Loose Tenon Stock

[Larry Stephens]

Just ordered a mortise pal.
Does anyone know the best place to buy loose tenons to use with the mortise pal.

thanks

[Jim Kountz]

Making your own is much cheaper and easier. You just need either some round over bits or bullnose.

[John Hollaway]

Lee Valley Tools

[glenn bradley]

I do what Jim does. You can use the same material as your piece or do what I did and run off several feet of each size for later use. It just take a short while and you can use scrap.

[Larry Stephens]

thanks for the replys.

I think I may make some after all.

thanks again

[Don Dorn]

I bought the metric template for mine and then just use a 5/16" straight bit (instead of buying a 8mm). Festool 8mm tenons for the Domino fit well and work fine.

[Jim Pinette]

make your own

[Russ Massery]

For the narrow 6mm or 8mm. I buy the Dominoes or Tuffer Tenons which you can buy at woodcraft. The wider ones I make myself.I highly recommend this jig I love using it.

[Peter Quinn]

I make mine from the drops of the project at hand or out of the burn pile. Seems I can make miles of it for next to nothing in a relatively short time. Place I work bought a few dominos machines and we make most of our own loose tenons for that except for small production runs or one offs where we may use some of the festool ones that came with it for expediency.

I didn't know you could buy loose tenon stock?

[Charles Lent]

I make my own tenon stock too, with a slightly different method.

Recently I've stopped rounding over the ends, as I found that tenons that are the right thickness get their strength from their long sides surfaces and not from their ends. Using tenon stock that has square ends and a bit shorter to fit the straight sides of the mortices leaving the half round end areas open to catch the glue squeeze-out, saves time and provides a very strong joint. I've never had one fail.

Charley

[Chris Padilla]

Charles,

In some pieces, you would still have a long-grain to long-grain connection of loose tenon to mortise on that rounded section....

[Peter Quinn]

I have to disagree with Charles here. While that tenon shoulder may not be a great glue surface, it adds some strength and more importantly adds mechanical strength to help support the cheeks glue joint. Give some joints a chance to wiggle over years and they will. Otherwise you might as well use a half lap. I won't know if mine have lasted long enough until well after I'm dead, if they fail in my life time I will be disappointed.

[Chris Padilla]

With a Domino, one can cut a slot (mortise) wider than the domino-tenon.

In fact, Festool recommends on a multi-tenon joint to cut most of the mortises wider to allow for easier fitting. So on a 6 tenon joint, you'd cut the outer two mortises snug and then adjust the Domino to cut the other 4 looser. There is a dial on the Domino that you just rotate over to cut wider mortises.

However, on a single-tenon joint, I think Peter is right on: fill the mortise fully to gain mechanical strength as well as get a bit more glue surface (at least it counts on the long to long grain mating).