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Investigate the various methods of constructing a Mortice and Tenon joint with the router

The Mortice and Tenon joint has been around longer than I have, and over the years I would have produced a great number of projects where the joint played a major roll in the construction. Going back to the days when the router had not been part of the average woodworkers tool kit, and the joints were cut by ‘hand’, or you may have been lucky to have access to a Morticer that was available in some professional woodworkers workshop. After a long period of time cutting such a joint and teaching others how to make them, I finally decided to look for an alternative method of producing the Mortice and Tenon.

  Looking through books and Magazines I began to investigate how others were keeping up with technology and I observed how the router was being used to make the joint using one of the following methods. ·  

Constructing the Mortice and Tenon joint with the router inserted in the router table such as The 'Triton Router Table.'·  

Routing Mortice joints using the accessories supplied. (Side Fence Attachment) Note: The side fence attachment was not considered suitable for cutting the Tenons, and therefore an alternative method had to be found. · The Tenons were either cut on the circular saw, router table or  constructed from a variety of Jigs designed by a large number of  Router specialists. (Today there are jigs readily available for purchase to rout the Tenon). 

Some of the ultimate jigs published over the years are considered complex in construction, and are never used by the average woodworker for that reason, ‘Too Hard' to make. It could also be said, “What there is to know about routing the joint has been published before and therefore there is no need to write any more”.

 Details of how the joint can be constructed with Greater Safety are presented on the CD-ROM 2

"There is a need to re-think how the router can be used". When designing a project we must consider how the material is to be held secure. One method I have developed, is the 'Jig Holder', capable of holding the material and the template securely in position, without nailing them both together. Jig holders are designed to suit the size of the material to be cut. Some are long and narrow others are small rectangular or square. Other ‘Special’ Jig Holders and Jigs are constructed for special projects i.e. inserting hinges,/ routing mortice and tenon joints,/ cutting circles with the router,/ routing elliptical shapes,/ Routing a tapered leg, etc. Each jig is designed to make routing Safer, and produce the project quicker and more accurately, and in most instances with a better 'finish' eliminating a great deal of sanding. It will be necessary to have a number of template guides at your disposal to complete the projects. Photographic samples of projects are published here simply to demonstrate there is a  need to construct the Jig Holder (Box) to hold the jig,/ material,/ and template secure, if you wish to produce projects of this type. (How else can it be achieved?)

  Cams: In many of the projects shelf supports have been shown to hold the material secure during the routing process. Latest method of securing the material is to produce eight ‘Cams’ and place two at each corner. The development of the cams will enable a greater variety of material of different sizes.  Here the cams are positioned in readiness to rout the twelve sided clock. (See the article on the 12 sided clock) 

‘Special’ Jig Holders and Jigs are constructed for special projects i.e. inserting hinges, routing mortice and tenon joints,cutting circles with the router,  routing elliptical shapes etc.

Small Cabinet doors  

The CNC router has introduced a number of projects which were considered impossible to achieve with the standard plunge router. The kitchen cabinet doors are a typical example of one of the projects. With an increase in the size of the standard jig holder shown previously, it is possible to produce doors 720mm high and 450mm wide. Once the use of the template guide has been mastered there are numerous other designs to choose from. The procedure adopted is the same no matter what size of door is required.   Small BoxesThe construction of the small boxes will require a number of templates and a number of new routing techniques if they are to be constructed with safety. See the article on routing the small boxes

Partitioned ‘Heart’ shaped boxes can be cut from solid timber with the aid of the same standard 400 x 300mm Jig holder. This box requires a number of template to be produced to complete the project.

Making or Buying Jigs:

Jigs may not be available for purchase to complete the project you may wish to produce, therefore it will be necessary to design and construct you own. Jigs  templates and template guides will introduce greater Safety Awareness and improve the standard of finish on many projects.  

Additional projects produced with the aid of a variety of jigs and templates

  The twelve sided clock illustrated was first published in a recent 'Routing' magazine. The design has been retained with the method of construction changed to produce the clock with a much safer process.  

The first step is to draw the external shape full size. This can be prepared on plane paper or on a large board. Even before producing the final drawing, sketches should be made setting out the procedure to be adopted.

.At this stage you should have some idea as to the overall dimensions of the project, and to the size of the 'scallops' around the external edge.

 Consider the combination of template guide and cutters that are to be used. for the various stages to produce the clock All the information regarding  dimensions,- cutters,- template guides and easy to follow instructions, are illustrated to make the construction of the clock easy to follow. Changes to the overall sizes will depend on individual requirements and the material that is available.  

See the CD-ROM 2 for all details of construction

Cutting a small item with the router such as the Elliptical Trinket Box illustrated (180 x 90 x 35mm deep), requires a great deal of thought as to how the material is held, what cutters are to be used, and what accessories are required to complete the project.

Stages of Work: There are at least four stages to follow to produce the base of the box and it will be necessary to consult the drawing board in the preparation of the templates required to rout the project. The material should be held secure and the router cutter controlled with the aid of a Template Guide (Guide Bush) and a Jig. The lid has been designed to fit neatly into the base with a small rebate on the underside. The underside of the lid has also been recessed to reduce the weight of the material.  

All the stages of producing the boxes are available on CD-ROM 2