Kerfmaker uses

Super Review well done

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

forgive my ignorance, can you do it in a picture by picture step?

-- timber715 - Manila, Philippines

timber if you go to bridge city tools site they have video that shows use of the tool

edit—sorry misread the post

-- Jeff - Bell Buckle, TN

thanks Jeff, but I was referring to what he used it for. not what bridge city sells it for, if you read closer he had a different application for it…

-- timber715 - Manila, Philippines

Excellent, useful review … Thanks!

I knew there was a reason I needed one of these!

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

I too would like pictures. I have the Kerfmaker, so this is something I will look at closely

Thanks for the review

-- She thought I hung the moon--now she just thinks I did it wrong

I’ve got a couple of pics that may make the tenon cutting process a bit clearer. The first step is to close the Kerfmaker completely and using its shortest lenght cut a scrap of wood to the collapsed length. This is used as a stop in cutting the first face of the tenon. I used the saw rip fence as a backstop for the the block to set the tenon jig for the cut of the first tenon face. Once the fence is set it’s never moved. Cut the first face.

The next picture shows the kerf setting gadget made by taking a short cut into a scrap piece, then cutting off a short section.
The offset here is equal to the kerf made by the saw blade. The kerfmaker is first set by resting the Kerfmaker on a flat surface with both slides resting on the surface, then locking the gray slider to the main body. The combination is now placed on the kerf blockand the orange slider extended and locked to the gray slider. There is now a gap between the two sliders equal to the saw kerf.

Next I make a mortise-measuring gadget from a small block of wood small enough to loosely fit into the mortise. The block is then cut diagonally lengthwise to form two wedges.

Insert the wedges into the mortise and slide them against one another to expand the combination to tightly fit the mortise.

Remove the wedges holding them together to prevent movement and use them as a gage to set a gap in the Kerfmaker equal to the mortise width.

The overall length of the Kerfmaker is now equal to the collapsed Kerfmakerl length plus the kerf width plus the mortise width. Now use the Kerfmaker to reposition the tenon jig to cut the second tenon face.

The same method can be used to cut the remaining 2 tenon faces. If all has been done carefully you’ll have a close fitting tenon.

This looks like a great plan. However it is interesting to note that cutting timber this way on a table saw is actually illegal in the uk. No table saws are available with vertical attachments in uk, also some other european countries.

-- Ollie, UK.

good work

Cool looking little tool. Nice review.
I’d have one by now if they kept these little things in stock. I’m more of an impulse buyer. The higher price and knowing that I won’t receive it for a few months is enough to keep me from buying.