# Tenons on ends of long board



## Broadway Bob (Aug 15, 2017)

I've always had trouble with this over the years - any advice on a good way to cut tenons on the ends of a 4-5ft. long board? On the router table, there is too much overhang and leverage making it hard to keep the board straight while routing. Hand routing would work, but it's tricky to match the shoulders on either side of the tenon (at least it is for me).

I once made up a jig that was for a specific project which allowed me to use a router with a guide bushing, but the jig was sized for just that particular piece for that project. It's a lot of trouble to make one up if the project has several different sized boards (widths) needing tenons.

Is there such a thing as an adjustable jig of some sort? Any other methods you have used? Thanks.

Bob


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

Hand saw and chisel. Done in under 5 minutes.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

I would do the cutting on a board that short on my table saw with a dado set.

George


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## Broadway Bob (Aug 15, 2017)

Thanks, Chris, but I guess I should have mentioned...the boards are usually 4-6 inches in width and 3/4 inches thick.


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## Broadway Bob (Aug 15, 2017)

Thanks, George. I didn't think of this since my table saw has only 36" clearance to the left of the blade, but I could put the fence on the left side of the blade...duh! I guess I had an old age brain cramp!

Bob


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You might make something to sit on a saw horse to set next to the router table to give you the right height to hold the wood up. If your router table is homemade you might put a dado in the top of it to insert a miter gauge off a table saw. On the miter gauge you could put a hold down to help you keep the wood down. You could also cut tenons on a table saw using a dado blade. It would be necessary to have your wood a consistent thickness though or your tenons would vary in thickness.


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## IowaDave (May 21, 2015)

FWIW, I recently made tenons on the end of a table top very similar in dimension to what you described and I did it with a hand held router and it turned out very well. I placed the table top on a bench, secured it and then clamped a guide across the width of the table to use as a guide for the router so I had a precise edge. 

Once I was done with the tenons, I mortised the bread board ends on my router table. It took a little bit of fine measuring to make sure that the tenons fit the mortise well, but it wasn't too hard and I ended up with a perfect fit that I was happy with.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I use the bandsaw ...now.*

Yes, that's a problem holding the long board and making a cut... and it depends on the length of the tenon. A RAS with a dado set will allow you to see the progress from above AND the long board will rest nicely along the back fence. On a table saw, unless you have made an auxiliary miter fence which extends the face, it will be difficult to keep the board in constant registration... it will what to wobble unless clamped down Then you can use a stop block either on the rip fence or on the extended fence on the miter gauge.

I now use the bandsaw with2 different fence stops, one for the length of the tenon, the other for the depth of the shoulder cut. All your boards must be identical in dimension and a practice piece or two will make certain yuu have the tenon the correct width and centered.

Now for a question.
Which boards are you attempting to make the tenons on? 
The table top ends..?
Or the apron ends ...?
The process would be different IF the top is all ready glued up.


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

Broadway Bob said:


> Thanks, Chris, but I guess I should have mentioned...the boards are usually 4-6 inches in width and 3/4 inches thick.


I don't understand how that makes it more difficult or time consuming ... ? All this time talking about it ... it could be done by now.


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

Broadway Bob said:


> Thanks, George. I didn't think of this since my table saw has only 36" clearance to the left of the blade, but I could put the fence on the left side of the blade...duh! I guess I had an old age brain cramp!
> 
> Bob


You do not even need a fence to cut tenons.

George


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

Table saw with a dado stack is the way I'd do it too. I've done the same thing on pieces 4-5 feet in length, its not horribly difficult to keep the piece supported. Use the fence to set the length of the tenon and push the piece with a miter gauge or a sled, the sled being the preferred option. 



Chris Curl said:


> I don't understand how that makes it more difficult or time consuming ... ? All this time talking about it ... it could be done by now.


You forgot to factor in the time and effort needed to become proficient enough with hand tools to actual cut the tenons, rather than created scrap. We've had this conversation in another thread, just because it would take you some arbitrarily small amount of time to do the job with hand tools doesn't make that method superior or even appropriate to everybody. Myself, for example, I'm fairly skilled with hand tools, but I wouldn't be cutting tenons by hand. Not because I'm incapable of it, but because I don't own a hand saw. No need when I have a table saw, band saw, circular saw, router, router table, etc...


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## Chris Curl (Jan 1, 2013)

epicfail48 said:


> Table saw with a dado stack is the way I'd do it too. I've done the same thing on pieces 4-5 feet in length, its not horribly difficult to keep the piece supported. Use the fence to set the length of the tenon and push the piece with a miter gauge or a sled, the sled being the preferred option.
> 
> 
> 
> You forgot to factor in the time and effort needed to become proficient enough with hand tools to actual cut the tenons, rather than created scrap. We've had this conversation in another thread, just because it would take you some arbitrarily small amount of time to do the job with hand tools doesn't make that method superior or even appropriate to everybody. Myself, for example, I'm fairly skilled with hand tools, but I wouldn't be cutting tenons by hand. Not because I'm incapable of it, but because I don't own a hand saw. No need when I have a table saw, band saw, circular saw, router, router table, etc...


The thing is, I am not an old hand at this at all, actually, I consider myself a novice. And I don't really have a good saw or good chisels; they are off-the-shelf stuff from Home Depot. It's just that it's really not that hard to do, and it's easy to learn how to do it. After doing only a couple, you realize that it is a straightforward process, and hard to mess up. With a machine, you can mess it up really bad really fast. Not so with hand tools.. To each his own. I would rather spend my time cutting the tendons than setting up machines and putting on earplugs, face masks and protective glasses and doing test cuts.

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Please don't cut your tendons*



Chris Curl said:


> ........ Not so with hand tools.. To each his own. I would rather spend my time cutting the tendons than setting up machines and putting on earplugs, face masks and protective glasses and doing test cuts.
> 
> Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk


I know you meant tenons, but a lot of folks don't call them by their proper term ...just sayin' :wink2:


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