As promised - loose M&T video

[drumpriest]

As I promised in another thread, here is a link to a video I did today on how to cut a loose mortise and tenon joint. For brevity I only cut one mortise in the video. The only important things to keep in mind when cutting the 2nd mortise is that you layout the correct size (duh), and that you reference the same face toward the router edge guide. That way your joint will be flush when fit.

Note: I am currently switching dns servers, so this link will work for now, but might be down in the next couple of days. I'll post again if this happens.

http://swordandspiritsoftware.com.di...om/m&t-web.wmv

[boblon]

Great little video. Very well done.

BobL.

[cabinetman]

Keith

Good video, very smooth procedure. You should be making videos. I vote you replace David Marks. Looks like a good fit, didn't see any chisel work. Videos like this are great.



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[JR]

Awesome, Keith! Now that i have a plunge router I may have to trash my mortising machine.

Thanks for the tutorial.

JR

[Jeffrey Schronce]

Keith,

Great job on this, the initial video. LOL.

Seriously, you did a great job on this but I think some additions would be great, particularly set up. It appears that you use an edge guide on your plunge router, versus setting up a jig and bushing. I think it would be interesting to see your approach. A video on how to measure the joints and how to set up the machinary would be great for beginners.

JR, no need to trash the mortising machine. You can make square loose tenons as well. The mortising machine would elimate jigs needed to create mortise and using flat, square stock for tenons would be very easy with a planner or sander.

[rickd]

Great vid, Keith! I now have a new use for my plunge router!

[lcm1947]

Great video Keith. Thanks for doing it for us. Well it looks easy enough but then that may be because you were doing it and not myself. Thanks again for going to the trouble of doing it. Well worth it.

[jonathan55]

http://swordandspiritsoftware.com.di...om/m&t-web.wmv

Thanks, I get a "service unavailable" page when I click on the link.

[lcm1947]

Bummer! it's not working anymore.

[bigfoot]

Good movie, almost as good as the book

[jonathan55]

It seems to be working again on Sunday morning! Thanks! Good work!

[Bruce Cohen]

Keith,

Excellent video, one question:

Do you find that plunging seperate holes and then cleaning them us, as per video, a better approch than incremental plunge and move steps to create the mortise.


BTW, Lee Valley sells loose tenon stock in various sizes. They're made of a compressed wood material (Something like a biscuit ), which will avoid the entire thickness planning and roundover steps. Have you ever used them?

Bruce

[drumpriest]

Sorry for the issues with accessing this video. It's going to be flakey for the next few days as I am currently moving web servers. I'll repost once all of this work has been finished off.

Bruce, yeah, I've done it both ways, and the overlapping plunge technique makes for an easier and better mortise. The reason is that as you are gliding the router along the edge, it's easy to waver, and any little bit will create a bad mortise. I find that the multi-plunge approach makes a great mortise every time, without any additional jigs. And when you clean it out, there is very little stress on the cutter, making it all nice and easy.

I havn't used Lee Valley's stock, it sounds interesting. I've always taken the approach that you should use stock of the same type of wood if possible. It'll move in a similar way.

Concerning setup...in this video I used a B&D workmate, clamped the board in the vise even with the top, and used an edge guide to follow the layout lines. The layout lines were drawn on using an Incra ruler, very easy to do. Then I used my edge guide's microadjuster to get the cutter centered in the layout. It's important to note that it's not essential that you are perfectly centered so long as your 2 pieces face the same direction when clamped in. The reason for this is that the mortises will be off by the same amount, and thus line up during assembly. Another advantage to loose tenon, IMO.

Thanks for all of the positive comments. Perhaps I'll try and do more of these in the future.

[ChrisD]

Hey, nice job, Keith! I like the natural light effect.

[JimD]

I agree with the other comments - nice job. I have plunged and pulled in steps but I often did not get a perfect mortise either. Your technique is certainly worth a try. Router mortises can easily be cleaner than ones made with mortising machines (but the reduced setup time and square corners of the mortising machine are advantages).

Woodsmith has a .pdf where they show a different alignment method - have you tried it? You make a flat plate of plywood or mdf with an oversized opening that is your mortise dimensions plus the distance from the outer edge of your bit to the template guide you also have on the router. I think it would be a little tough to get the inner opening of the jig exactly right (best way I have found is to rip a piece to size on the BT3100 and then glue it between two other pieces) but the advantage is you are not dependant on the edge guide. I use similar jigs for hinge mortiseing so it is also on my list of things to try.

Jim