Tenon jig - what's good/bad about yours?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Looking to get a tenoning jig, and I'd like to hear feedback about what you do or don't like about yours......

[Tim Malyszko]

I have the Delta 34-183 jig and am pretty happy with it.


Here is what I like:

• Heft - the jig is very heavy and feels very stable.
• No Slop in T-slot
• Very accurate cuts once set up properly, making repeatability easy.
• The micro adjusment works pretty well if you don't have to make an adjustment more than say 1/16" in either direction.

There are however some dislikes:

• The stops are a pain to set up and make fine adjustments to them.
• I check it for squareness before each use on the table because I've found it get out of square as I move it from the shelf to the table and back.
• I have to be careful when tightening down the adjustments as I sometimes overtighten and take it out of sqare.

Would I buy it again... Definately a yes. Once I get it set up and square, I can make cut-after-cut with great repeatability. In addition, I really like the heft compared to the other ones on the market.

[Joe Scharle]

Use the router....Luke.

[Lee Schierer]

I also have the Delta 34-183 tenon jig and really like it. I use it all the time. Unlike the previosu post, I have not had to reset the adjustments for square once tehy were accurately set. I recently acquired a digital angle indicator and according to it my jig was off a bit from my eye ball and plastic triangle setting by a few tenths of a degree. In no reads zero. The micro adjsutment screw is great. I can shave a few thousnandths off a tenon face if needed.

What I didn't like were the plastic locking handles for the various adjustments. I broke one shortly after I received mine. I replaced all the plastic handles with cast metal ones of the same type and have hand no problems since.

I also don't care for the metric adjusting screw for the clamping bar.

Would I buy another one, most definitely. Although the first jig I recieved from my supplier was not flat and wobbled on the table. They promptly sent a replacement but the cross slide bar was out of square and couldn be tighened to the jig when in the table slot so I swapped out the best parts from each to get a truly nice fit and a jig that was flat and sent the reassembled bad one back to them with all the bad parts tagged.

[Dewey Torres]

I have this Griz:

Likes: Solid tool heavy and reliable, cost is the cheapest of all jigs in it's class, dealing with Griz is a pleasure, customer service is great.

Dislikes: Cant trust the measurements on it. It has fine adjustment but you have to perform test cuts to be sure. (could be said for most all of them)

[Rod Sheridan]

I also have a Delta tenon jig which I have stopped using for safety reasons.

I couldn't come up with a blade guard that worked with it, so I stopped cutting tenons on the table saw.

I now use a shaper with a tenon jig and two cutters, cuts both sides simultaneously, and the tenon is exactly the same width every time, regardless of material thickness.

Oh, and it has a guard of course...........Regards, Rod.

[Charles Lent]

I have the Delta tenon jig, but stopped using it several years ago. I bought a Leigh FMT jig and now cut perfect mortices and matching tenons with it and the Delta tenon jig is collecting dust. Cutting them with a router is much safer, and they fit perfectly every time. The FMT is expensive, but worth every penny if you make a lot of mortice/tenon joints.

Charley

[Myk Rian]

I have a Delta jig. Even though I haven't noticed it going out of square, I still check it before use, just like everything else. I like the weight of it. Well built.

[Tim Malyszko]

What I didn't like were the plastic locking handles for the various adjustments. I broke one shortly after I received mine. I replaced all the plastic handles with cast metal ones of the same type and have hand no problems since

That is probably one reason I have issues with it getting knocked out of square when moving it around. one of the plastic handles broke, making it hard to tighten things down all the way.

[Larry Edgerton]

I also have a Delta tenon jig which I have stopped using for safety reasons.

I couldn't come up with a blade guard that worked with it, so I stopped cutting tenons on the table saw.

I now use a shaper with a tenon jig and two cutters, cuts both sides simultaneously, and the tenon is exactly the same width every time, regardless of material thickness.

Oh, and it has a guard of course...........Regards, Rod.

Ditto. I have one on the shelf in the tool room, never felt comfortable with it. I use the shaper or for larger projects the carriage on the table saw. If you didn't have a big shaper or a carriage saw it could be the ticket if you didn't want to cut by hand.

[Warren Clemans]

I use the Delta cast iron beast and like it well enough. Micro-adjusting is really precise. I've never really been too concerned about the safety of it. I get it all set up and then make sure I have the jig between me and the blade when I'm making cuts. The handles keep my hands way clear of the blade. I'd certainly like better dust control, but that's generally true of the table saw since I haven't yet invested in over-the-blade dust collection.

[Charles Saunders]

I have the inexpensive Delta jig also. The main side-to-side adjustment lock handle broke (plastic) and I replaced it with a metal knob. Then bought Leigh FMT and I don't use it much anymore. Nice thing about it is that it's very adjustable and if you drill and tap some additional holes in the face plate you can hold some difficult workpieces.

[Roger Warford]

John, would you excuse me if I divert the thread slightly off topic? I'm wondering what the relative pro's and con's are for using a dado blade to make tenons with the board flat on the table vs. using a tenoning jig? I've been toying with the idea of buying a tenoning jig (my homemade jig wasn't very square!). Avoiding the need to set up a dado would certainly be one benefit of a jig. Are there others?

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

John, would you excuse me if I divert the thread slightly off topic? I'm wondering what the relative pro's and con's are for using a dado blade to make tenons with the board flat on the table vs. using a tenoning jig? I've been toying with the idea of buying a tenoning jig (my homemade jig wasn't very square!). Avoiding the need to set up a dado would certainly be one benefit of a jig. Are there others?

Not at all. and since you bring up the topic of alternatives....what about cutting tenons on a bandsaw instead? anyone use that as their "preferred method"?

[Brent Leonard]

I have the woodcraft model. The Grizzly is EXACTLY the same as the woodcraft, only cheaper.

Mine came coated in heavy grease. I disassembled the entire jig, down to each and every little screw. Using aerosol, disk brake cleaner, I had to clean every part of the jig. What a P-I-T-A!!

As mentioned with the delta jig, Woodcraft model is the same,check for square on every set up for use. As was mentioned on the Grizzly, woodcraft is the same, the scale is worthless, use a test piece/cut.

All in all, just as good as the others I suppose. Grizzly is the best deal, IMO. One of the magazines did a test. All were good and the author stated the "best" was based on personal prefrence. Best rated was one of the Delta models (the slightly more expensive of their two models).