlapp the holes with the drillbit wandering.

All in all I think that it was worth the money (it's no too expensive), and I think that it will come in handy in certain cases where I will need to do something similar. If you have further questions, please feel free to ask.

-- Mark

[Steve Roxberg]

There is a nice review, and some fine tuning hints on www.woodshopdemos.com

You should check out the review. I don't have one, but they do look interesting.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

interesting reply. Think I'll check it out.

[DJPlata]

I bought a Beadock tool at a woodshow a few years ago, I think when they first came out. It was very inexpensive, I think it was $29.95 for both jigs and some tenon stock. It was a total impulse buy- it looked too good to be true, but in practice it does work very well. It is not my preferred way to do M&Ts, but I have used it for some "quick and dirty" jobs. For fine WW jobs I usually fall back on a router and jigs or a drill press and chisels. I don't know why, maybe I'm just a woodworking snob...

Regards,

DJPlata
Wadsworth, IL

[paul in colorado]

thanks for the input.
Beadlock is cheap enough anyway so I'll give it a try.
Woodcraft has a 10% off everything sale on thurs. 27th.

[Chris Knight]

I think it's really hard to beat loose tenons. They are just as strong as a regular Neander M/T and much, much easier to make and align. They allow - if you wish, for the same kind of latitude as biscuits and can be cut in so many ways that no special equipment is needed.

They save wood too - rails only need be as long as the space between the stiles - very useful when squeezing a project out of a prime bit of wood. and they can make use of scraps for the tenons that would otherwise go to waste.