Hello,
I need to make 27 Shaker style doors/drawer fronts for my own kitchen. Making doors in the past, I found that the front faces were out of alignment on some corners.
I was certain that these doors would be perfectly aligned as all of the front faces were marked and road against the Saw fence. I used a 1/4″ dado running the piece through only once as I only wanted a 1/4″ groove max. I was using a 1/4″ mortising bit and wanted to make sure everything was only 1/4″!
I cut the tenon’s on the table saw and used a metal Tenoning Jig to cut the cheeks. I used extra stock cut for practice and thought I had it aced. I guess I had the pieces in this jig slightly off.
Help
I want to use a mortised tenon as I like the extra length for strength.
I guess my main Question is ” How do I find the exact center of my straight machined stock to cut the grooves into it for the door panels, and keep it only 1/4″ wide so I can just just mortise in between with my chisel mortiser?” I know if I flip this piece end for end it will get larger than 1/4″ if not perfectly centered.
Is there a fool proof way to do this? Am I looking at this problem from the wrong end? I’m only a self taught woodworker.
It looks so straight forward when a deeper mortise isn’t used.
I hope this isn’t to stupid of a question to ask as I want all of the doors to look killer as I’m using soft white maple for the frames and cherry for the panels!
thank you for any help!!!!!
Vance
Replies
Is there some reson the panels need to be exactly 1/4"? I find it is always easier to make things fit other things than to try to make separate pieces register the same measurement?
And why use a dado blade? Just use a regular 1/8th kerf blade and set the fence so that 2 passes - one with each face registered against the fence - produces a 1/4" groove.
Couldn't you use a regular 1/8 " thick saw blade set to cut a bit off center and turn the piece around and run it through again? A few tries should allow you to creep up on the precise setting needed to result in exactly 1/4 after the two passes.
I think some of your problems come from flipping the timber end for end. if you only use one face for all your machining it would not matter if the timber varied to some degree as all reference points are on the same face. if your panels were not in the centre of the styles and rails, you would happily set out and work all from the single face. regards Teabag.
I make quite a few frames this way and I have found that having all the material the exact same thickness is really important , for this method .
dusty
Hello,
Thanks for all of the quick response.
I will try and answer everyone in this one letter back. I'm only trying to get 1/4" wide so it is the same width as my mortiser bit.I can make the panel any thickness but try and plan it from the being.
I never thought of only using a 1/8' blade and making 2 passes. I'm trying to only make one pass as moving the fence and trying to get exactly 1/4" adds more room for error.Dusty, yes I have machined all of my stock to the same thickness. How do you get the tenon cheeks cut exactly so the front and back faces of the rails/stiles align up square?
Vance
I gave up trying to get M&Ts exactly centered long ago -- micrometer adjustments of a table saw fence exceed the limits of my patience and are beyond the modest capabilities of my somewhat crude fence. Now, I just eyeball it, cutting the groves first on the TS and work the mortises using the groove as a reference. I mark the fence side of each piece before cutting, so any variation from center is uniform across the project -- I usually mark an "F" on one side of each piece for "Fence" (which doubles, later, for "Face").
Then, I cut the tenons to match the grooves/mortises, using a double blade in the TS and a tenoning jig. Again, you need to mark and pay attention to the reference side of each workpiece. I make the initial setting (which often turns out to be the final setting) by clamping one of the grooved pieces in the tenoning jig and carefully aligning it by eye with the saw blades -- the inside tips of the saw teeth lining up with the outside edges of the groove. I make sure to have some scrap on hand, cut from the working boards so it matches the thickness of the door stock exactly. I use this to make a few test cuts to line things up perfectly. If there is any variation among the pieces (hey, it's wood after all), it's usually so minor that a card scraper takes care of it in a few swipes.
Once you get the hang of always checking for that "F", it becomes second nature. For me, having everything off center by some small, random error, forces me to reference all parts uniformly throught the project -- which you should do anyway, even if your M&T's are nominally centered.
BTW, I also size everything to fit my mortise bits -- since that's the hardest measurement to adjust. I made a set of spacers for my dado set that lets me set up very quickly to make tenons that slide, "just so", into a mortise made with any of my mortise bits.
I cut my tennon shoulders on a RAS, set with a stop to the exact length, after they go through the tenon blades on the TS. Very quick. You can do the same on a TS, with a miter guage and a short fence (IMPORTANT!) as a length stop.
Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PA
Mike, thanks for your help!
I think where I went wrong the last time was I was more concerned about getting the tenon's fitting nicely that I overlooked where the edges of the grooves fit, piece to piece. I wasn't out by much but I'm hard on my self to try and be perfect and this screws me up at times.I'll give it a go today/tomorrow and let you know how things turned out!
Vancep.s. To the other people who responded, all of the email notifications seemed to go into my Junk Box and didn't show up right away! I'm using a new computer and have straightened this out! thanks again
vance,
Another possibility if you're using a hollow chisel mortiser.
I read in another discussion that some HCM's aren't exactly the same as they're marked, i.e. ¼" HCM's aren't exactly ¼". Might want to check yours.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Hello Bob,Well you were right, but I knew the 1/4" Chisel was 1/4" as I had measured it before.What I didn't look close enough at was at the cutting end of the chisel, at the 4 corners, have points which flair out slightly making it a bit wider at the cutting edge.I used the same 1/4" Dado blades (but adding one thick shim), cut this test groove and now the chisel fit nicely in between the side walls.I cut the tenon's today and everything aligned up very nice!!!Sir, thank you for taking the time of reading my original letter in full and helping me understand better all of the variables I need to fully look at when making doors!Vance
vance,
Great, I think. At least I had a WA guess and it turned out to be right! :-)
Oh, and I'm glad to see that you respect your elders too; but if you insist on calling me Sir then I'll have to come out there and mess with your chisels so they don't fit anymore.
(^ ^) O___/ __/ <!----><!----><!---->
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
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