t a b l e s a w

several years ago my broth-er-in-law was thinking about buying a commercialtenoning jig because he was having trouble keepinghis work flat against his table saw’s small fence whilecutting tenon cheeks.

“Don’t do that,” I told him. “I’ll show you howto build a jig from a few pieces of scrap that will dothe job just fine.” So I built the jig in the photo aboveand have used it just about every day in my shop tocut tenons on my table saw and sliding dovetails on

The first tenoning jig Ibuilt years ago. It’s

seen a lot of use onmy table saw and my

router.When I went tobuild a new jig, I

realized that this oneserved me so well that

I didn’t need to addany more features tomake it more useful.

Don’t spend$100 on a tenoning jig for yourtable saw.Build your own with scraps.

by Glen Huey

Glen Huey builds custom furniture in his shop inMiddletown, Ohio, for Malcolm L. Huey & Sons and is a

regular contributor to Popular Woodworking.

TenonJig

A

B

C

F

E

D

E

Corner brace "F"is nailed in placethen screwed from each end.

Nails

1 5/8"drywall screw

1 5/8"drywall screws

Nails

Here’s the side pieceheld in place against thetop runner. You want thetop runner to be snugagainst the top of yourfence (above left).Thetriangular braces(above right) keep theside and top runnersquare and sturdy foryears to come.

Schedule of Materials • Tenon JigNo. Ltr. Item Dimensions T W L Material1 A Back 3⁄4" x 10" x 151⁄4" Plywood1 B Side 3⁄4" x 10" x 16" Plywood1 C Top runner 3⁄4" x 43⁄4" x 16" Plywood1 D Side runner 3⁄4" x 21⁄2" x 16" Plywood2 E Triangular braces 3⁄8" x 3" x 71⁄2" Plywood1 F Corner brace 7⁄8" x 1" x 21" Hardwood*

* Piece is long; cut to fit.

my router table. The high side and backkeep my tenons in position as I cut thecheeks. It’s difficult to mess up a tenonwith this jig.

When I decided to retire the old jig andbuild a new one, I thought about addingsome fancy features. Then I realized thatsimple is best, and I stuck with my origi-nal design. This jig is built to be used witha commercial Biesemeyer fence. If youdon’t have a Biesemeyer, you’ll have tochange the dimensions of the top and siderunners, but that’s simple to do.

Simplicity ItselfBasically, this jig is two pieces of plywoodin an “L” shape that have a couple piecesof wood screwed to them to allow them toride the table saw’s fence. After settlingon the dimensions that are right for yourfence, cut all your pieces to size. First clampthe side piece and top runner in positionon your fence. Mark where the two piecesintersect and screw and glue the two piecestogether. Be sure to countersink the screwheads in the side piece. Position the siderunner in place under the top runner. You

want it to be tight against thefence — but not too tight.Screw it into place.Now glue and screw the largeback piece to the side piece.You want the angle to be 90degrees between the two

pieces, so check your work. Later you’lladd a corner brace that will keep this anglefixed at 90 degrees. Attach the two trian-gular braces to the side and runners. Attachthe braces with nails and glue.

Now miter the corner brace to fit. Putan engineer’s square between the back andside and adjust the brace until it holds thesepieces at exactly 90 degrees. Now nail thebrace in place.

Set up and UseBefore you go cutting tenons, wax theareas of the runners that come in contactwith your fence. If your jig won’t slide,unscrew the side runner and take a lightjointer pass on it. When the jig slidessmoothly, add some glue to the jointbetween the side and top runner to makeit permanent.

Cutting tenons is now simple. First useyour miter gauge and fence to define yourshoulders. Then put your jig up on the sawand make your cheek cuts. PW

Take your time fitting the corner brace between the side and back pieces.You want it to hold thesepieces at exactly 90 degrees (left).

Furniture wax works great to keep the runners moving smoothly over your fence.Be sure to reapplywax when the jig starts to get a little stiff after use (below).

After making mycheek cuts (which isshown in the openingphoto of the article),reset the saw todefine the tenon’sedge cheeks (left).

Mortise-and-tenonjoints are the stapleof my custom wood-working business. Iuse this jig on everypiece of furniture Ibuild.The jig’s simplic-ity and sturdinesshave made it one ofthe workhorses in myshop (right).

The curly maple board attachedto my miter gauge minimizestearout when I make the shouldercuts for my tenons.