Replies

1. 
   Samson | Feb 27, 2009 07:42am | #1

   I could be wrong, but I think most folks just round the ends by hand with things like hands saws, chisels and rasps. You might also square the corners of the mortise with a chisel.

2. 
   philip_r | Feb 27, 2009 07:46am | #2

   Leigh FMT or Woodrat are good choices. 

   Or... dado stack and a shoulder plane!

3. 
   WillGeorge | Feb 27, 2009 11:12am | #3

   I use a Leigh FMT but I had the money to get one then.. And a good old wood rasp works well with much less set-up time!

    

1. 
   BrentD | Feb 27, 2009 04:53pm | #4

   I thought I had seen a jig set up once that would cut the rounded corners in one shot. Doing that by hand or squaring out the mortises, is no big deal. I still need a good jig plan for these tenons though. At $800, the Leigh FMT is so far out of my price range I can't even smell it...Brent

4. 
   Routerman | Feb 27, 2009 05:56pm | #5

   No length limitations.

    

1. 
   BrentD | Feb 27, 2009 06:59pm | #6

   I wonder how he controls the router in that jig.  The phenolic insert must be the key there.  But I think I will try to build my own version off a few mutations from this one.  Thanks!

   Brent

    

1. 
   daverichards | Feb 27, 2009 10:20pm | #7

   Brent,

   Routerman is the "he".

   Edited 2/27/2009 2:45 pm ET by DaveRichards

1. 
   BrentD | Feb 28, 2009 12:35am | #8

   I am slow to connect dots.  And new to this place. But thanks.  Pretty interesting stuff on that website too.

    

   Brent

    

1. 
   philip_r | Feb 28, 2009 01:01am | #9

   Just cross your eyes, the dots will connect themselves!

    

   And welcome to the forum. 

   T

5. 
   sinsin | Feb 28, 2009 02:34am | #10

   Brent, Jeff Miller has books on Beds and Chairs and both books have a diagram of a "home made" jig for cutting tenons with a router. I have borrowed both books from our local library however if you wish to purchase, they are available from Taunton Press.

6. 
   user-259615 | Feb 28, 2009 02:26pm | #11

   Hi Brent,
   I have several different jigs for different tenon situations. I cut mine mainly on the tablesaw now, but I also have some excellent router jigs, one of which does the round-ended tenons you are looking for, and these jigs served me well for many years before I developed The Ultimate one! :).

   There is a brief glimpse of it in the first section of this YouTube film:
   http://www.workshopessentials.com/clips.php
   Enjoy!
   Cheers
   Steve

   Space is more valuable than the junk that occupies it.
   Woodworking DVDs and jigs from http://www.workshopessentials.com
1. 
   BrentD | Feb 28, 2009 04:26pm | #12

   Steve,
   Very interesting clips you have there. But I don't think "The Ultimate Tenon Jig" will work in my shop with 82" boards. I'd have to cut a hole in the ceiling and even then I'd run into 200 hay bales in the loft. Pretty slick though.Brent

1. 
   user-259615 | Feb 28, 2009 06:53pm | #13

   Hi BrentYes, I see your point :). However, did you catch the router jig which uses an offset base and outrigger foot? It's not a production method, but it does allow large tenons on large boards accurately, and with a regular router. I use it for door bottom rails and bed rails. It has adjustable stops so I can do batch runs.FWIW I don't think you are going to find any jig that gives you the rounded ends you want on boards that long, simply because they have to be routed end on (like the vertical router jig in that same clip). The limit is how high you can work off the floor.I think your best bet is to rout them flat and round off the sides with a rasp.Cheers
   SteveSpace is more valuable than the junk that occupies it.
   Woodworking DVDs and jigs from http://www.workshopessentials.com

1. 
   BrentD | Mar 01, 2009 12:49am | #14

   Steve, I did not see the jig you mentioned. I watched the first clip on the "Ultimate" but if it was in there, I missed it. I then got distracted and look at some of your Sri Lanka clips, which were pretty cool. Which clip should I have been watching? I'll check out the others later.Bed Rails are, indeed, what I'm working on. I'm going to try to build a jig that will work with the router held horizontally and the rails clamped horizontally in a vice. I'll have to build the jig to clamp to the rail, rather than the bench, and I'll have to index the cut off of the rail using a bottom bearing bit. I think the jig will be a flat table, perpendicular to the axis of the rail. It will be something like Routerman's tenonning jig and another that I found on surfing the net. But not quite so artistic as some of his stuff. Today, I have been making the mortising jig and it looks rather nice so far. I have to stop and do some work on one of the sop doors right now since one of the ponies seems to want to join me and is trying to kick it open...

1. 
   daverichards | Mar 01, 2009 01:41am | #15

   Brent, my friend Steve may be off recovering from some excellent meal he's cooked this evening. Hopefully he won't mind me answering.

   Here's a very quick sketch of the jig he used for the door rail.

   You can see it at 1:34 in the Ultimate Tablesaw Tenon Jig trailer

   
2. 
   user-259615 | Mar 01, 2009 03:30am | #16

   Brent
   Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone are on different continents!!!! :)Dave's got it about right. He's drawn it as a fixed jig, whereas mine is adjustable for length, but the principle is spot on. I really do think you are making this harder than it needs to be. I hope you are not offended by that remark, I'm not trying to be be cocky here. But big chunky tenons for bed rails are easy with a modest router and a few scraps of MDF.Watch the vid again, I've no doubt that Dave's timings are correct.The main downsides with the jig are the fact that it is relatively slow (but then you don't have 100 to do, do you?) and the router's DX is compromised, so it's a bit messy. But it does the job, and it does it accurately. Great for hobby use.Cheers
   Steve
   PS, Dave, it's a Saturday night and I've spent it alone with a bottle of port and a Lancashire Hotpot from the freezer :(. But it was a home-made one I cooked a couple of weeks ago and a jolly delicious one at that. :) It's the kidney that makes the difference, you know.Space is more valuable than the junk that occupies it.
   Woodworking DVDs and jigs from http://www.workshopessentials.com

3. 
   daverichards | Mar 01, 2009 04:40am | #17

   Steve, I didn't bother drawing the adjustment since that seemed clear enough to me in your video.

   If I'd known you were going to be having that for your dinner, I'd have come to share it. Even with the kidney. ;) They're hard to get here, now. And a bottle of port would have been the topper.

   Oh well, left over pizza and a bottle of India Pale Ale for me.

   TTFN

   D

    

4. 
   BrentD | Mar 01, 2009 05:35pm | #19

   Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone - at least I was alliterative. People over 50 should not be permitted to multitask. Anyway, that jig would work well, and I don't have a lot of these particular tenons to cut for this one bed, but I'll see if I can't make a nice jig that will adaptable to most situations. Sounds like you guys did alright last night. I had grilled duck and an exceptional IPA out of Michigan. Thanks,
   Brent

5. 
   user-259615 | Mar 01, 2009 02:33pm | #18

   Brent

   Something else I've thought of. Watch out for breakout at the far end of the shoulder. I put a bit of scrap behind the workpiece to take it.

   I also though you might like to see how I make my bed rail-to-leg joint.

   I don't like to see bed hardware and I don't like the screw-on plates that lock together. They work loose and are impossible to tighten up. So I use a hidden bolt. Actually it's not a bolt, it's a length of M12 (1/2") studding, two nuts and a washer.

   One of the nuts is embedded into the leg, but before doing that I rip off 1/8" veneer from the face of the leg. Then, when the nut is embedded, I glue the veneer back on to the leg and the nut is hidden.

   To make the long hole in the rail, I rout it in several steps.

   1. Rout a slot 1/2" wide down the centre, 1/4" beyond the centre of the thickness.

   2. Rout a rebate around that, 1/4" Above the centre of the thickness.

   3. Fill in the rebate with a cover strip.

   4. Rout a pocket for nut and spanner access. This is cut to within about 1/8" of the far side.

   View Image

   The result is a square hole, straight and true, and a flat surface on which the nut and washer can bear.

   View Image

   View Image

   The studding is screwed into the leg, the rail threaded on and the washer and nut attached. It can be wanged up right tight and it is invisible.

   Cheers

   Steve
   Space is more valuable than the junk that occupies it.
   Woodworking DVDs and jigs from http://www.workshopessentials.com