One curve you can cut on a tablesaw

How can you make a tenon on a dowel or spindle if you don't own a lathe? You can use your tablesaw, as shown in the drawing. I first set up my rip fence to define the length of the tenon. Then, starting with the blade down and running, I hold the dowel into the crotch formed between the scrap board and the tablesaw top, and raise the blade slowly to create the shoulder depth of the tenon. Finally, I rotate the dowel to complete the shoulder cut and then nibble away to the end of the tenon by passing the dowel back and forth across the blade.

—Robert Shillinglaw, Ames, Iowa