"Stoutman" .@. wrote in message

I might switch my plans back to M&T's. I thought that 18 biscuit joints
would be easier to do than 18 M&T's. But if I am sacrificing a lot of
strength than maybe I should suck it up and do the M&T's.

I don't think that you're sacrificing any strength, but I do prefer the M &
T for this particular application ... it is usually worth it to know that
you've done it in a traditional way, and that there is usually is a reason
why it has become "traditional".

The key to getting the rails parallel with the M&T joints is, obviously, to
cut the shoulders so that each slat is identical in length _between the
shoulders_ on each end.

I do this by first batch cutting the slats, then using a miter gage and the
table saw fence on the table saw as a reference to cut the tenons. This
insures the above.

Once that's done, you can shorten the tenons a bit so that they are not as
long as the mortises are deep, and the slat's shoulders, resting on the
rails and being the same length between shoulders, insures that the rails
are parallel.

Piece o' cake!


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Last update: 2/02/07