What I learned today (a rookie's notes)

[collinb]

I use one of those old Craftsman universal jigs for tenons.

To cut them I go through 2 steps.

First, I do the vertical cuts (step 1).

Then do the girdle cut (step 2) to  create your final product.

The Step 1 cuts need to be made just a hair lower than the actual edge you are looking for.

 

This has two advantages:

First it eliminates the problem of mistakenly cutting too high and ruining the edge on your piece or after having to fix an end, trusting that the same error is not made on the other end.

Second, by knowing that one is just a hair below the end edge the potential for a problematic shoulder where the cuts meet is greatly reduced.