# mortise and tenon help



## mayday3374 (Feb 29, 2008)

hi guys, i am hoping you can help with this. i have built a few projects already and am looking to expand my know how and level of craftsmanship. i have been avoiding mortise and tenon joinery simply becasue i dont know how to do it with the tools i have. a quick lil blurb about my t.s. it sucks. its a craftsman contractor saw. it doesnt have conventional 3/4" miter tracks so i cant use common jigs and sleds. it also doesnt accept a common 3/4 dado stack so thats out as well. i did manage to create a sled that rides on the fence but it is not dead nuts accurate, it does give me some flexibility though. the t.s also doesnt cut at a perfect 90' angle so i usually have to true up my cuts on the router table. i am planning to upgrade to a delta hybrid this spring but i would like to have some basic knowledge on mortise and tenons before then. i have a freud router and router table with a good selection of bits, i also have a drill press and the basic hand chisels. can someone guide me through the basics, both with a t.s. and with router table or by hand? i understand the concept, i guess i am looking for tips and tricks so i can speed up the learning curve and save some money with less trial and error of trying to learn the tricks on my own. thanks. :smile:


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## [email protected] (Jan 10, 2009)

mayday I've been practising mortise and tenons for awhile. I also have a craftsman ts not as accurate as I would like but all Ican afford.I made a crude mortise jig that I use with my plunge router which works ok,they don't need to be pretty anyway. Tenons are another story-a real pain you know where. Imade a crude tenon jig and its works fine,its just a matter of tweaking you're ts to get even shoulders all around and then clamp it in the jig and run it through the saw.I know its a traditional joint but theres gotta be a better way.LOL


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## Kudzu (Dec 23, 2008)

A couple of things come to mind. The first it just use loose tenons. I used those on some Garage Doors I built because the members were so large. Just need a router for that.

The other method is not to popular but cut them with a dovetail saw and trim them up with a hand plane.

I assume you don't have a bandsaw. That's another option but not as easy I thought I would be.


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