Thread: cutting tenons in large stock.. help please

Hey there,

Personally I'd still try to give it a go on the table saw or a router table.

When I made my bench I had to man-handle a few largish pieces for the same reason, but it came out OK in the end. If you're going to take your life in your hands like this, make absolutely sure that the tablesaw is well waxed/de-slipped so that your piece glides over it well. Having a second person to support the end so you can focus on keeping it square is helpful as well.

However, the safest option for these is simply to use a handsaw with the work supported properly (not sure if you have a vice if you are building your bench...). Provided the saw is sharp, and you use it properly, there's no reason you can't get all the tenons pretty close to spot on with a single cut.

Sometimes the simplest answer is the best...

Best of luck!

sCORCH

Simple jig and router or Router/Handsaw combination or a Bandsaw would all work fine.

Ross

I'd just cut a series of grooves in from the sides of the timber with a circular saw or a sliding drop saw (with depth gauge) Clamp a piece of timber to run the circular saw along to get accurate cuts for the cheeks. The other cuts don't need to be accurate. Oregan is soft so you can then just chisel out from the end. Do this in a series of cuts finishing with very fine chisel cuts when you get to depth.

Originally Posted by billg

i'm in the process of building a bench similar to alastair's https://www.woodworkforums.com/f213/workbench-wip-78427.

a mate gave me some massive oregon beams 300x75 off a building site which i've chopped, ripped and thicknessed.

i've made up the sides of the frame, and am pretty happy with the result, morticed the legs ready for the stretchers? but can't figure out an easy way of cutting the tenons... its largish stock 200x70x1050. thought i'd add a bit of weight for stability.

i don't have a tenoning jig and cut the other mortises for the frame on the table saw using a dado blade and the mitre gauge. worked well. problem is i don't think i can accurately and safely slide these 'sticks' across the table due to their mass and can't figure out an accurate alternative method of cutting these.

i've morticed for through wedged tenons so need to ensure my cuts a clean so the ends look reasonable. also both ends have snipe from the thicknesser to about 50mm in which makes sitting a router on top of the stock a little difficult if maintaining accuracy of cut depth...

i have a makita 10" scm but have concerns on the accuracy of its depth stop and couldn't cut the short shoulders because 200mm is too high to stand up under the blade.

any thoughts?? i'd appreciate any help.

Hi Bill,

While your pieces are a bit bigger than the stretchers I used, (170 x 45 x 800), mine were cut on a home made table saw, with a table only 600 x 500, ie only 250 of the piece on the table. Table surface a mixture of laminex and aluminium. If you are using a reasonable TS, you should be better off. Firstly, perhaps make an extended mitre fence, to give you more stability. Secondly, I got my son to lend me a hand, by supporting the free end, and moving in co-ordination with me. It is only the 'shoulder cuts which are critical, for the rest just take a couple of passes, then trim off by chisel. Cuts are really only to define the thickness of tenon, and give you a mark to chisel down to.

regards

I did mine with a router. All you need is a straight edge as a guide to cut the shoulders. Or you can cut the shoulders with a hand saw and use the router freehand to remove the waste up to the line. Just make sure you work from the end back towards the shoulder so you have a reference surface.

This is much easier and safer than trying to man handle long lengths over table saws.

Originally Posted by billg

i'm in the process of building a bench similar to alastair's https://www.woodworkforums.com/f213/workbench-wip-78427.

a mate gave me some massive oregon beams 300x75 off a building site which i've chopped, ripped and thicknessed.

i've made up the sides of the frame, and am pretty happy with the result, morticed the legs ready for the stretchers? but can't figure out an easy way of cutting the tenons... its largish stock 200x70x1050. thought i'd add a bit of weight for stability.

i don't have a tenoning jig and cut the other mortises for the frame on the table saw using a dado blade and the mitre gauge. worked well. problem is i don't think i can accurately and safely slide these 'sticks' across the table due to their mass and can't figure out an accurate alternative method of cutting these.

i've morticed for through wedged tenons so need to ensure my cuts a clean so the ends look reasonable. also both ends have snipe from the thicknesser to about 50mm in which makes sitting a router on top of the stock a little difficult if maintaining accuracy of cut depth...

i have a makita 10" scm but have concerns on the accuracy of its depth stop and couldn't cut the short shoulders because 200mm is too high to stand up under the blade.

any thoughts?? i'd appreciate any help.

I always weigh up whether it's easier to take a machine to the work or the work to the machine. The pieces you have described are going to be cumbersome at best, and will require if you are moving these across either a dado head or a router table. If it were me, I'd use a router for sure. There are various jigs that you could use, but essentially, you are just rabbeting the end of a board to a certain depth and width. If you have off-cuts of the original material, that would be great, as it will support the router base where it will not have contact with the workpiece. If there are tenons to cut, that's something I would do with either a handsaw or a jigsaw and finish with chisels. Basically, the jig you need is nothing much more than a straight edge with 90 degree fence, but a more sophisticated one would be more like the dado jigs you can find on the forum, offering support for the whole router base.
Hope that helps.

Michael

thanks for the replies - clearly this should be easier than i think.

scorch unfortunately i'm not confident enough getting a straight cut with a hand saw - need some more practice!

alastair, i've got a reasonable table saw so i'll just get a mate to give me a hand as you suggest.

perhaps over the top for 4 tenons but was thinking of making a sled of sorts... i drew this in sketch up. the frame to be made of scrap oregon from the bench build, red gum pickets for sliders and MDF to keep it all square. mdf over piece can be removed when cutting the short shoulders. i can build in a stop to keep the faces of the tenon a fixed length. the left side of my table saw is wider so it will support the piece.

anyway i'll see how i go just using the mitre gauge & a helper first...

Do you not have a router?

i do have a router silent but because of the snipe at the ends of the boards using the work piece as a guide won't result in uniform tenon thickness. other option to enable use of router would mean building a jig and if i'm building a jig i'd prefer to use the table saw because its quieter and cleaner.

I just read your post properly. They're only 1050 long, do them on the table saw. No jig or helper required.

You can make a cross cut sled if you're having trouble keeping it straight and you will find a million uses for the sled.

Just like Silent said. This is my sled, and the extra long rail runs on a paraffin waxed rail clamped into the workmate. This would be ideal to cut a very accurate tenon on even larger stock than you have

This is where hand tools come to the rescue. Measure and mark out. Saw and chisel. It would take less time than building a sled or jig. If the measuring and marking out are accurate there should not be a problem.
Regards
John

It would take less time than building a sled

Yeah but cross cut sleds are worth having, so it's not like he's building something he's never going to use again. It might well be quicker to cut four tenons by hand than to make a cross cut sled, although I reckon it would be a close call for someone who is not a practised user of hand tools, but the sled will certainly pay off in the long run for a table saw user.

Sometimes it pays to have a longer term view than the task at hand.

SilentC,
Point taken.
Regards
John