Loose tenon avice needed...

[Michael Adelong]

Good evening folks.

I am a ways off from getting a router table together, and I want to try some loose tenon joinery. Is there any reason (safety or otherwise) that I wouldn't be able to just clamp the tenon stock to another board and use a roundover bit in my handheld router on it? The bottom board should provide a nice surface for the bearing, and I could just flip the stock over for the second pass.

I'd go try it right now, but I had a few frosty ones after work. It's safer to just ask the question here.

Thanks,
Michael

[Jeff Horton]

Yes there is. The bearing isn't going to hit the other board. It rides on the one you are cutting.

I ran mine on the router table but I used the bearing on mine as the guide not the fence and it worked just fine doing both sides. So you should be able to do it with the router hand held. Just be careful and watch the depth adjustment.

[Jamie Buxton]

There's no real reason to round the edges of the loose tenon. What makes the joint stay together is the glue. There's a great big glue surface on the faces of the tenon. Your tenon can have a rectangular cross section instead of that racetrack cross section, and the joint will be just as strong.

[Ray Bersch]

Michael,
Good thinking on the "wood working after frosties" issue.

You don't need a fancy router table to do decent work. Put a hole in a flat piece of MDF, attach you router to it, clamp on a straight board for a fence - add a small shield over the bit, secure the assembly to something steady, saw horses for example, and have at it - for ten minutes of work you can run hundreds of feet of tenons safely. And if you want a micro adjuster for the fence, try a small hammer - tap, tap, tap!
Ray

[Dino Makropoulos]

Michael,
Good thinking on the "wood working after frosties" issue.

And if you want a micro adjuster for the fence, try a small hammer - tap, tap, tap!
Ray

Ray. That was good.
I think I will name a tool after that.
We may even get a patent for the tap,tap,tap!

[Michael Adelong]

But the tap, tap, tap is not good in the workshop... That's where the frosties come from.

Hmm... maybe I need to build a beermeister.

[Ray Bersch]

Ray. That was good.
I think I will name a tool after that.
We may even get a patent for the tap,tap,tap!

Hey Dino, don't forget the royalties, I'll jump down 287 and be there in a flash - and I have some ideas for different size hammers that will allow softer or louder taps, great versatility - we can offer the whole set for a discounted price.
Ray

[Norman Hitt]

Hey Dino, don't forget the royalties, I'll jump down 287 and be there in a flash - and I have some ideas for different size hammers that will allow softer or louder taps, great versatility - we can offer the whole set for a discounted price.
Ray

Aw Shucks, Fellers, now ya'll gonna cause a backup down on that hwy 287, 'cause Them Router Workshop Fellers are SURE to be headin' down that way too ta join in on them ROYALTIES, 'cause they been playin' that Tap Tap Tap song fer years.

Good advice though, Ray.