Cutting Tenon Cheeks on Sliding Table Saw

[Izzy Charo]

Hello,
I'm still getting "acquainted" with my Hammer K3 slider, and wondered if others with sliders have come up with jigs that ride on the slider for cutting the cheeks on tenons? The slot in the K3 slider does not take standard miter gauges, and this makes things a bit more difficult...but I suspect others have come up with clever solutions...
Thanks for all advice,
Izzy

[Jim Becker]

Just mill a piece of stock that fits the slot in the top of the wagon just shy of snug and it will serve the same purpose as a miter bar on a cabinet saw. With the slider, you have the option of locking the wagon and sliding your jig in the slot or using bolts in the slot up through your jig to fix it in place on your slider while using the wagon for movement "normally". There are many types of jigs that can and do leverage that tee-slot on the top of most sliding saws' wagons. Nothing too clever about it! Aside from the ever-popular Friz and Franz jig, I also, for example, have a shop-built tapering jig I use for tapering table legs and have often made temporary jigs for whatever I was working on at the time that clamp to the wagon and use the slot for alignment.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Izzy

Here is a sequence you can use on your K3 ( photos taken on my K3) ...

1. Saw the shoulders. Use a stop block or the rip fence:



2. I prefer a bandsaw for the cheeks:



Use a spacer for the other side (blade + thickness of kerf) ..





3. Back to the K3 to remove the sides of the cheek. Simply push the side across the centre of the blade:



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Wayne Lomman]

I do basically the same as Derek but do it all on the slider. No jigs required. Cheers

[Chris Parks]

Using a jig, German audio, bad video quality but you will get the idea.

[Dominik Dudkiewicz]

Using a jig, German audio, bad video quality but you will get the idea.

I use the badsaw for cheeks like Derek. The main reason i'd never use the table saw for cheek cuts is the inability to run proper over-head dust collection whilst doing so.

Cheers, Dom

[Chris Parks]

I use the badsaw for cheeks like Derek. The main reason i'd never use the table saw for cheek cuts is the inability to run proper over-head dust collection whilst doing so.

Cheers, Dom

Dom, as we both know dust control is not a priority for a lot of people.

[Rod Sheridan]

Dom, as we both know dust control is not a priority for a lot of people.

Very true Chris however I don't do it for a similar reason, I can't run a guard and that operation at the same time.

I either use the band saw or the shaper.............Rod.

[Carl Beckett]

I am learning the transition to a slider as well, so just went through this same thought process. On the cabinet saw I had a tenoning jig. What I liked about it was that it references the same side of the wood each time, so the tenon comes out uniform thickness independent of material thickness. I dont like 'flipping' the workpiece. I have done some on the bandsaw as suggested, but here again i use a spacer block to be sure the same surface references the fence each time (no flipping!). (part of the reason I dont like flipping is that most of my projects do not start with perfectly uniform square material off of uniform thicknesses - am always doing different sections of the project at different times)

So I cut the shoulders as Derek does. Then I made a sled with a miter slot in it that clamps to my sliding table, then the tenoning jig rides in this same as before. You could just as easily bolt it in. It becomes essentially the jig shown in the video (albeit the purchased Delta one). I have a tapering fixture I do the same with.

The only downside to this is that it is another layer of material between the workpiece and fixture, which puts it higher off the table. But it is all held firmly in place and the slider takes care of the motion (plus the 12" blade gives mroe depth potential)

Having said all that I have been knocking out tenons on a completely different machine so am gravitating away from the tablesaw for it. Really deep ones though still using the table saw for the added depth of cut.

[jack forsberg]

for cheeks i use the fence on this home made jig on the sliding PK

for shoulders i use the slider and this home made jig



that is if i am using the slider to make a tenons but i do most work with a trenching head on the RAS


scale is 3" stave core and the cut is 2" wide

[Derek Cohen]

Jack, that is gorgeous. Did you make it?

I have yet to come across a quicker method than the following. This includes set up and accuracy. The following is to add to the pictures I posted before ...

1. saw the shoulders, as presented earlier.

2. Now, keeping the reference side against the fence, bandsaw away the further saw line ...



3. I have a few spacers of different thicknesses ...



Place this against the fence and the workpiece against it. Now you will be rewarded with a exact, repeatable cheek thickness ...





Regards from Perth

Derek

[jack forsberg]

.


Jack, that is gorgeous. Did you make it?


Regards from Perth

Derek

yes that is home made Derek

here is my process

[jack forsberg]

Very true Chris however I don't do it for a similar reason, I can't run a guard and that operation at the same time.

I either use the band saw or the shaper.............Rod.

its not the best for safety but a push stick and a short position fence plate with riving knife do help :0

[Dominik Dudkiewicz]

its not the best for safety but a push stick and a short position fence plate with riving knife do help :0

No doubt it's effective/efficient, but it also shows just how much dust is generated and fired out the front of the blade - basically a worst case scenario due to the high depth of cut coupled with no dust collection. I suppose it comes down to whether you worry about dust/health.

Cheers, Dom

[Darcy Warner]

It's just saw dust. Life is long enough as it is.