Add jig-building to your set-up time, and you have an approach that takes the longest of the three to get started.
Our low-tech, low-dough approach features a plunge-router mortising jig that you can make out of plywood, acrylic plastic, scrapwood, and some common hardware (Figure 1). (See the Convenience-Plus Buying Guide on page 31 for products mentioned.) Hopefully, you’ll find one that best suits your needs and budget. While one saves time, another saves money. Here, we’ll cover three distinct approaches to cutting loose-tenon joints. And, finally, you can easily use loose tenons with angled joints such as miters. You don’t have to take into account the length of the tenons (i.e., no math). A third and very big benefit is that you cut all of the workpieces to finished length before cutting the joints. Another benefit is that by cutting the loose tenon narrower than the mortises, you have a “fudge factor” that helps you align pieces flush, even if you slightly miscut the mortise length or location. One benefit of the loose tenon is the instant fit you get with little or no additional handwork with a plane or sanding block. It’s glued securely in place for a very strong face-grain-to-face-grain joint. On a loose-tenon joint, you cut mortises in both pieces with the same machine or jig and the same setup.Then you cut a loose tenon (sort of a short spline) to fit halfway into each piece. Since you’re cutting the mortise and the tenon with two different tools and two different setups, the possibility for a joint that doesn’t quite fit together perfectly is always present. The challenge lies in getting the tenon to fit perfectly in the mortise. Then you cut away material from the end of the other mating piece (the apron) to create a tenon. With a traditional mortise-and-tenon joint, you cut a mortise (a slot) in one of the mating pieces (for example, a table leg). This joint can be made quickly with a router, a cordless drill, or a high-speed mortiser, and when it’s assembled with modern adhesives, it’s plenty strong for most projects. There’s an alternative that’s a lot easier to make-the loose-tenon joint. But it’s not always the quickest or easiest to cut. There’s little doubt that the mortise-and-tenon joint is one of the strongest joints in woodworking. Spend a little, spend a lot: three great ways to make loose-tenon joints.
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