Thread: routing tenons?

Nick

The easiest way to cut tenons is with a tablesaw. Do you have a tablesaw? There are a number of jigs in the Archives to aid you here, so you will need to do a Search.

Next up is cutting them on a router table. Do you have a router table? If not, just screw your router down onto a 19mm piece of MDF or flat plywood, insert a straight bit (wider the better) and plunge it through. Clamp this to a bench. Use a straight piece of timber for a fence (clamp it on). Use a 12" x 12" square of 19mm MDF as your mitre gauge (just push it along the fence). All this should take you about 15 minutes.

The easiest method of making tenons on a router table is to (1) set the fence as far back from the router bit as you require for the length of the tenon. (2) Set the bit to cut the one side of the tenon (i.e. the shoulder). (3) Using the "mitre gauge", push the timber through the router bit. Move it back-and-forth along the length of the tenon until it is all nibbled away. Cut the Shoulder first. After this you do not need to use the mitre gauge - you can cut the remainder of the cheek freehand. (4) Turn the timber over and do it all again. (5) Note that you may only be able to cut to your depth in one hit if (a) the timber is soft, and (b) if the depth (shoulder) is not more that 1/4".

The last method is if you do not want to do the above. Then you must use a handsaw. (1) Mark off the tenon with a marking knife. (2) Use a Japanese rip saw (cuts on the pull but this actually is easier and more accurate) for the tenons and a tenon saw for the shoulders. (3) Trim to size (if needed) with a shoulder plane or chisel. (4) Note that the shoulder cut is the most important one on the tenon as this is what shows. Get this as accuracte as you can.

Let us know how you get on.

Regards from Perth

Derek

hi nick,
i reckon derek covered all ways to cut tenons for you so i wont go there .just a few thoughts on what you have described,
i assume you mean youre making the frame out of radiata pine, if possible try and go for a hard wood over this as pine is too soft for the racking involved in a bench, joints will eventually work loose!
also with the size of material that you are using make the tenons a little wider , give them a shoulder of 10 mm so you could get 25 mm wide tenons instead of 19mm.
i would also pin them with 10 -12mm hardwood dowels.
hopefully i havent put a spanner in the works , just some thoughts!
seeyasonn mik.

I would assume that if the tenons are for the rails, the rails would be of a long length, and it might not be possible to use some of the methods described. If so, a bandsaw may be an option if you have one, or you could make a jig up and route them by hand.

As BigRed said, a router table or saw table will only be convenient if you are dealing with relatively short lengths (unless you have a sliding table). The Triton in cross-cut mode does a good job of tenoning long rails. Raise the depth of cut to get the tenon desired thickness.

George

When I cut the tenons on the stretchers for my lathe bench, which were 6' long, I did the following:

1. Clamp them to the bench side by side
2. Mark the tenon shoulder and use a handsaw to cut it to the correct depth (this stops tearout) - use a fence to make sure it's straight if you wish
3. Measure the distance between the outer edge of the router base plate and the near side cutting edge of the router bit then add the length of the tenon
4. Use this measurement to locate and clamp a straight length of timber or other straight edge across the rails and parallel to the shoulder so that it will provide a fence for the router
5. Set the bit depth equal to the waste on the tenon cheek
6. Cut away starting at the end of the tenon and working back towards the shoulder

Thanks everyone for their response...
silentc thats how I had previously imagined how I would cut them as I have neither a table saw or router table. My only negative view on doing it that way is that the router base may not sit flat on the wood, even u rout it from the ends moving in.
Does anyone else feel this way?

Spargs,

You can just clamp a piece of scrap the same thickness as your workpiece to your bench to support the outer part of your router's baseplate.

Rocker

Originally posted by spargs
Hey all...
I have begun construction of my new workbench which will be made out of a pine frame consisting of mortise and tenon joints with a beech top.
I am new to routing and my first ever pass using my router was cutting some of the mortises on the pine.
I found I didn't have too much difficulty cutting the mortises as I just used the guide fence provided with the router.

I am having difficulty cutting the tenons though.
The first group will be cut out of 90x45 pine and the other 140x45 pine.
On the 90x45 pine the tenon needs to fit into a mortise 25 mm deep and 19mm wide x45mm long.
On the 140x45 pine the tenon needs to fit into a through mortise. The mortise is 90 mm deep and will need to come out another 95mm. The mortise is 19mm x 45mm long.

Would anyone be able to give me some tips on achieving an accurate tenon joint?

Thanks nick

Hi Nick
Everyone has offered good advice on how to construct a tenon and if you do not have a circular saw or a router table you can rout a mortice in the end of the rail and insert 'Floating Tenons' selecting material the same thickness as the cutter used to rout the mortice.
Tom