Tenon Cutting Question

bondoboat · Post by **bondoboat** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:43 am

Hi all,
I am working on 2 small oak hutches. The side panels consist of a 1 by 3 oak frame with 1/4" oak plywood panels inset. I have all of my grooves cut. I am having a hard time getting nice stub tenons on the end grain of the side rails. I have tried cutting the cheeks with a dado blade but I get too much tearout. Should I try this on my router table? I am also thinking about making a regular sawblade cut on my tablesaw to establish the shoulder of the stub tenon and then cleaning out the excess with the dado blade. Any suggestions? Thanks.....BB

paul heller · Post by **paul heller** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:36 am

Try using a backer board (put a piece of scrap wood behind the side rail) as you push the rail through the dado blade.

Paul

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:21 am

Also score along the lines with a knife, that will help to.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:54 pm

bondoboat wrote:Hi all,
I am working on 2 small oak hutches. The side panels consist of a 1 by 3 oak frame with 1/4" oak plywood panels inset. I have all of my grooves cut. I am having a hard time getting nice stub tenons on the end grain of the side rails. I have tried cutting the cheeks with a dado blade but I get too much tearout. Should I try this on my router table? I am also thinking about making a regular sawblade cut on my tablesaw to establish the shoulder of the stub tenon and then cleaning out the excess with the dado blade. Any suggestions? Thanks.....BB

Hi, BB! I think you have your situation well in hand. If you have a router table, you can certain make the stub tenons with a straight bit. Here is a reference from PTWFE (next week's lesson on the Forum) that shows making the shoulder cut the way you are thinking - (figure 3-65). As posted above, by beeg, scoring first with a knife works wonders!!! Also, as Paul said, use a backup board if routing. http://www.shopsmith.com/academy/tblsaw ... adejoinery

If you make the shoulder cut first, you can actually form the whole tenon without adjusting your saw. Just make small bites of the remaining wood. Your fence will not allow you to cut any deeper into your rail.

bondoboat · Post by **bondoboat** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:54 pm

Thanks for the help. How deep of a score do I make?
BB

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 6:59 pm

Score = slicing through the surface grain. About a 32nd inch up to 3/64ths.

mtobey · Post by **mtobey** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:39 pm

Sorry--backsaw and shoulder plane.mt