When it comes to cutting tenons, I usually turn to the table saw. Plus, many projects require cuts that can only be made by passing the workpiece vertically through the blade. Rather than cobbling something together every time one of these cuts arises, I built the vertical cutting jig for my saw that you see here.
The jig just requires a few parts and hardware, and it’s easy to make, as shown below. It consists of two basic components: a fence and a guide. The fence mounts to the saw’s rip fence with two commercial fence clamps. This makes it easy to adjust the fence in relation to the blade. On its own, the fence is a great tall auxiliary fence.
The fence’s miter track accepts a runner mounted to the underside of the guide. And a wood cleat and hold-down clamp on the guide keep the workpiece secure as you cut.
After clamping the fence to your saw’s rip fence, all you do is secure the workpiece to the guide and set the runner in the miter track. Then position the rip fence to make the cut. The guide will carry the workpiece smoothly through the blade.
