If you ask fifteen different people how to create a tenon chances are you will get fifteen different answers, some will say power tools, some will say hand tools and if your like me it's a little bit of both.

Whatever the answer I don't think anyone will disagree that a good tenoning jig makes quick work of batching out tenons, and certainly that it's not the only way to get the job done.

But if a tenoning jig is not in the budget let me show you another method I use.

Supplies

With a little bit of set up the band saw is a great choice for cutting tenons.

But typically I only use it to make all of my cheek cuts after making the shoulder cuts with the table saw.

To make my shoulder cuts I use my sled with a stop set to the depth I want the tenon to be. Using a stop will ensure two things, first that the shoulder of the tenon will be square the complete diameter of the piece of stock, and second once the depth has been established it makes this step repeatable.

Step 1:

I set my blade height to right below the opening of my mortise. I want it to be a little short to ensure my tenon will be slightly over sized . It's an easy task to remove a little material after the tenon is cut to create a good fit in the joint.

Step 2:

Once the blade height has been established I make my shoulder cuts on all four sides of the piece of stock, taking my time between each cut to make sure that I am flush against my stop before proceeding with the next cut.

Step 3:

Then using the band saw I make all of my cheek cuts. When making these cuts I do not want to remove any more material then the depth of the shoulder cut.

Step 4:

Once my tenon is has been cut I will clean up the surface of the tenon cheek and the shoulder removing just enough material to create a fit that is loose enough to go together with hand pressure yet strong enough to not fall apart from gravity.