Has anyone ever bought or used a stor ebought tenoning jig for a table saw such as the one Delta sells. I am taking a new role at work and doors/drawers making will be a big component. In the past my co workers just used the table saw fence/mitre guage with I guess you could say, better than satisfactory results.
I never did like this method for safety reasons. My question then is this, do the store bought jigs (such as the Delta model) aid or hinder in production,ie: if I have 8 drawer fronts to make. If anyone has one of these jigs I would appreciate your opinion.
Regards.
Crpntr5
Replies
For the drawer fronts, I would think a pocket hole jig would be much faster, and I assume the backs won't show anyway.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I have both a Vega jig and one of the Delta ($100 model, not the older, much more expensive one). I prefer the Vega.
However, in a small-run production situation, it's hard to beat (time wise) the technique described in the following link, which I assume is roughly similar to what your co-workers were using:
http://tinyurl.com/ymdhor
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
nikkiwood,
I've used the method described in the link you provided. If you look carefully at most of the pictures you'll see the 'first' cut (ie. the cut that defines the shoulder) is a little less deep than the subsequent cuts. Usually I clean it up with a chisel and it's no big deal. However, I can't figure out for the life of me why it happens in the first place. Any thoughts?
Hmmmm ..... I went back and looked at the pics and I see what you mean. It was hard for me, however, to tell if that first cheek cut was more or less deep than the nibbling cuts. Logically, the difference has to be that one is applying either more or less pressure with that first cut.But I will pay more attention next week; I have a flock of tenons to cut, and I am going to set the jigs aside and give this technique a try. I used to make them this way years ago, but not lately.Ever tried using your dado instead of a regular saw blade?********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Nikkiwood,
It's been my experience that the 'first' cuts are always not as deep as the subsequent nibbles...and one side of the rail/stile 'first' cut can be less deep than the other. Initially it didn't bother me, I just pounded the joint closed. Then I noticed I was injecting a bit more(unbalanced) tension into the joint and causing a bit of twist. That twist gets echoed down the line and then you wonder why the door won't lie flat. So I did the usual thing and cursed the hardwood vowing to never use it again.
I've used the dado set up for tenons but don't remember the outcome or if I used it for the 'first' cut. I usually use the BS for removing the cheeks now, it's fast.
I always try to keep positive tension on TS blade, ie. move the blade up to the depth, not back off the blade down to the depth.
All matters of personal preference, but I used the method in the link, as well as a similar one with a dado blade, for years. I recently bought the Grizzly version of a tenoning jig (75% of the basic jigs sold are the same thing with different paint and lettering) and I'll never go back. Setup doesn't take all that long, the cutting operation is a lot faster and less tedious, and the results are much cleaner. I'm sold.
It usually recommended that you do not use the miter gauge with the the piece simultaneously touching the rip fence. The "recommended" way to do this is set the fence a 1/2" larger than the tenon length, and attach a 1/2" thick partial auxiliary fence to the fence, so that the piece stops contacting the auxiliary fence before it engages the saw blade.
This is mainly recommended for safety, but perhaps by being in contact with the rip fence, the depth of cut is also affected a little bit.
I use a Delta tenoning jig, but, for the life of me, I can't see how it would improve the making of drawers & doors. It is very heavy & slow to set up & use. Apparently you won't be dovetailing. I have made rabbet, etc. joints for drawers on the TS. Except that the blade guard must be removed, it doesn't seem dangerous.
Cadiddlehopper
Had to cut 40 rabbets for a ten drawer cabinet and instead of the technique shown at the link as I had in the past, I used a recently acquired Delta tenoning jig for the first time.
Set up was no trouble, results were consistent and clean. Job done in not much more than five minutes including setup. Might not be better in all applications, but a whiz bang on this one.
I'm trying to picture how you used the tenon jig for rabbets?********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Call it a one cheek tenon and it might be easier to visualize.
I would surly use the tenoning jig, Nibbles take a lot of time and put a lot of excess mileage on your crosscut blade.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
Carp,
There are a lot of simple tenoning jigs that you can make. Frank Klaus uses one which had a nice cam in it to lock the board in place. I have a book at home (can't remember the name of it now) with a similar tenoning jig which was made by Glen Huey. Look up my profile and the photo includes the copy I made of Glen's tenon jig. It works like a charm. Big. Solid.
If you are interested in the name of the book with the plans for Glen's, let me know and I'll send it to you when I get home.
There is another approach if you are in business. You can still get the BIG HEAVY old Delta tenoning jigs on EBay every once in a while. In good shape, they go for over $350 but they are tanks, and they will last forever. I read a writeup that one guy wrote which may or may not be true, but he said that he use it with no trouble to clamp six foot long pine boards at a 45 degree angle and put tenons on the end. I lucked into one for free one time, and wouldn't part with it for $500. Nice piece of work.
Have fun.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
Carpenter5,
I use the Delta tenoning jig for most all my tenons. I have never used it for drawer fronts but I do have an unorthodox method for cutting tenons using the jig. With this method you will get two things - consistent shoulder offsets and accurate tenon widths. I use a hollow chisel mortiser to cut mortises which are very consistent, so with this tenoning method you will achieve interchangeable parts. There is no custom fitting and you can make last minute decisions on which parts look the best together.
1.Make sure you have, or purchase, a digital caliper that has 0.001 resolution (about $35).
2.Mark the “front” side of all pieces to be tenoned. This method will accommodate pieces of varying thickness while maintaining consistent tenon thickness.
3.For both cheek cuts the “front” side of the piece will be placed against the jig. Note that this causes the first cheek cutoff to be trapped between the saw blade and jig. I have never had a problem with kickback but I also never stand in front of the blade – just us case.
4.Setup the jig to cut the front shoulder. The jigs are fussy to dial in to a specific measurement but once set they are very consistent. Start with a test piece.
5.Cut all the front cheeks on all the pieces.
6.Reset the jig to cut the back cheek – again with the front of the test piece against the jig.
7.Use the digital caliper to achieve a thickness of 5 to 10 thousands less than the nominal dimension of the mortise. Check the fit on the test mortise.
8.Cut all the back cheeks on all the pieces.
Good luck,
Dean
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