tenons on large rails

**grasshopper** · 03-15-2006, 01:56 PM

I am making a four poster bed out of Maple. This weekend I would like to cut the tenons on the side rails. The rails are about 80" long 5" wide and 1.5" thick. Normally I cut tenons on my table saw but these rails are much too large to pass squarely over a dado blade. Any suggestions on the best way to cut the tenons?

**beamerweb** · 03-15-2006, 02:06 PM

A tenon/dovetail/gents saw and a nice sharp chisel would probably be the least awkward for me.

**beamerweb** · 03-15-2006, 02:07 PM

Alternately, you could lay the board down flat and try to pare away the shoulders and cheeks with a flat-bottom router bit in a handheld router. Depending on how long the tenons are, you may need to put together some kind of jig to support the router on the outside there.

**rhull** · 03-15-2006, 02:37 PM

>A tenon/dovetail/gents saw and a nice sharp chisel would
>probably be the least awkward for me.

I vote for this option. :)

Alternatively, an RAS works good for defining tenon shoulders in this situation; bring the blade to the beast, rather than vice versa.

**dcarter636** · 03-15-2006, 03:01 PM

I've used a shop made U-shaped saddle guide fixture to make the cheeks and long shoulders with a router, leave the tenons about an inch too long to support the router base for that operation and cut to length after that's done. The short shoulders can be cut and relieved with the gents saw and a chissel.

**kinny** · 03-15-2006, 10:18 PM

Have you considered using loose tenons? On stock 1.5 inches wide I think you'd be better off making double tenons instead of one big tenon, loose tenons may be an easier system in this case. ??

**Sawduster** · 03-16-2006, 08:33 AM

The mortices for loose tenons would be more difficult to accomplish in the ends of the rails than would a normal tenon. You'ld almost certainly need a horizontal router set-up for that.

I would do those by hand. Mark out the shoulder lines using a marking knife, deepen those marks and either cut in at an angle from the waste side using a knife to form a trench or use a sharp chisel to obtain the same effect, again on the waste side. Use those trenches to guide a tenon saw. If the wood is straight grained you could split off most of the waste from the end of the piece, then finish up by pareing with a chisel using a guide, or with a shoulder plane. Otherwise, saw outside the layout lines from the end, and clean up as before.

I have a spiel on my [link:home.austin.rr.com/sawduster/Marking/Measuring.htm|website] on marking around the perimeter of a board that works very well for marking out the shoulders. It's about a third of the way down the page.

**grasshopper** · 03-16-2006, 02:15 PM

Thanks to All.
I don't have an RAS...but I think that would have been the easiest. Before posting my thought was a router with a guide and a gents saw also. Most seem to confirm this as the best way. This might sound stupid but I didn't even think of using a flat bottom bit.