Tenoning

Just lock the workpiece in the Cam Lock, depth the bit and cut. You can make perfect, square tenons in just four hits. You can make any kind: haunched, twin, double twin and so on. You can even cut compound angled tenons for chair making.

The maximum cut depth is 2” (50mm) which is standard for most routers and ample for most projects. Some routers do have a greater reach. You can make raising plates to give space for greater length of tenons.

Lightening fast

Our Stop and Block technique uses a stop in the base of your router that stops against the Guide Rail stop. Combined with a simple spacer block, this allows you to make consistent width of tenons (and sliding dovetails) knowing that they will exactly fit your mortises.

Have a look, also, at the Flightpath Sticker. It’s a simple way of checking exactly where you are going to cut your workpiece.

No Tearout

The router table is hopeless at cutting tenons or, in fact, any joint across the end of a rail, as you have to go against the spin of the bit to avoid the workpiece being snatched out of your hands and exposing your fingers to the blades: this up-cut method also produces bad tearout.

The WoodRat cuts cleanly across the ends of boards because the Cam Lock holds the wood firmly as it feeds it steadily into the bit on the down-cut. This gives a clean cut at the shoulder, and your tenons will come straight off the bit as clean as a whistle.

Down-cutting prolongs the life of the cutting edge of the bit, too.

Making Tenons of all kinds

Tenons can be long (eg. for sliding dovetails), short, deep, shallow, twin or double, angled or compound angled. Then of course they can be through, stub, haunched, twin, double, angled and compound angled tenons for chair-making, fox-tailed, pinned, pinned with draw-pins and so on. 

You can make bridle joints and mitred bridle joints with the same technique.