mayday3374

hi guys, i am hoping you can help with this. i have built a few projects already and am looking to expand my know how and level of craftsmanship. i have been avoiding mortise and tenon joinery simply becasue i dont know how to do it with the tools i have. a quick lil blurb about my t.s. it sucks. its a craftsman contractor saw. it doesnt have conventional 3/4" miter tracks so i cant use common jigs and sleds. it also doesnt accept a common 3/4 dado stack so thats out as well. i did manage to create a sled that rides on the fence but it is not dead nuts accurate, it does give me some flexibility though. the t.s also doesnt cut at a perfect 90' angle so i usually have to true up my cuts on the router table. i am planning to upgrade to a delta hybrid this spring but i would like to have some basic knowledge on mortise and tenons before then. i have a freud router and router table with a good selection of bits, i also have a drill press and the basic hand chisels. can someone guide me through the basics, both with a t.s. and with router table or by hand? i understand the concept, i guess i am looking for tips and tricks so i can speed up the learning curve and save some money with less trial and error of trying to learn the tricks on my own. thanks.

larry

mayday I've been practising mortise and tenons for awhile. I also have a craftsman ts not as accurate as I would like but all Ican afford.I made a crude mortise jig that I use with my plunge router which works ok,they don't need to be pretty anyway. Tenons are another story-a real pain you know where. Imade a crude tenon jig and its works fine,its just a matter of tweaking you're ts to get even shoulders all around and then clamp it in the jig and run it through the saw.I know its a traditional joint but theres gotta be a better way.LOL

Kudzu

A couple of things come to mind. The first it just use loose tenons. I used those on some Garage Doors I built because the members were so large. Just need a router for that.

The other method is not to popular but cut them with a dovetail saw and trim them up with a hand plane.

I assume you don't have a bandsaw. That's another option but not as easy I thought I would be.