starting a new project using floating tenons

[jeff oldham]

im starting a new project and was wanting to use floating tendons,,,i even made a jig to do this,,but it still seems like alot of work,,,i was thinking about the beadlock system that rockler sells,,can anyone give me some advice on either one and which do you perfer

[Michelle Rich]

Beadlock is a great product to make TENONS. I have used beadlock for many many years.Just a drill and the jig. The joinery is very strong and easy to make.

[dennis thompson]

I have a Beadlock listed for sale , if you’re interested look under Sawmill classifieds

[Jim Becker]

Floating tenons are strong and a great way to assemble projects. Obviously, they don't really "float" once the glue is applied. :) The advantage is easier fabrication compared to traditional tenons. THe disadvantage, outside of some situations where they "may" not be quite as strong as solid tenons, is...picking a system. LOL Dowels, Beadlock, Domino, hand-cut, etc. Beadlock is a good system because of the simplicity of use...similar to Domino or dowels in that respect. Probably the one downside to Beadlock is that the tenon stock is a bit difficult to self-manufacture.

Given Dennis has one available, that would be a nice way to go, too.

[jeff oldham]

may i ask why you are selling it,,did you not like it

[John TenEyck]

If you have the right setup loose tenon joinery is fast, precise, and versatile. You might want to check out my horizontal router mortiser and build one from the free plans. At the least, you will see what is possible and see that it is far easier than using a jig with a handheld router.

https://sites.google.com/d/1deYVS01kWg8M7TBd7AyIPWur6mYCy0bL/p/1gQooTkYQcUifSSBG4m9kQx1wLzDnt4lF/edit?pli=1&authuser=1

John

[dennis thompson]

Jeff
I used to make furniture but my house is completely filled and my wife said " NO MORE" . Now I just make models461039
, nothing larger than 18":) so I no longer use the Beadlock.

[Charlie Jones]

I agree with John. The Beadlock will make strong joinery. The downside is the difficulty making you own tenon stock and it has to be slow. I have seen a router bit for making Beadlock tenons.

[Charles Lent]

A Beadlock floating tenon joinery system is a great way to get started with mortise and tenon joinery, because you don't need any specialized tools for using it. A hand held electric drill and drill bit, a clamp, and a saw to cut the Beadlock tenon stock to length are the only tools required to achieve very strong and easy to assemble mortise and tenon joints. You, of course, need a sharp pencil too.

Place the two work pieces together and aligned the way you want them to be and mark a center line across the joint with a pencil. Then use this pencil mark to position the Beadlock jig. Clamp the jig to the work piece and then drill three holes the desired depth into the work piece. Now shift the drill guide block of the jig to the second position and drill the additional holes the desired depth. A tab on the jig prevents you from drilling the third hole when the drill guide block is in this position.

Now repeat the process to drill the holes in the second work piece the desired depth. Now insert the Beadlock tenon stock into one of the work pieces it's full depth and mark the tenon stock to show it's depth. Remove the tenon stock and place it in the second work piece it's full depth, again marking the depth on the tenon stock. Then remove the tenon stock and measure the from the end of the tenon stock to each of the two marks. You will want to add these two measurements together and then cut the tenon stock about 1/8" shorter than this total measurement. This will assure that when assembled, the shoulders of the joint will always touch before the tenon piece bottoms out.

Now you can assemble, glue, and clamp this joint together. Since both pieces of the work were originally marked on the face side of the work the position of the mortise and tenon joint was cut at the same exact dimension from this surface, so the joint will be flush. If an offset is desired between the tow pieces after assembly, shims are provided to place between the jig and the drill guide part of the jig so that the holes drilled are spaced back further from the face side of the work when drilling this proud piece of work. The set back piece must be drilled without this spacer. Then, when the joint is assembled, there will be a set back in the surface of the joint.

The Beadlock tenon stock isn't cheap, but you get several pieces with the jig, so you can practice with it before beginning your project. Beadlock offers special router bits to cut this tenon stock, but you will need to cut the material the exact thickness needed and then use a router table with a mid to large size router that can handle 1/2" shank bits mounted in this router table in order to make your own Beadlock tenon stock, so it gets quite involved. These special router bits are not cheap either, so beginning users of the Beadlock system should just plan on buying the Beadlock tenon stock. Some day, when better equipped, you will likely be using other means of making your mortise and tenon joints anyway.

I have recommended the Beadlock system to several friends who were beginning woodworkers, and demonstrated to them how to use it easily and effectively. At one point I even bought one and demonstrated it to them, then sold the jig to the last one that I trained on it. My preferred M&T jig is my Leigh FMT Pro jig that I have owned for over 15 years now. The Beadlock system is a great way to get started with mortise and tenon joinery at a very reasonably low cost, especially if you only have some the basic of woodworking tools. You can make some very strong and tight joints with it without the need to invest in expensive M&T machinery. It can be very accurate and easy to use if you take the time to align and clamp it to your work carefully.

Charley

[Warren Lake]

if you have a table saw a hammer and chisel you can make a mortise and tennon joint.

[Tracy Roberts]

I use the Beadlock system and chisel the sides of the mortice flat so no special floating mortice shape is needed.