Leigh FMT vs. D2R jigs for making Mortise and Tenons

[William 4 Lewis]

Leigh makes an attachment for their high-end dovetail jig the D2R called the Multiple Mortise and Tenon Attachment. According to the Leigh promotional materials it is designed to make matching repeating mortises and tenons. They also make a jig call the FMT, the Frame Mortise and Tenon jig. I have several project coming up that require lots of M&T's and have decided that it makes sense to try and automate the process as much as possible.

My question is this: Should I buy the D2R with the Multiple Mortise and Tenon Attachment or should I get the FMT? The cash outlay for each alternative is about the same $800 to $850. The obvious advantage is that you get a dovetail jig if you go the D2R route, but their must be some advantage to the FMT that I'm not seeing because it looks like Leigh went to a lot of work to make this device.

Any suggestions or thoughts are welcome,
Bill Lewis

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi William, I presume that you have ruled out the traditional methods of making mortise and tennon joints?

(With power tools, not mortise chisel, backsaw and shoulder plane).

I use a bench top hollow chisel mortiser (General International) and a shaper for the tenons, although I previously used a tenon jig on the table saw.

Regards, Rod.

[Mike Henderson]

You don't need a bunch of tools to make mortise and tenon joinery. Drill out your mortises and clean up with standard bench chisels.

You can make tenons on your table saw as long as you have a crosscut sled (and you definitely should have a crosscut sled). Just make the tenon a bit "fat" and trim to fit the mortise with a shoulder plane or a chisel.

No need to spend a lot of money.

Mike

[Richard Wolf]

I have the FMT. It works as designed with excellent results. If you need many M&Ts, I would think this is the way to go. The only limitation is the length of the material which you can fit under the frame. Much more than 4 feet and you are starting to stand on ladders and boxes.
The fit of the M&Ts is great, which would be difficult to reproduce consistently without some type if jig.

Richard

[William 4 Lewis]

Richard,

Thanks for your reply. I've seen several people comment favorably on the FMT in this forum. Do you own a the Leigh D2R dovetail jig in addition to the FMT? What made you decide to go with the FMT?

Thanks
Bill

[Richard Wolf]

Bill, I have an older D4 dovetail jig, which works fine. I purchased the FMT when it was first introduced. I would think the template for the D2R is more for case work, and the FMT works well for rail and stile and stick work, just my $.02. I find the FMT very repeatable, which if you are doing multible work, very nessecary.

Richard

[John Stevens]

Hi, Bill. I briefly owned the MMT and didn't like it. There was no provision for dust collection, and even with a Festool router with dust collection, there was so much sawdust stayed in the mortise that was being bored that it was difficult to get the mortises to come out to the proper size and shape. I tried a few test pieces and returned it.

Regards,

John

[Richard Wolf]

John, you should have used up cut spiral bit. I have never had that problem. There is a dust outlet, which I don't use, to be hooked to a vac.
My $.02, some people get to worried about making a mess than making a project, after all, it all about chips and shavings.
That's just my opinion, and not meant to insight a riot or insult anyone.

Richard

[Joe Scharle]

Unless you have a compelling desire to spend some $$$, consider this:
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/194/thumbs/RT_Tenon_Jig_1_.jpg (http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=11393)

I made this sled before I bought a Woodrat, to cut M&Ts on a R/T right after I bought my first spiral bit. AWW has a write up a couple of issues ago. I never adapted it for long edge (i.e. legs) mortises because I was already using my horizontal router for those.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/194/thumbs/HorizontalRouterHangon.jpg (http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=1193)
However, a slot in the sled base would allow for stops easily.

[Brent Smith]

Hi Bill,

I have both.

The D4 mortise and Tenon is great if you need M&Ts in the middle of wider panels, such as shelves on bookcase ends or benches. It handles much wider pieces than the FMT. You can do much larger M&Ts with it than with the FMT. It's also good for making larger finger joints and dovetails. You can make some nice decorative joints with it.

The FMT is great for frame work, angled M&Ts and chair work. You are limited to the width of pieces it can handle, but what it does it does flawlessly.

IMO, it's not a question of one or the other, but rather what kind of work you want it to do. They are really different in their uses and limitations. I would suggest that you have a good look on the Leigh site to get a better idea of which will suit you better.

[Neal Clayton]

I have the FMT. It works as designed with excellent results. If you need many M&Ts, I would think this is the way to go. The only limitation is the length of the material which you can fit under the frame. Much more than 4 feet and you are starting to stand on ladders and boxes.
The fit of the M&Ts is great, which would be difficult to reproduce consistently without some type if jig.

Richard

i agree. and i've done both methods.

i also replaced the 'traditional' method with the leigh jig, and wouldn't go back. it's well designed and easy to use, imo, and when you look at the price involved in a decent mortiser and a tenon jig for a table saw, the price isn't that much different either assuming you have the plunge router already.

as others have mentioned you do need spiral upcut bits though, to eliminate tears/splits.

[William 4 Lewis]

Thanks everyone. As usual this forum has brought up some factors that I had never thought of. Brent, I think your are right that the FMT and the M2 are designed for putting M&T in different places and for my purposes the FMT is the right choice. I have cut M&Ts with a router table in the past and have had reasonably good success, but the speed of the FMT is hard to beat. The project I'm working on now has several different sizes and the setup time on the FMT seems much better than the router table. Thanks again.