Mortise and Tenon - Not Another One

[Leo Vogel]

I make a lot of mission furniture, and therefore, lots of mortise and tenons. I presently use a hollow chisel bench mortiser, and although it works, I am not totally satisfied. I have to rework each mortise with a chisel, it’s sometimes not the right depth, and never looks quite good enough to me. Then on top of that, I have to make the tenons with all the problems that go with them.

I really prefer the mortise and tenon jointery, and with the mission furniture, have not much of a choice. I really like the look of a router mortise and tenon, and don't have a problem with the rounded tenons. I have been considering a Leigh FMT jig, and would like opinions about its use. How does it work on small mortise and tenons, such as ½ square? Are they easy to make with the jig, etc.? Are thru mortises easy to make, etc.? Would it save me time over my mortiser?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Anyone have a Leigh FMT for sale?

[Michael Heffernan]

I just got an FMT Pro on Craig's List for $625 (it was new, so I think it was a good deal). Anyway, I'm in the same boat as you. I do a lot of M&T joints for Arts and Crafts and Mission furniture and spend a lot of time setting up my Powermatic mortiser and then cutting tenons to match. I wanted a more accurate and easily repeatable M&T system, thus the purchase of the Leigh FMT. I did a couple of test cuts today, without really reading the manual. Set-up was simple and quick. And I cut the joints in a minute or so. They were too tight, but that is adjustable on the jig in thousandths of an inch. I'll make the adjustments tomorrow and cut a couple more test pieces.
I am excited to get it into production. I ordered the HSS router bit/guide template accessory kit and two cam action hold-down bench clamps, for all the sizes of M&Ts the jig can make. As for square through tenons, you can get the square tenon templates, but you'll have to square up the mortises.
Once I get more time on the FMT, I'll post my observations.
Keep Googling 'Leigh FMT for sale' and page through a few pages. That's how I found this Craig's List listing for the FMT Pro, and jumped on it. One may pop up near you.
Let us know how it goes....

[Mike Sandman]

The Super FMT is heavy guage steel rather than milled aluminum, so it's cheaper to make. It's about $400 new at Highland Hardware. I've had mine only a short while, but it produces accurate mortise & tenon joints. A couple of suggestions: set it up carefully and take the time to make a few test pieces. You can fine tune the fit so it's not too loose or tight, but it will take a few tries to get it exactly right. After that, the setting shouldn't need to be adjusted.

The dust collection accessory costs extra on the Super FMT, although it comes with the higher priced original FMT. It's OK but not as good as I'd expected and it gets in the way of the clamps that hold your piece to the jig.

You have to fiddle with the clamps especially with the part you're cutting the mortise into. Don't be afraid to tighten them quite a bit.

[Darnell Hagen]

I have a first generation FMT, I use it about once every three years.

It is a pain to set up, you can't tennon long parts, and the clamps mar your stock. If you are doing through mortises be aware they are not the traditional square ends. You are confined to the sizes of templates you have. The router is messy. loud, and time consuming. The targeting system is too coarse for precision work.

It excels at goofy joinery, I've screwed jigs to it to tennon bent laminations. It's also good for angled joinery, like chairs.

You are far better off with a hollow chisel mortiser. I don't understand your problems, are the sides ragged? Do you use stops?

[Mike Henderson]

This is not cheap, but I used a Domino on my last project - not for loose tenon joinery, but to make the mortises. I found that you can make a mortise any width by making cuts side-by-side.

Two defects:

1. You're limited in the size of the mortises to the sizes of the Domino bits, and

2. You're limited as to how deep you can go. I think 28mm is the deepest you can cut a mortise. For my work that was deep enough.

I cut my tenons in the traditional manner (at least traditional to me).

The Domino is sort of like a portable horizontal slot mortiser - with limitations. But then it adds the advantage of doing loose tenon work when you want to do that.

It's FAST when making mortises. And it makes beautiful mortises.

Mike

[PS I don't own a Domino (yet). I borrowed one from a friend to test out this approach.]

[Dan Forman]

You might also consider the Mortise Pal.
Mortise Pal Mortising Jig. Mortises Made Easy!


Dan

[glenn bradley]

+1 on Mortise Pal. It only does mortises so your tenons are floating or made separately. I have never had a failure and it is quite easy to use. Spend the other $200 to $600 on a new router and a bunch of wood ;-)

Seriously, the FMT, Domino and Dowel Max are all quality tools. The MP just made more sense for me. YMMV.

P.s. I have the original jig. The new one is quite a bit more refined and still the same price IIRC.

[Rod Sheridan]

If I were to give up my hollow chisel mortiser it would be for a slot mortiser.

I could add a slot mortiser to my jointer/planer or purchase a stand alone mortiser.

That way I could continue to use my shaper for tenoning, or produce loose tenon stock on the shaper.........Regards, Rod.

[Josiah Bartlett]

I found that my hollow chisel mortiser became much more pleasurable to use when I got rid of the crummy fence and replaced it with an x-y machinists vise. I just clamp the work in the vise, set it to the middle, and use the lead screw of the vise to advance the work. Add a couple of stops and you get very repeatable cuts without the raggedy edges usually associated with a hollow chisel machine. The vise also makes the chisel easy to set square- you just clamp the chisel in the vise jaws to square it up while you tighten the set screws.

[John Michaels]

I sold my hollow chisel mortiser and bought a Dowelmax. I wasn't happy with how long it was taking to make M&T joints with the mortiser and table saw. Plus I always struggled to make an exellent fitting M&T joint. The Dowelmax is very precise, fast, and beautifully engineered. My next tool purchase in this category will be the Domino (maybe for chair building)?

[Brian Jarnell]

I have just decided to sell my slot motiser and buy a domino.

There is talk of a bigger Domino coming out,will have to see.