# Tenon turning tool



## Longknife (Oct 25, 2010)

Turning tenons on spindles can be very tedious and time consuming when you want the thickness to exactly match a hole. If you are turning a lot of spindles for a set of chairs or something this moment will take a lot of time.

I found a picture of this kind of tool in an old turning book and I decided to try to make one and see how it worked.











I used a round-nosed scraper I don't use much and grinded a new short (some 20 degrees) bevel on it. Then I took a steel bar of the same dimensions as the chisel, drilled and tapped holes in it for two screws. I drilled corresponding holes in the chisel and fastened it with nuts and wingnuts. Drilling the hardened steel of the chisel was a major PITA and it cost me a couple of drill bits, but I got it done.

To use it you turn the tenon a few millimeters oversized. (No precision needed)









Then you adjust the tool to the required size, hold the lower bar under the workpiece, pressing it upwards in the same time as you let the edge engage the workpece.










It worked surprisingly well and it makes it very easy to duplicate tenons of the exact same size. As the tool works with a kind of scraping operation the surface of the tenon will be a little fuzzy, perfect for gluing. If you want a smoother surface you have to add a little on the size to allow for sanding.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Thank you for posting a very interesting tool. My first thought was how difficult it would be to drill the chisel, then I read it was the PITA I expected. :thumbsup:

I may have to try making one. I just need to find a suitable scraper. Garage sale season is getting very close. One more item to look out for.

This is good not just for tenons, but for making dowels. I just installed a front cabinet vise and needed to make my own 1 3/16 x 12in dowel for the handle. I was able to get the thickness consistent, but it took me longer than I thought. A tool like this should speed up the process.


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