Jessem Loose Tenon Jig

[algale]

Not begrudging anyone who buys the Jessum or the Festool Domino loose tenoning jigs, but I do this on Yee Olde Shopsmith for $0.

I usually set up in horizontal boring mode and use the depth stop on the quill to get the depth I want. Then I set up set up stops on the rip fence for the extreme ends of the mortise. Drill those end holes and then drill overlapping holes between them to hog out the material. Then slide the work piece back and forth to clean it up a bit (yes, I'm side-loading the drill bit but only very, very slightly because I've hogged everything out already with regular, straight drilling of overlapping holes). I round over the ends of the loose tenons on the Shopsmith belt sander.

Is it as fast as the Jessem or Festool? Nope. Are the mortises as perfectly shaped and gorgeous as the one's the Festool cuts? Nope. But it works more than well enough and the price is really hard to beat!

[edflorence]

Never have tried loose tenons, but have always cut the mortises for tenoned rails by doing as Al describes, but in DP mode. I am currently working on a couple of frame and panel cupboard doors and I think I will try the horizontal boring method for the mortises. Makes more sense to have the workpiece flat on the wide face rather than on edge.

As I say, I never have used loose tenons, but am wondering...are they compressed like biscuits are?

[RFGuy]

Ed & Alan,

Hey, I have no problem with what you guys describe here. If it works for you, that is great. I grew up on the New Yankee Workshop so for the longest time I was a biscuit joint devotee. Unfortunately, my DeWalt biscuit jointer left A LOT to be desired. Kinda wished I had looked around and found a better one, but I never did. After this I got into M&T joinery using my Mark V and it worked well, but man it was A LOT of work. Even with a sharp bit & chisel it takes A LOT of effort to hog out mortises (tiring for the hand muscles/tendons). Had I known about Geoff Baker's aftermarket drill press handle that he sells back then, I likely would have jumped for joy, but the Shopsmith drill press handle is so short that you really don't have enough leverage with it for M&T joinery IMHO. Next is the table slipping and flexing during this operation. You guys have solved this by switching to horizontal boring mode and that is smart. I still don't like the fact that I would have to put clamps on the main table behind the fence just to keep it in position...otherwise my fence would slip under demanding mortises. I am sure with enough time and attention I could solve this as you have, but I have the Festool Domino now. As I pointed out previously the main advantage of the Festool Domino is the speed. It is fast, really fast to make joinery and it is a really well thought out platform so everything just works really well. The only negative that I have found with it is the price and that is a BIG one. NOT trying to talk anyone into it. There are lots of joinery options to choose from and many different tool choices and tool configurations to accomplish them. Yes, your M&T method may be a bit slower than me with my Festool Domino, but as long as you are making good quality M&T's and are happy with the result that is all that matters. To answer Ed's question on Festool Domino's, below is an excerpt that I found online regarding them. Note they also sell them in Sipo Mahogany for outdoor applications due to its rot resistance. You can also make your own tenon stock, but these won't be compressed and won't have glue channels. I should point out that EVERY Festool Domino fits snug (on dry fitting), but when I used biscuits I found A LOT of variation biscuit-to-biscuit on how well they fit, which always made me question if the joint was good enough. Bottomline is that Festool Domino's are much higher quality and tighter tolerance than ANY of the biscuits that I ever bought...and I bought A LOT of biscuits over time in the past. Sometimes I would cherry pick biscuits to use only the snug ones out of my inventory. One BIG advantage with the Festool Domino is that they sell an impressive line of knock down fittings that fit them. Very helpful when you want to design furniture that can easily be transported and moved. I haven't bought them yet, but intend to get into them soon. My kids are in college now and I will likely be building some furniture for them soon once they get into their own apartments. Having high quality KD fittings is one big attraction to the Festool Domino system.

Festool Domino Description (online excerpt):
The Dominos are made out of solid Beech, which are both stamped and compressed. The stamping leaves pockets for glue, and the compressing allows the Domino to swell when exposed to the moisture in glue

A couple of examples of Festool connectors for KD furniture but there are more options:

FestoolConnector.jpg (21.79 KiB) Viewed 1231 times

FestoolCornerConnector.jpg (26.69 KiB) Viewed 1231 times

[RFGuy]

Okay, another correction. I logged into YT again today and is often the case, the YT algorithm served me up another old video based on the last video I watched. This time I got what looks like the original Jessem promotional video on the Pocket Mortise Mill from 10 years ago, but it was labelled as the Jessem Pocket Mortise Mill II. So presumably, the newer version of the Jessem Pocket Mill Pro that just went on sale must be the 3rd iteration of this design, not the 2nd iteration as I had assumed. What I found interesting is that much of the hardware for the edge reference and adjustment is the exact same as my Jessem dowel jig so this was shared between products. The only difference is the patented mechanism for hogging out the mortise. In the video they show you must drill all the way down on both sides of the mortise first, then you can use the patented mechanism to clear out the mortise in between those holes. So, it is like the dowel jig but with this mechanism added for clearing out the waste. In contrast the newer Jessem Pocket Mill Pro doesn't require you to drill all the way to full depth first, but rather the mechanism clears out the mortise from side to side as you descend.

[algale]

Hey RFGuy, I don't begrudge you your Festool Domino tool! I'd love to have one --just don't want to pay for one!

That knockdown hardware does indeed look pretty cool! Any reason you can think of why one who didn't own the Festool Domino couldn't buy the knockdown hardware from Festool and then cut the mortises the old fashioned way I describe with an appropriate-sized drill bit?

[JPG]

Al, Why use a drill bit? Router bits work sooooo much better(I be referring to those which mount to the SS quill).

BTW the festool thingies metric or imperial????

[jsburger]

Al, Why use a drill bit? Router bits work sooooo much better(I be referring to those which mount to the SS quill).

BTW the festool thingies metric or imperial????

I was thinking the exact same thing. Also, one could make a jig that sat in the miter slot to hold the stock. That eliminates the pressure against the fence. The fence could still be used to the right of the jig with stop blocks set to the length of the mortise. Plunge in at one end and slide the jig to the other stop block.

[BuckeyeDennis]

Hey RFGuy, I don't begrudge you your Festool Domino tool! I'd love to have one --just don't want to pay for one!

That knockdown hardware does indeed look pretty cool! Any reason you can think of why one who didn't own the Festool Domino couldn't buy the knockdown hardware from Festool and then cut the mortises the old fashioned way I describe with an appropriate-sized drill bit?

Al, I’ve often thought about making a jig for mortising on my Shopsmith in horizontal mode, basically the same process as you describe. But why not use a router bit (preferably upcut spiral) instead if a drill bit? They’re actually designed for cutting sideways, as well as plunging.

That jig may never happen now, because I bought a new CNC router this year. I built a custom table for it, mostly so that I could add an end-working station for M&T, dovetail, box-joint, etc. joinery. It’s even more expensive than a Domino, but vastly more versatile. As for the other downsides, the learning curve is seriously steep, and it’s not at all suitable for taking to a jobsite.

Anyhoo, my new CNC would be dandy for making mortises for the Festool knock-down hardware, so I’m also very curious about that.

[algale]

Al, Why use a drill bit? Router bits work sooooo much better(I be referring to those which mount to the SS quill).

BTW the festool thingies metric or imperial????

Just don't own a collection of router bits, but I think I should get some 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 router bits for making common mortise sizes.

Plunge? Upcut or downcut?

[Edit I see Dennis says upcut spiral?]

[edflorence]

RF Guy;

Thanks for the information about the Festool Dominos. The Domino tool does sound really efficient, and lots faster than M&T joinery. Plus it looks like fun to use.

Sometimes getting things done more quickly is important. I made four drawers for a built in last year and since the drawers were faced with a piece that overlapped the face frame and the joinery was all out of sight, I used the Kreg Pocket Screw tool on them. I hadn't had much experience with this tool before this, and I was impressed with just how quickly the drawers went together. And, it was quite a bit of fun to use. So I understand the appeal of getting the strength of a mortise and tenon in a fraction of the time. For production work in this era of expensive labor costs, those sorts of new methods would be the way to go.

I still enjoy putting the SS through its paces, though, even if some operations take longer. I cut 8 tenons and 8 mortices this morning, using the Tenon Master, the bandsaw and the horizontal boring mode and it took about 3 hours, including sweeping up between each operation and a couple of breaks to put wood on the fire. Time well spent, I think.