I've been needing a tenoning jig and was going to order the one on sale at
Rockler for $69.99 but had a flash of inspiration and decided to see what
scrap materials I had lying around the shop. I found some 3/4" hard maple
that was straight along the long grain and only slightly cupped. I ripped a
16" long piece to 6" wide and from that, I cut a piece about 5" long and
arranged it at a right angle to the base. I carefully aligned all the
pieces to be perfectly square and glued and clamped them up. The clamp
pressure took care of the cupping and I added a backer near the top of the
vertical piece to help prevent any further cupping..

When the glue is dry I'll drive some 2" screws for added strength, add some
corner brace blocks to help keep the vertical face perfectly square and put
on a small guide to hold the workpieces vertical.

The base of the jig will clamp to my miter gauge, which is perfectly
adjusted for square and has a hold-down. The lateral adjustment will be by
loosening the hold-down and sliding the jig back and forth.

I think it'll be OK as long as I'm careful with my setups and don't try
anything too long or heavy.

Well, I'm finding that making a tenoning jig is one thing...using it
effectively is something else. I've been practicing on scraps and I'm
getting better but I'm not ready to cut tenons on any fine furniture yet.

The procedure I'm using is cutting the groove in the receiving piece first,
then shaping the tenons to fit. I make both shoulder cuts then the cheek
cuts. But I'm having a hard time remembering all the setup steps and I
still don't have the adjustments down precisely enough that the tenon fits
snugly in the groove.

I'll keep practicing and I'll get there eventually. OH! Big revelation!
It just occurred to me that any error is multiplied by two because I'm using
the same setup on both cheeks.

"Chuck Hoffman" wrote in message
. com...
I've been needing a tenoning jig and was going to order the one on sale at
Rockler for $69.99 but had a flash of inspiration and decided to see what
scrap materials I had lying around the shop. I found some 3/4" hard maple
that was straight along the long grain and only slightly cupped. I ripped
a
16" long piece to 6" wide and from that, I cut a piece about 5" long and
arranged it at a right angle to the base. I carefully aligned all the
pieces to be perfectly square and glued and clamped them up. The clamp
pressure took care of the cupping and I added a backer near the top of the
vertical piece to help prevent any further cupping..

When the glue is dry I'll drive some 2" screws for added strength, add
some
corner brace blocks to help keep the vertical face perfectly square and
put
on a small guide to hold the workpieces vertical.

The base of the jig will clamp to my miter gauge, which is perfectly
adjusted for square and has a hold-down. The lateral adjustment will be
by
loosening the hold-down and sliding the jig back and forth.

I think it'll be OK as long as I'm careful with my setups and don't try
anything too long or heavy.

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 01:38:15 GMT, "Chuck Hoffman"
spake the words:

Well, I'm finding that making a tenoning jig is one thing...using it
effectively is something else. I've been practicing on scraps and I'm
getting better but I'm not ready to cut tenons on any fine furniture yet.

Without a doubt, this tool should be made with a micro-adjuster.
Is yours? If not, change it.


The procedure I'm using is cutting the groove in the receiving piece first,
then shaping the tenons to fit. I make both shoulder cuts then the cheek
cuts. But I'm having a hard time remembering all the setup steps and I
still don't have the adjustments down precisely enough that the tenon fits
snugly in the groove.

Once you can micro-adjust, it becomes much much easier. Or learn to
plane the tenon down to fit. I have been using my bandsaw for tenons
and need to do a fence for it. "Loosening and tapping the fence to
adjust" simply doesn't do a quick or accurate job. AAMOF, that should
be my very next task in the shop. Thanks for reminding me, Chuck.


I'll keep practicing and I'll get there eventually. OH! Big revelation!
It just occurred to me that any error is multiplied by two because I'm using
the same setup on both cheeks.

Ayup.


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