I'm in the market for a new tenoning jig.  What brand do you guys recommend?  I've read all of the reviews but I need expert opinions.

---

Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Tenon jig? Or, mortise jig?

If it's a mortise jig, they are easy enough to make.

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Dang Ron,

If it's for your old Delta Uni-Saw there was an 1172 on ebay today, it didn't last long with a Buy It Now price of $65.00.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Tenoning jig Gene.

 

Larry, I'll look.  I didn't see it.
 
Gene Howe said:

Tenon jig? Or, mortise jig?

If it's a mortise jig, they are easy enough to make.

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Yep, it's gone.  Luck of the Irish.

Larry Buskirk said:

Dang Ron,

If it's for your old Delta Uni-Saw there was an 1172 on ebay today, it didn't last long with a Buy It Now price of $65.00.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Ron,

It was on ebay a little after 10:00 this morning, it lasted less than 10 minutes before it sold.

I didn't think it would last long, it didn't.

 

Larry

OK. I have one and don't use it any longer. It's an old Craftsman. I'd offer to give it to you but it's got the Shopsmith bar. Won't fit anything else.

My tenons are now made flat on the saw table with a dado set or, on the router table for smaller ones.

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Ron

I have the Delta 34-183 and I had a chance to tune it and use it this weekend. I like it very much. Some of the reviews I've seen were knocking it because of stripping out hardware but mine works fine. One thing to keep in mind a lot of people have a tendency to over tighten when all that's required is to snug the locks down and it works just fine.

---

www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

I have an old Craftsman and it worked well on a left tilt but my Uni is a right tilt so it won't work.  I"ll probably use the jig for making the lids on jewelry boxes more than tenons Gene.
 
Gene Howe said:

OK. I have one and don't use it any longer. It's an old Craftsman. I'd offer to give it to you but it's got the Shopsmith bar. Won't fit anything else.

My tenons are now made flat on the saw table with a dado set or, on the router table for smaller ones.

---

Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I have a Delta which someone was kind enough to give to free including shipping. He no longer needed it and I was looking for one it showed up in the mail. I have used it a few times and it worked very well. I have Jet Contractor with right tilt blade.

---

Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

“Our greatest fear should not be that we won’t succeed, but that we will succeed at something that doesn’t matter.â€
D.L. Moody

I have tried those things and made my own better tighter version and come away from all that tennoning stuff sorely disappointed.   There are too many possibilities for error with a tennoning jig and I seemed to find all of them.

I have gone over to the land of the loose tennon.

Here's why:

They are  easy to produce and are fabulously more accurate and repeatable.

The slot into which they go is easy to produce with a good jig or a horizontal slot mortiser- a machine  that is really, really easy to make and once made it is there forever.

So, I made one and  now I thickness all my tenons in the planer which I can adjust within mere thousandths. Plus my machine is tilt-able so I can do chairs and other odd shaped things.

As an aside: That bit that one hears about the edges of loose tenons not being square is  - - - well it is  both error and OCD speaking and  is not rational.  It is largely irrelevant that the tenon fit snugly on the ends.  The cheeks are where all the glue action is.  Also if you are nutz to have the thing fit perfectly ( like me) all the way round you can do this very easily. Take that three or four feet of  tenon stock over to the router table and VIOLA you can fit it to within mere thousandths because the edges of the mortise cut by a router are round.   You can  easily get a vastly better and snugger fit with loose tenons than you can possibly hope for any other way.

And they are stronger too.

I have this one Ron and it has been great.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Tenoning-Jig/H7583

Woodcraft has nice one from Woodriver, I do not know anything about it, I say nice only because it looks nice, so some research would be in order on this one.

Wood River Tenon Jig

Back to the Grizzly jig, it works well, I have had it for 8 years and it cuts tenons precisely as it is supposed to. I use to do tenons flat on the table saw with a dado blade, but when I tried a tenon jig for the first time at a friends home, I was sold. One pass each side, done. That's my personal experience, as you can see, some folks don't like em.

---

John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

I looked at the Grizzley and the reviews have been really good.  Most reviews said that you had to clean it up from the cosmolene but they are nice jigs.

John Morris said:

I have this one Ron and it has been great.

http://www.grizzly.com/products/Tenoning-Jig/H7583

Woodcraft has nice one from Woodriver, I do not know anything about it, I say nice only because it looks nice, so some research would be in order on this one.

Wood River Tenon Jig

Back to the Grizzly jig, it works well, I have had it for 8 years and it cuts tenons precisely as it is supposed to. I use to do tenons flat on the table saw with a dado blade, but when I tried a tenon jig for the first time at a friends home, I was sold. One pass each side, done. That's my personal experience, as you can see, some folks don't like em.

---

John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project