re: Mortise and tenon

I like what a1Jim says about making jigs for a particular job. THAT said, I have found that those DIY jigs have a finite lifetime and DO warp over time and become near useless.

Case in point, I made a great horizontal mortiser and built a nice barristers bookcase using that jig. BUT, checking it recently the base of the main slider has twisted/warped by ~3/8" over less than 10" front to back. Sure, I could replace the warped piece with new, but the point is that DIY jigs are short-term fixes/assistants, and are NOT expected to be around and useful very long.

IMO, better to invest in the more durable professional metal jigs and such… Just my opinion… ;-)