Can a TENON be cut on a SHAPER?

[Rob Will]

Thanks for all the help with mortising machines. Now for the other side of the equation.... A wise man told me not long ago that tenoners are complex (and from what I can see, expensive). So, if I don't want to buy a tenoner, what should I use to cut a tenon? (mostly for furniture construction)

How about a sliding table shaper? What do you use for tenons?

Thanks,
Rob

[tod evans]

rob, i use a sliding table on the shaper as you thought...02 tod

[Andy Hoyt]

So do I. But Tod's tenons are way bigger than mine.

[tod evans]

So do I. But Tod's tenons are way bigger than mine.

not always andy........depends on the project. small is far more dificult than big:) ...02 tod

[Michael Gibbons]

Buy A tenoning jig for your table saw. $100.00.

[Mike Wenzloff]

Rob,

I'm one who in the past used either a BS, tablesaw, shaper or WoodRat--it all depended on what I was making.

I do them by hand now, but if you are doing production work or the method doesn't suit you, then probably any means you already have will do a great job. It's just learning how to use the equipment you have. For instance, if you have a TS but no BS, buy the tenoning jig. Cheapest and an accurate way to get making tenons.

Take care, Mike

[Dev Emch]

HECK YAHHHHHH!

Here is the SMC URL to my shaper which shows the sliding table. For the most part, this setup can do most of what a tenoner can do but there are some caveats I need to address.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=19608&highlight=belated+gloat

1). The best way to cut tenons on a shaper is with two tenon heads separated by a precision spacer which is the thickness of your tenon. Usually you use one of the spacers that comes with your shaper spindle.

A true tenon cutter is a rebate head of sufficient diameter incorporating a shear angle on the cut. Because this is an end grain or coping style cut, this is where shear angle earns its cookies! The crispness of your shoulder is also dependent on the knickers. Got Knickers?

Right now, one of the best tenon cutters I have come accross is the tenon cutter/rebate head by Felder. This disc is about 8 inches in diameter and incorporates shear angle with off the shelf style carbide knives. Four sided knickers and two sided straight cutters. The disc has been center relieved to reduce the weight. This means that the majority of steel not needed has been cut away. But take note and hear this. This cutter head is european so it is available in either 30 mm bore or 50 mm bore. You will need to do the bush and stick dance if your running true american iron!

You will need to use two of these although you can do multiple passes and only use one. LIke all good shaper cutters, these are not found in the Blue Light Special area!!!!

But here is the major problem. Did you notice that the cutter I talked about is 8 inches in diameter? Have any of you ever seen an 8 inch shaper cutter in use? This is a true honest of goodness meat cutter. It can turn your hands (and arms for that matter) into meat by products faster than you can say lickity split! So why so large?

Well, it boils down to this. If I take the depth of my tenon and multiply by two and add in the dimater of my spindle SPACER, you can see that the head dimeter grows very quickly. And when you take into account safety shrouds and dust collection kit, you will see that a 3 inch tenon is about the realistic limit of what you can cut on a shaper.

Clearly this can handle virtually all kitchen cabinet needs and most furniture needs. But how about larger tenons like those found in entry doors, etc?

Well, now you need to look at a tenoner which is a unique version of the shaper. Large tenoners can cut upwards of an 8 inch long tenon with the approapriate add on tooling. But this tooling makes shaper cutters look paultry in price! Furthermore, tenoners are often equiped with coping heads to fly undercut the tenon shoulder for coped moulding fits.

Lastly, tenoners can do things the shaper cannot. Items like multiple tenons with uneven shoulder cuts and coped details. For example, a franken joint with a thumbnail cope detail. On a tenoner, this is cake. On a shaper, this can be a frustrating and expensive series of setups and cuts using a number of custom made cutters.

Now there is one way to get around all this using a shaper with multiple passes. By using a coping disc with a top mount, recessed bolt. This requires both a custom made spindle and a custom made coping disc. In this case, the disc is attached to the stub spindle using a recessed, top mounted, draw bolt with an allen head configuration. As a result, the top of the coping disc is flush and it can now undercut your tenon shoulder OR cut much longer tenons than a standard tenon disc can. Furthermore, I can reduce the diameter of this disc to say 6 inches in diameter and still use it to cut 8 inch tenons. But this is a truely custom setup and the only one I have ever seen was my own design which I used on my old general SS-32 shaper. Since getting a tenoner, I have not had any need for this setup and that is good as it keeps OSHA from hassleing me!

Hope this helps a bit... back to my glue up plalooza sunday!