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My tenoning jig is designed to straddle my rip fence, adding even greater stability and control during the cut. Another advantage to using this accessory is that you can cut both a shoulder and a cheek in one pass. If you don’t own a dado cutter, a single blade can also be used by making repeated cuts to nibble away the waste. It’s slower, but it still works. To cut the tenon in a vertical manner I recommend using a tenoning jig that holds the piece tightly in place, as shown above. Another advantage to a tenoning jig is it also guarantees a centered tenon.

When ripping an angle other than 0° – cutting a bevel or a chamfer – be sure the blade tilts away from the rip fence. If the blade tilts toward the fence, there is a chance that the blade will pinch the board and fling it backward. Also, you may not have the space needed to feed the board safely. And on narrow cuts, there is the added danger that the blade may bite into the fence. A rabbet (top) is an L-shaped cut on the end or side of a board. The depth and width can be varied to match a mating piece, or to create a particular type of joint.

A dado (bottom) is U-shaped and cut across the width of a piece. It can also be adjusted in depth and width. A groove is cut parallel to the board’s grain direction. It’s always the female part of a joint. Rabbets, grooves and dados can be “through” (run entirely across the board as shown), or stopped at either of both ends, depending on the requirement of the joint. Because the dado stack makes a wider kerf than the saw blade, you must replace the normal throat insert with one that has a wider opening.