How does a mortising jig work?

How does a mortising jig work?

Mortising bits cut square holes. The auger bit fits inside the chisel and protrudes slightly. During operation, the auger drills a round hole and the four-sided chisel squares the corners. Cut side by side, square holes create mortises.

What is a tenoning jig used for?

A tenoning jig locks a board against a plate and holds it tightly in place so it can cut cheeks and shoulders on all four sides of a tenon. A stop piece keeps the board square in both directions. Cutting on all four sides of a tenon allows for a better fit, thus making the joint easier to conceal.

What does tenoning mean?

A projection on the end of a piece of wood shaped for insertion into a mortise to make a joint.

How are tenons cut in a tenoning jig?

Tips for Cutting Tenons with a Tenoning Jig. First off, just in case you don’t know, a tenon is the male component of a mortise and tenon joint (Figure 1, Photos 1 & 2). Tenons are cut on work piece ends, and then glued and pushed into mortises (slots, or square holes) cut on the edges of the mating pieces.

How is the setback on a tenoning jig determined?

Using a flat ground rip blade cleans up the corner of the shoulder at the same time. The tenon face setback from the rail face is determined by the distance the tenoning jig’s vertical work support plate is relative to the saw blade’s side.

Can a table saw be used to cut tenons?

This works perfectly fine if your project has only one tenoned rail, but if you have more than one, the system breaks down. Cutting the tenons all the same thickness, using the same table saw setup, requires that all your rails be EXACTLY the same thickness. Achieving that, with even the best-tuned planer, is difficult.

How big of a door should I make with tenons?

The overall size of an average door is 12″ wide x 24″ tall. For those doors I’ve standardized my tenons to be 1/2″ long, thus the panel grooves are 1/2″ deep (plus a smidgen to allow the joints to close tight, “come home”). Also, I try to center the tenons on the rail ends.