How to cut Tenons

I've got one of these and use it on the tablesaw.

Smooth clean sides on the tenon, and works pretty easy.

Relatively cheap, but you could always make your own. I've seen plans for homebuilt versions as well...

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Here's how I've done it.

Set the depth of the blade to just as high as you want the sholders. Say you are using 3/4" thick lumber and you want a to have the tenon the same thickness as the two shoulders. So you want a 3/8" tenon and 3/16" shoulders.

I use my tablesaw sled and set the height of the blade to 3/16" above the sled.

I set a stop block on my sled for the width of the tenon, say 1.5".

I then proceed to make the shoulder cut all the way around the piece. Do so for all similar pieces.

I think setup the tenon jig to make the shoulder cuts.

For the top and bottom, I take it to the bandsaw and trim off the litle pieces...
 
Here's how I've done it.

Set the depth of the blade to just as high as you want the sholders. Say you are using 3/4" thick lumber and you want a to have the tenon the same thickness as the two shoulders. So you want a 3/8" tenon and 3/16" shoulders.

I use my tablesaw sled and set the height of the blade to 3/16" above the sled.

I set a stop block on my sled for the width of the tenon, say 1.5".

I then proceed to make the shoulder cut all the way around the piece. Do so for all similar pieces.

I think setup the tenon jig to make the shoulder cuts.

For the top and bottom, I take it to the bandsaw and trim off the litle pieces...

Thanks for the complete explanation brent!!!:thumb::thumb:
 
I've think at some point or another, I've tried just about everything, e.g. bandsaw, handsaw, vertical router table, tablesaw with tenoning jig and tablesaw just using a regular blade to cut the shoulders and a dado to cut the cheeks. Without a doubt, the method I return to time and again is the simple table saw with dado blade method. It's simple, doesn't require me to move about different tools and as far as handtool methods goes, I'm a bit of a philistine. :eek:
 
i'm in the same boat as brent and stephen, i also use a delta tenonning jig.

here's the way i do it...

i use the table saw, and if i'm using a 3/4" board, say 2 1/2" wide, and i want a 1.5" wide tenon that is 1 inch long, i'd set the rip fence to the correct width to the left side of the blade (learned that lesson early), i'd first cut the shoulders on the 3/16" deep side, then raise the blade, and cut the 1/2" sides. then i would raise the blade to just a touch higher than the cheeks to be cut, and set up the jig to a little wide of what i want and ease it to the correct thickness. after that, i just tidy up the small cheeks on the band saw.

if they are wide (over 3") tenons, i'll use the jig i made for making them with the router.
 
i use peters approach as well, but was curious as to others and figured this would help someone out there that had no clue,, saw a guy doing it on a bandsaw but i prefer the dado stack after the shoulder cuts. and i havnt had a tear out problem with frued stack.
 
ok ill try to explain how I do this without pictures. I use a miter gauge with the fence set as a stop for the length of the tenon and make a single cut for the sholders, say you want a 1/4" tenon make a cut on both sides and raise the blade up til there is just under a 1/4" left, then set the blade to however much you want the cheeks to be and cut them without moving the fence, look at the cuts and make sure there all in line. Now i attach my homemade tenon jig to the fence and raise the blade to remove the waste and trim the tenon to thickness, move the fence so the tenon fits in the mortises snug. I trim the tenon to width on the bandsaw.I cut and flip and cut to center the tenon so make sure your mortises are centered too. I usually use a rabbet plane or sand paper to tweek the tenons faces so they fit together easier.
 
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