Shop-Made Loose Tenon Jig

My palm router probably has just as many joinery miles on it as it does for profiling and shaping. Fitted with a straight bit, I can make dadoes, rabbets, grooves — and mortises. The sticking point is coming up with an accurate way to control the router. The solution is to make a jig. I’ve made mortising jigs (or templates) that have ranged from quick one-offs to complex adjustable gadgets. They have all worked. What I dislike is the setup. The jig needs to be clamped in the correct location on the workpiece (which is also clamped in place) prior to every cut. All that clamping and releasing adds up. The jig you see here tackles the issue by working more like a biscuit joiner, or Festool Domino joiner. The router is attached to the jig and used like a hand-held power tool. The router moves forward, back and side to side on a pair of carriages and guide rods. A fence in conjunction with a series of stops controls the location and the size of the mortise. The challenge is making a jig that’s versatile to work on a variety of applications without letting it get too big and cumbersome to use well. In the plans, you’ll see how this jig checks all boxes, plus you'll find out how to integrate the jig into a joinery technique.

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