Hi - I'm concerned about cutting tenons on longer boards. My table saw has a decent side-extension but the boards in question are anywhere from 55"-73", which may be difficult to control. My typical method is to use the miter gauge and clamp a block to the rip fence so I'm not using the fence and the gauge at the same time, but this seems sort of difficult with a longer board. Does anyone have any tips?
Tenons on Long Boards
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Cut em by hand ;-). With a good hand saw and a little practice you can have them cut almost faster than setting up your table saw.
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I have a saying, "Sometimes it is easier to take the tool to the board, than to take the board to the tool". In your case, using a router and a jig attached to the board to act as a fence/guide would make the job much easier.
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depends on the length of the tenon also
You can make all the shoulder cuts using the miter guage and fence together as you said, no problem. Now how do you waste away the rest of the material? Tenon jigs are meant to be used holding the piece vertically and passing it over the blade. Like this:
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You can only make it as long as the blade will raise above the table.
Holding the piece vertically can be a bit of a balancing act as well.
I make my tenons using a bandsaw using stop blocks on the fence for the tenon length. like this:
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They can be made any length that way, rather than be limited by the raised blade height and it's easier with the work being horizontal rather than vertical. :yes:
You can make all the shoulder cuts using the miter guage and fence together as you said, no problem. Now how do you waste away the rest of the material? Tenon jigs are meant to be used holding the piece vertically and passing it over the blade. Like this:
You can only make it as long as the blade will raise above the table.
Holding the piece vertically can be a bit of a balancing act as well.
I make my tenons using a bandsaw using stop blocks on the fence for the tenon length. like this:
They can be made any length that way, rather than be limited by the raised blade height and it's easier with the work being horizontal rather than vertical. :yes:
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1,899 Posts
Tenoner.
Much depends upon the length of the tenons.
I like to use my miter gauge (with a wood fence extension for stability), a stop block and my dado blade(s). My table saw(a standard craftsman) is sufficiently wide that handling a board up to 48" is no problem.
For longer boards I would probably use the same method, just provide additional support to the left of my saw table.
Or, you could use a sled with a built-in hold down clamp.
George
I like to use my miter gauge (with a wood fence extension for stability), a stop block and my dado blade(s). My table saw(a standard craftsman) is sufficiently wide that handling a board up to 48" is no problem.
For longer boards I would probably use the same method, just provide additional support to the left of my saw table.
Or, you could use a sled with a built-in hold down clamp.
George
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