Making mortice & tennon joints with a router

[phil p]

Hi,

I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times or more, but here goes!!

Is it possible for the average DIYer to do these joints?, are they difficult with a router?

Was thinking of just clamping a scrap of wood at the correct distance to make a "stop" to make the tenon or is there any types of jigs (simple ones) that could be made.

Just purchased the Dewalt 625EK and I'm chomping at the bit to give this a go.

Any ideas would be great.

 

[Digit]

Pretty well any sort of jig, plus router and guide bush, can be used to make very accurate mortices.
I made one some years ago that is fully adjustable and allows me to make M&T joints that fit precisely.
Personally I cut Tenons on the table saw, but a router jig will do those as well.
The advantage is that the finished frame should fit together without requiring any 'fitting', and personally I am unable to achieve that with mallet and chisel, at least anywhere near as quickly.

Roy.

 

[woodchip]

when I made my first [project (oak coffe table, see projects) I clamped all 4 apron parts together, then clamped a straight edge to them and used the router base riding against this to make the tenon on side 1, unclamped re-clamped the other side and so on until all 8 tenons completed.

For the matching side table I'm using the router in a table, much easier once set up, no clamping required!

I made the mortices with a straight cutter and fence (hand held). I'm also going to do these on the router table.

(FYI the router table was a cheapy one, a £70 dakota, works aa treat for me)

HTH

 

[Mr T]

I use a workshop made router table, made from a piece of kitchen worktop and one of the steel inserts from Trend. Feed the pieces to be tenoned over the cutter horizontally with a 90 degree support piece behind. I'd show you a picture if I had got myself organised to post images!
I have a half inch collett router permanantly set up in the router table and find that I use this much more than the hand held router. A table greatly increases the versatility of the router.

Chris

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi Phil,

While it doesn't answer your specific question, there are lots of tips here if you are new to using the router http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/rou ... _tips.html

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[wizer]

If you are lazy (like me) you might want an (expensive) off the shelf system like the Trend or Leigh FMT.

Funnily enough I spent the afternoon talking myself out of an FMT.

 

[phil p]

Thanks very much for your replies lads, very useful.

Phil

 

[Chris_belgium]

This is how I did it, worked well. I routed the tenons the width of the wood and then cut of the shoulders (right word??) with a hand saw, this is where I messed up a bit and got sloppy, my next project I'll pay a lot more attention to that part!

 

[woodbloke]

I don't use any sort of a jig to make mortises but a much wider base is very useful . All I do is to balance the router on the job and an identical thickness piece of timber (usually another rail) so that the whole thing doesn't tip.
Tenons are cut on the bandsaw and then can be easily cleaned up in a similar way by balancing the router on the job and another waste piece the same thickness - Rob

 

[Anonymous]

Same as Woodbloke - easy and quick

 

[BradNaylor]

I don't use any sort of a jig to make mortises but a much wider base is very useful . All I do is to balance the router on the job and an identical thickness piece of timber (usually another rail) so that the whole thing doesn't tip.
Tenons are cut on the bandsaw and then can be easily cleaned up in a similar way by balancing the router on the job and another waste piece the same thickness - Rob

And here's me thinking that you were a hand tools wallah...

Normite!

Dan :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

I don't use any sort of a jig to make mortises but a much wider base is very useful . All I do is to balance the router on the job and an identical thickness piece of timber (usually another rail) so that the whole thing doesn't tip.
Tenons are cut on the bandsaw and then can be easily cleaned up in a similar way by balancing the router on the job and another waste piece the same thickness - Rob

And here's me thinking that you were a hand tools wallah...

Normite!

Dan :lol:

Dan - no big check shirts :lol: ...This is my set up for doing mortices:

It's very easy to do and you can see the extra wide 6mm acrylic base on the router. All I do is to mark the mortise out as normal and then route it out and square the ends with a mortise chisel. No jigs needed at all - Rob