Grizzly tenoning jig questions

[dennis thompson]

-has anyone else had problems with the instruction book for the Grizzly tenoning jig?
-do you need to use a spacer block & back stop board when using the jig?
Thanks
Dennis

[keith ouellette]

I didn't really use my instructions.

As far as a spacer block, I think you may be trying to cut the tennon wrong. I haven't need a spacer block but when I set up the cut, if I try to start with the jig to far to the right (my saw blade is left of it) the work piece will hit the base plate. In that case I adjust the jig fence so the work piece is to the left of the blade and the jig is to the left.

[dennis thompson]

Keith
I only asked the question about the spacer block because the instructions said to use it & I couldn't figure out why
Dennis

[Mike Cutler]

Dennis

I don't have the Grizzly Tenon Jig, but it is essentially a clone of the Delta 182/183 tenon jig.

No you do not absolutely have to have to have the back stop board and spacer board installed as shown on pg. 16 of the manual.

But, having the work support space block, pg.15, on the face of the tenon jig is a good idea. It stops you from accidentally adjusting the jig and hitting the metal jig with your saw blade, but you do have to compensate for the thickness of the material, which if too thick may interfere with the left handed slot operation on a left tilt saw.

Putting the backstop board in addition to the spacer board had to be done because the board installation eliminated the ability to register the work piece to the 90 degree vertical that got adjusted on pg. 13. The other thing this does is give you a cleaner exit. You'll quickly find out that this sacrificial aspect isn't wort the bother. You'll eat up that backer piece pretty quick.

I have a spacer board on mine, but I always square the material vertical edge with a machinist square to the table horizontal. I don't rely on either the OEM stop block, or a sacrificial one.

I've made well over a thousand tenons on my jig. It really is a nice jig, one of my favorites, but Grizzly seems to have complicated it a bit more than necessary in their instructions.

Once you use it a bit, you'll adapt it to suit your style of wood working.

[Mike Cutler]

I didn't really use my instructions.

As far as a spacer block, I think you may be trying to cut the tennon wrong. I haven't need a spacer block but when I set up the cut, if I try to start with the jig to far to the right (my saw blade is left of it) the work piece will hit the base plate. In that case I adjust the jig fence so the work piece is to the left of the blade and the jig is to the left.

Keith.

The Delta, model 182 model I think, had the same issues. Delta's fix was to drill two additional holes in the underside of the jig for swapping the position of the miter bar relative to the blade. I see 4 holes on the underside of the jig in the Grizzly manual but I don't know if they are exactly the same as the delta 183 jig.

[keith ouellette]

Thank you for telling me that Mike. Do you see an issue with having the jig right of the blade and the work piece to the left? I guess the blade could get pinched if the work piece is clamped to tight. I've only done it a few times.

[James Suzda]

As much as I could figure out the back stop board was to prevent having the whole heavy thing slide off the table and land on your toes if you would pull it too far back. I originally tried it that way, but the board got in the way.
As for putting it on the right side of the blade wouldn't it be backwards? I only used one once, but I used it a lot one time if that makes any sense! <grin>
I know you have to make an adjustment for a right tilt or a left tilt saw.

[Mike Cutler]

Thank you for telling me that Mike. Do you see an issue with having the jig right of the blade and the work piece to the left? I guess the blade could get pinched if the work piece is clamped to tight. I've only done it a few times.

No. As long as there is no threat of the blade hitting the jig during the cut. it should work. I had my jig in the right hand miter slot on my Jet. It's now in the left hand slot on my General. I like the jig to be as close to the blade as possible, arbor flange side. If it is done the opposite it way it has a tendency to tilt a very slight amount, unless you have a very stiff throat plate.
You'd have to really crank down on the material piece to have to worry about pinching the blade during the cut. I suspect that cast arm would break if you tried to tighten it that much.

One thing you may find of benefit, is installing the spacer board, as Grizzly defines it.
If the spacer board is installed in such a way that the board is in contact with the TS surface it provides a lot of additional support keeping the jig face perpindicular to the table top.

[dennis thompson]

Mike
Thanks for the info, I got a copy of the Delta instruction manual (the information readily available on the Internet is truly amazing) & it seems to be clearer than the Grizzly
Dennis

[Mike Cutler]

As much as I could figure out the back stop board was to prevent having the whole heavy thing slide off the table and land on your toes if you would pull it too far back. I originally tried it that way, but the board got in the way.
As for putting it on the right side of the blade wouldn't it be backwards? I only used one once, but I used it a lot one time if that makes any sense! <grin>
I know you have to make an adjustment for a right tilt or a left tilt saw.

James

The original Delta 182 would end up backwards. This jig only had one set of holes drilled in the base for the miter.
The distance on some saws from the miter slot on the left to the blade face on the non arbor side is not always the same as the distance of the miter slot on the right to the blade, arbor flange side. When you add in left tilt vs. right tilt. You can have 4 different possibilities.

On my Delta Tenon jig there are 4 holes in the bottom for the miter bar, to orientate the face to the blade, and provide room for adjustment. The left hand miter slot on my left tilt General is closer to the blade than the Left hand miter slot on my right tilt Jet, so I had to move the Miter bar over, but as I said earlier, I liked to have the jig closer to the arbor flange, so on my Jet I just used it backwards. ( The wood doesn't know it's backwards;) )

One issue with the Delta's that I know of is the "slop" in the miter bar.
According to some corresppondences I had with Delta this was an intentional part of the design.
Their reasoning was that with the tenon jig in the left hand miter slot, the user would apply preesure with the left hand to "push" the jig closer to the blade when making the cut, as the right hand was pushing the jig forward.
After the cut, the user applied pressure with the right hand to move the jig "away" from the blade to bring the jig back through the blade.

Personally I thought it was BS, and that Delta just got ahold of some low quality miter bar stock. I found that the only thing this "design" accomplished was to provide inconsistent tenons that were either a Few tou' too small or too big.
I use a page out of a magazine to tighten up the miter bar in the slot. Works great, and the "slipperiness" of the page helps too. I don't know if this is an issue with the Grizzly model, but that was my solution.

The earliest version of a Delta tenon jig, that I know of, is a massive piece of iron that weighs 35lbs. When they show up on eBay they go for serious $$$. I got outbid for one a few years back ,and my bid was close to $400.00.

The Delta Model 182/183 weigh approximately 22lbs, and the Grizzly has a stated weight of 20 lbs. Some of the clones I've seen are very light in weight, which works against you. This is a jig that really does need some weight for stability.

if it doesn't show,I've spent a lot of time using this jig.:eek:,;)

[Larry R. Rosing]

Where can I get the Delta online manual?