This didn’t take very long.
Both Steve and Ray have convinced me that The Tool That Cannot Be Denied is in fact a tool to accurately size tenons without measurements. And Steve, you will need to find something else to dislike, because I fixed your gripe. Thanks too. So Steve and Ray, drop me a line (john@bridgecitytools.com) to see what you have won!
Because inquiring minds want to know, the dimensions of the sample in the pic below are as follows;
The “foot” is 44mm in length and the overall height as shown is 95mm. It is a don’t ask, don’t tell companion to the Kerfmaker.
Since most people make mortises first (and no, it doesn’t really matter) this little tool will allow you to gauge the mortise width (from 3.2mm up to 31.75mm) and then use the tool as flip stop to size the tenon cheek cuts PERFECTLY.
We will post videos in a couple of weeks.
Now we need a name…are you game?
You know you want it.
–John
PS: Received an email from Cooter Ditchman wondering if the hole was for a battery. “If this is not powered, it ain’t worth a bucket of spit.” He then proposed a trade for one of his “gator paw” ashtrays.
Should I do it?
John,
That’s exceptional !
So – since “sets” alway’s work better in 3’s,
when is the third member of this family going to make it’s debut?
Roger
John,
That email promising a gator paw ashtray is a trick, everyone knows Cooter can’t use a computer!
The “TenonMaker” is a real game changer. I can see how using it with the DJ-1 and the JMP would really make for accurate and quiet mortise and tenon joinery. I’ll take one!
I don’t think you will get too much heat from the WW Taliban for this one, I don’t think hand cut m&t joints are as big of a source of pride as hand cut dovetails are.
-Rutager
The third member?
Like everything larger than a tenon that measure on a daily basis? I seem to be seeing a “supersize” version of what you have above.
Roger
I’m glad to see the flip-foot. Now I’ll have a story to tell. But I don’t have anything else to dislike. Yet…
How about “The Tenonator”?
Actually, looking closely at the new model, I see that it already has a name. I just can’t make out what it is.
And now I see that the file name of the image is TM1-Render-Blog-v3.jpg. Not a lot of room for the imagination…
You should call it the WM-1, for WidowMaker, because when my wife sees this plus the JMP V2 and DJ-1 come into my shop, she’s sure to kill me!
Perhaps I should have stuck to RC helicopters.
Todd
Woa now, wait a sec’ there! I thought this was a cousin of 3CPO? Yer tellin me this is a gadget for measuring tenons n’ mortises? Not a new product from iRobot? Where do you plug it in?
“Tenonator” leading the pack at the moment with “Widowmaker” a furlong behind!
I like it.
I really dislike I lost the internal debate on “Kerfer Dude”.
Thanks for the contributions–I take it I should tell Cooter Ditchman to offer his Gator Paw ashtray to some other sucker?
–John
Cool idea… how about Tenonometer
Let’s see…..
Tenon-tick, Ten-tick, T-tick, Ticker, T-T, Tenon-T, Tenon-Check, Tenon-Checker, Ten-Check, T-Check …
ah yes…… please hand me the “T-Check”!
or … please hand me the “Tenon – ✔”
or … please hand me the “T ✔”
or Natasha, please put me down for a….. TC-1 !!!
from…
Tick – A tick (known as a check mark or check in American English) is a mark (✓, ✔, ☑, etc.) used to indicate the concept “yes”, for example “yes; this has been verified” or, “yes; that is the correct answer”
-Roger
How about the “Mortise Matcher”? Or would that be “Tenon Matcher”?
Thinking about Cooter’s offer, I think most of you are not fully appreciating it. How much time and effort do you think it would take to fill a bucket with spit. Even at minimum wage, that makes it worth…
One blessing/curse with my new iPhone is that I could log in here at any time. Coming back from lunch, pulling over with a view of the Pacific Ocean – it came to me…
The Tenon-Tree or TT-1,
The new Bridge City lingo…
“Hey Rutager, did you tree up that tenon?”
.
Roger
The TenonMater. Sounds a bit like KerfMaker, its mechanical inspiration; describes the function (there’s a bit of “romance” to the M-T joint); has a bit of Ah-nold in it.
Or MortiseMater Tenoning Gauge?
John,
From the tools description, it is for sizing the cheeks of tenons, but if you were working at a small scale, could it also be used for the length of the tenon? I know this isn’t as critical as the cheeks, but on a through tenon it would matter. That said, maybe some extra capacity would be nice.
Two more names for the mix; “Tenon-sizer” or if you had some serrated grooves milled in the bottom; “Tenon-der-izer!” a multi-purpose BBQ and woodworking tool.
-Rutager
Rutager,
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your comment on the extra capacity. Back to what I mentioned up above -I’ll order one regular and one super-sized!
Roger
Can you put notches in this thing so it can open a beer?
Cooter
Cooter! It’s great to see you finally posting on John’s blog. He’s told us so much about you. I like your beer-opener idea. In fact, I could imagine that beer opening might be its primary purpose most of the time. It’s that kind of outside-the-box (or fastfood container) thinking that makes BCTW great.
– Peter
P.S. Did you make your gator-paw ashtray yourself?
I’m not even going to try and compete with your team’s naming prowess, but I’m definitely with Roger on the “set of threes”! Perhaps the third unit could combine both depth solutions and Cooter’s beer notches? After all, everybody knows the hole isn’t for a battery – its’ for a keychain!