Faster & Easier joinery

I think if you want to put loose tenon in six foot board the Mortise Pal would be easier to work with and is reasonable priced. I have a Leigh FMT it is fast and easy to set up and use, but to put a tenon in the end of a six foot board I still use my table saw with a tenon jig, I don’t have the Mortise Pal.

-- Mike

Hey Rich
I have a multi router but there are any number of shop made jigs on you tube that can do a good job.

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

If you want a REALLY fast way….go buy yourself a kreg jig haha

-- thatwoodworkingguy.com ~Eagle America~ ~Woodcraft~

I agree with Jim with the multi router. Some of those jigs could be complicated , I have a Leigh setup and nearly every time I use it I have to get the manual out.

-- wchips

Rich,

I just went though the same process. I looked at the Leigh Super FMT, but the 6’ board issue was in the back of my mind too. I have the original beadlock system, but I have never liked the way it worked. I had to shave down their tenon stock to get it into a cross grain mortise. I’d gone back to a drill and chisel until about a month ago. That’s when I finally pulled the trigger on the MortisePal.

I’ve used it for a number of mortises in QSWO. Going in the end grain is a little hard, but I expected that. I’ve made mortises that were 4” long by sliding the jig along the stock, and the tenon stock to match without any problem. I don’t know why I waited so long to buy this thing.

-- Doug - As my Dad taught me, you're not a cabinet maker until you can hide your mistakes.

Rich,

I’m looking at the same products and am leaning towards the Dowel Max (although the Mortise Pal is running a close second). I like the idea of using a drill rather than the router propped up on the work piece. I haven’t tried either the Mortise Pal or Dowel Max, but it seems like the Dowel Max has slightly less chance for error. In my situation, I’d have to purchase the router bits and a router base for my router, so the difference in price wouldn’t be that much. I like that both products won’t take up much room in my shop. I tried the Beadlock Pro and it just wasn’t accurate enough. I’ll be interested to see what others think.

My issue with the Dowel Max is sometimes I need a mortise that is a little longer than the tenon so there is some room for movement. I don’t see how to do that with the Dowel Max but I can see how to do it easily with the Mortise Pal. That is the primary reason I am leaning towards the Mortise Pal.

Furthermore, the Mortise Pal is cheaper. In my case, I already have needed router base and bits. I also have the ability to make my own tenons.

-- Rich, Cedar Rapids, IA - I'm a woodworker. I don't create beauty, I reveal it.

I have had the Domino for a bit over two years now. I constantly find new uses for it above and beyond M&T’s, which it excells at. Should it ever break (doubtful) I will replace it with another one. Even if the price was double what it is now.
Also I don not believe any of the other options will do true angled tenons, but I may be wrong.

-- http://www.niceashplanes.com/ http://www.efcabineture.com/

Torque Work Centre

—Sorry Rich, I couldn’t resist

I also love my Domino

Kent

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

Found a Jessem pocket zip mortiser on sale. Not bad for the money and easy enough to make longer mortises if you make your own tenon stock. The Mortise Pal looks pretty sweet tho…

I have a Steelex mortising machine which I find to be an easy way for making mortises, but I still use the cabinet saw for zeroing in on the tenons.

-- Tom L. Williams ~ The difference between a man and a boy is the price of his toys.

I also have a Festool Domino and it is really easy to use and makes moritses on long pieces of wood very easy.

I know when I am making a complected piece, I occassional for get to make a mortise. The stops make it easy to repeat the setup.

The ability to make angled mortises also makes it easier to make chairs.

A less expensive jig that does a lot is the Router Wizard made by Eagle Jigs. It does a lot of what the Domino does but takes more set up time. And it is more difficult to use on long pieces.

Domer

I have several jigs and a few biscuit and dowel joiners. I use them all, but when I want to just make a few mortise and floating tenons I go to my Jessem Zip slot. I love the fact that it is very simple and completely dustless if you use a vacuum attachment. no cleaning after a few mortises is golden.
I do use it with a corded drill, My cordless drill doesn’t have enough hump for clean mortises

loose tenons.

-- When the moderator chooses sides, his site sucks.

You might want to look at this homemade machine:
http://woodgears.ca/pantorouter/