Mortise or Tenon

When creating items for around the house I often use mortise and tenon joints. These joints are simple to make, but require a significant amount of time. As in all things wood working, there is the usual chicken and the egg argument over this type of joint. Do you just the tenon first, or the mortise?

Me, it depends. When making the bathroom vanity, I cut the mortises first, using a router bit, and my drill press. (now that I have a decent router, I won't go that route again) On this project, I cut the tenons first. There are a couple reasons for the change.

1. I bought a new set of Narex mortising chisels, and I wanted to try them out.
2. I find it easier to cut tenons, and then size the mortises to fit.
3. Since I knew the width of my mortises already (the width of the closest chisel), why not cut the tenons first on the bandsaw.

It took me a couple times in the shop to cut the 64 mortises in the shop by hand, but towards the end, I had a steady rhythm going, and could chop out a 3" x 3/8" mortise that is 1" deep in about 4 minutes. 5 if you count the little bit of fitting and testing for fit.

Not bad for a novice wood worker.