How to cut Tenons

For stock I use the tenon jig on, I will do the cheeks first in the jig. I will then cut the shoulders on the tablesaw using an offset block clamped to the fence so that the cutoff has somewhere to go.

ss-GnG-BC-1-top-trim-tenoni.jpg

Other situations I pretty much use 'whatever works'. I do my mortise first and cut the tenons oversize to be hand fit later. This means that my surface doesn't have to be perfect on the initial tenon creation so; bandsaw, handsaw, whatever.

If I am not using the tenons as a decorative element (as in a through tenon) I just use floating tenons and mortise with the Mortise Pal and router.
 
Last edited:
Sometimes I use the tenoning jig on the tablesaw, and I cut the shoulders first.

More often, though, I cut the shoulders on the tablesaw, then go to the bandsaw to cut the cheeks.
 
I cut most my tenon on the shaper. Using two rebate cutters with a spacer between them. Makes for fast accurate smooth faced tenons.

tenons.jpg
 
so is that a dedicated cutter or a insert cutter? what brand is it?
I have a pair of these that I got from Felder USA. Common knowledge says they are made for Felder by Leitz. They are insert cutters. There have two main cutters on the side and two spurs on the top and two spurs on the bottom and measure about 8-1/2 inches across.

I've had these for about 10 years and forget what I paid for them. Felder has a Christmas sale ever year and these are usually in the sale catalog. It's about time for the Christmas sale to stat for this year. Give them a call and ask about the Christmas sale if you're interested. I sure any of the good tooling companies have a similar product.

Felderinsert.jpg
 
Top