American Hanging Cupboard #3: Cutting the tenons - What NOT to do...

So last night I began cutting the tenons on the table saw. Now before everyone tells me I’m lucky to still have my fingers or flames me for posting these pics, here’s a disclaimer. DO NOT use a table saw without the use of a throat plate. Disastrous things CAN and likely WILL happen… (See Also: Standard disclaimer “Blade Guard Removed for Clarity”)

That being said… I’ve never had problems making cuts with the dado stack in the tablesaw without the use of a throat plate, though I would not recommend this process. I’m sure there are certain cuts that would be impossible without a throat plate, but I have yet to find one.

Below is a process picture of cutting the tenons on the saw.

Here is the face frame with tenons cut on the rails and awaiting marking out mortises in the stiles.

Close up of tenon

As you can see from the close up photos above I have to hit the shoulders of the tenons with a chisel to remove the little 1/64th of an inch of material left on the short shoulders. Overall I’m pleased with the results, however I have discovered that something(table, fence, angle-stop, etc) must have shifted slightly during the move to the new house as my reference points are no longer dead on… I will have to get this sorted out before moving on to the door construction…

In the next part I’ll mark out and make the mortises in the stiles and possibly begin the glue-up of the face frame… Stay Tuned!

(P.S. I’m also sorting out issues with my digital camera, I got all set up with a tripod, flash, and remote shutter release last night only to find out that the battery won’t hold a charge {{AGAIN}} You would think Nikon would be able to produce a good battery by now… If you have a DSLR that uses the Nikon EN-4 battery you know what I’m talking about…)

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