A proper jig serves two basic woodworking functions: securing a workpiece and guiding a cutter. It should add control (and thus precision) and speed to the joinery process. The jigs in this article meet all of these demands, allowing you to cut a mortise-and-tenon joint in the time it takes to hone a chisel. I tested them by cutting roughly two dozen mortises and two dozen tenons on each. Most of the test samples measured within 0.002 in. of their intended dimensions, which is well within the recommended tolerances.

Mortising with the MatchMaker will be familiar to anyone who’s ever used an industrial-level horizontal mortising machine. For mortises, the workpiece carriage is levered in and out and left to right along roller bearings on guide rods, moving against a router that is mounted horizontally in a fixed position. For these X and Y axes movements, you can use a simple tapered handle or a pivoting joystick, depending upon the range of motion required to cut a given joint. For tenons, the router carriage is freed so that its integral stylus, or guide pin, can bear against a template, and the router is moved up and down on a Z axis with a sturdy, pivoting handlebar.