# Rig-A-Mortis (mortis and tenon jig)



## vcooney (Dec 21, 2008)

Back in 1992 I attended a wood show at Anaheim Stadium where I saw this Rid-A-mortis jig being demoed. I remember my Father-in-law and me watching this guy cut tendons like they were nothing. We were so impressed we split the cost and bought it. 17 years later I opened the box to check it out and set it up.
Well wouldn’t you know…I can’t remember how it works? I can cut the mortis but the tendon I can only cut square when it should be rounded off like the mortis. That was the beauty of the jig, not having to chisel the mortis to match the tendon. Did any one else buy this jig and can offer me some help?
The company I believe is no longer in business.

Vince


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## Terry McGovern (Feb 5, 2009)

vcooney said:


> I remember my Father-in-law and me watching this guy cut tendons like they were nothing.
> Vince


OUCH!! That must have been horrible to watch a guy cut tendons!

Okay, you meant "tenons," but I got this picture of a crowd being sprayed with blood...:gun_bandana:

Do you have a picture of this thing? Google didn't come up with one.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*The ads above the posts have info or machines*

Try this idea for mortises: http://www.mortisepal.com/ 
Mortise is spelled with an "e" at the end 

:yes: bill


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## TheRecklessOne (Jul 22, 2008)

HA! cutting tendons is always a present danger when cutting mortise and tenons..

ba dum ba dum...:laughing:

Is this thing on? Tough crowd...:laughing::laughing::laughing:

I'm sorry I'm an idiot...


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## Gene Howe (Feb 28, 2009)

This is a big maybe: 

Rig A Mortise
2810 Yonkers Rd
Raleigh, NC 27604 

Tel. +1 919.832.6112 

Good luck.


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## Tom5151 (Nov 21, 2008)

just curious.......why did it take you 17 years to open the box?


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*Try this site for a mortise jig!*

This is one I stumbled across doing a search:
http://primeshop.com/access/woodwork/mortisejig/
Interesting and a lot of engineering,:thumbsup: bill


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## vcooney (Dec 21, 2008)

The reason it took so long to open the box was basically I didn't need it at the time. I just built an entertainment center when I saw this jig and figured it would be nice to have for my next project. Which never came until recently. And now most of my projects are woodturning. And the company spelled this jig (Rig-A-Mortis) with no E.


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## hydroshots (Apr 14, 2011)

Did you ever find the info you needed on the Rig-A-Mortis? I have the booklet and build both jigs. It's a quick & easy system. I pulled mine out after years and was searching for the manual. I ended up finding it and it still works great. Jeff


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## maurcadd (Aug 2, 2016)

Mort Tenon said:


> OUCH!! That must have been horrible to watch a guy cut tendons!
> 
> Okay, you meant "tenons," but I got this picture of a crowd being sprayed with blood...:gun_bandana:
> 
> Do you have a picture of this thing? Google didn't come up with one.


I bought one of these Rig-A-Mortis. It works quite well. The Idea is to cut the mortise with the jig and as for the tenon, you keep the square corners. As long as the tenon is the correct width, just insert it in the mortise. The rounded ends of the mortise give you an escape for glue thus reducing the squeeze out. Try that and report on the results.
Sincerely 

Maurice


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

maurcadd said:


> I bought one of these Rig-A-Mortis. It works quite well. The Idea is to cut the mortise with the jig and as for the tenon, you keep the square corners. As long as the tenon is the correct width, just insert it in the mortise. The rounded ends of the mortise give you an escape for glue thus reducing the squeeze out. Try that and report on the results.
> Sincerely
> 
> Maurice


Its been 7 years. I think hes probably figured it out in the meantime. 

Can there please be a forum rule that a new members first post shouldnt be on a thread that was started nearly a decade ago?


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

epicfail48 said:


> Its been 7 years. I think hes probably figured it out in the meantime.
> 
> Can there please be a forum rule that a new members first post shouldnt be on a thread that was started nearly a decade ago?


I don't know, it is a great way to find some interesting old posts. :smile3:


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