Cutting mortise and tenons can be a very time consuming task and somewhat difficult to obtain a consistent fit of the mating members. The Circular Saw and Converter Router Trolleys significantly simplify the process. The design of the doors has shaped edges on the rails and stiles. This further complicates the construction requiring a mitered joint between the stiles and rails. The making of these two doors encompassed 32 mortise & tenon mitered joints, shaping the edges of the rails and stiles and making 12 two sided raised panels. All this was done using a Circular Saw Trolley and Converter Router Trolley with the help of two shop-made Tool Trolley Shuttles.
These shuttles enable working on the ends and edges of the work pieces In effect, they are clamped across the edge of the workpiece and provide a surface and guide rail section for the trolley to work from. If your workbench allows you to clamp a workpiece vertically, such as is provided by the Tool Trolley workbench, then the shuttles are not necessary. See the video on making raised panels and shaped edges to see how the Tool Trolley workbench facilitates working on the edges and ends of a work piece
The Miter Shuttle provides support to the Circular Saw Trolleys while cutting the miters across the edge of the rails and stiles. The Mortise Trolley provides support for the Converter Router Trolley when removing waste material between the miter cuts as well as providing a guide and stop block to set the length and width of the mortise. Click the images to download a pdf drawing and the instructionsfor the Miter Shuttle Instructions and Mortise Shuttle Instructions.
