Frist look at the Mortise Pal

[Bill Huber]

I got a little time today to work with the Mortise Pal.... NICE

It is made very well, for those that have a DowelMax, it is right there with it and works as advertised.

I did find that I don't like the knob that is used to tighten the jig on to the wood, it just doesn't feel right for some reason and it could be larger.

Just like the video, mark the center and were you want the mortise and set the jig on the wood. Line up the marks and clamp it down, couldn't be much easier. http://www.mortisepal.com/videos.html

With narrow boards its still no problem, just put a shim in to clamp with the small board. I was using some 1/2" boards and I used a 3/4" board for a shim, you are still moving the center of the jig to your center of the mortise.

The mortise is clean, that is if you have a sharp bit. The one thing is the templates are about 1/32" wider then the bushing. What this means is if you don't hold the router to one side or the other your mortise will be wider then the bit.

This is really no problem if you are planing and making your own tenons, which I am. So I will always plunge the router the lenght of the mortise and then clean up by routing to each side of the template.

One of the things that surprised me right off is the fact that you loose 3/4" of your router bit. That is the bushing and the center of the jig take 3/4" and I did have to pull my bit out of the collect more then I normally have it set.

Its not going to replace a bench top mortise machine, a Domino or my DowelMax but for me it is a great addition to the shop.

It is still on sale on their site until the end of the month.

http://www.mortisepal.com/purchase.html

[glenn bradley]

I just used mine again yesterday. It is hard to not like the little guy.

[Brian Effinger]

Thanks for the review, Bill. I just got mine earlier this week, but haven't had a chance to play with it yet. I'll probably try it out this weekend.

[Jim Eller]

Thanks Bill.

I have had mine for a week or so but haven't tried it. Still working on a bench to hold the wood vises so I can hold the wood to hold the Mortise Pal.

Jim

[Bill Huber]

Ok, I couldn't take that little knob any more so I replace it today. Not a hard job at all, remove the little allen screw in the end of the screw and unscrew it.

I just double nutted the screw and removed the old knob. Put it back together and then added a nut and a new knob. I used one from Woodcraft that I had and it is much much better.
http://www.woodcraft.com/product.aspx?ProductID=142224&FamilyID=1072



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[glenn bradley]

Thanks you Bill for the kick in the behind. This is much better.

Ps. Super out-of-focus-wrong-thread-stealth-gloat in the upper left corner.

[Mike Gager]

for $200 does it make you breakfast in the morning?? :eek:

[glenn bradley]

for $200 does it make you breakfast in the morning?? :eek:

Price a dowel max :D. Different animal but a similar quality, purpose specific tool. I was looking at a $400 BT mortiser and 2 or 3 quality chisels at about $70 each :eek: . . . I went with the MP ;). It would be cool though if they were about $50. Maybe HF will make a version :D:D:D.

[Bill Huber]

Thanks you Bill for the kick in the behind. This is much better.

Ps. Super out-of-focus-wrong-thread-stealth-gloat in the upper left corner.


Now that gloat looks like a Ridgid sander......... well the box from a sander.

[Russ Massery]

I love mine in fact sold my benchtop mortiser soon after getting it. I found the tuffer tenons in the 8mm size work well. The 6mm size are a little small which woodcraft sells both. But best of all are the Festool dominos. There right on all the time. I use these on smaller joints. The downside is you need metric router bits use these. I found the Whiteside to work the best. I make my own tenons for longer and wider tenons.

[Mike Gager]

Price a dowel max :D. Different animal but a similar quality, purpose specific tool. I was looking at a $400 BT mortiser and 2 or 3 quality chisels at about $70 each :eek: . . . I went with the MP ;). It would be cool though if they were about $50. Maybe HF will make a version :D:D:D.

yeah $50 would be about right IMHO. you can build the same thing for the price of a few hardware pieces and some scraps. i bet $10 max. oh well i guess if you got the money to spend...

[Don Dorn]

Actually, you can use a 5/16 bit and the 8mm Festool dominos - works great and they fit tight.

[Bill Huber]

Actually, you can use a 5/16 bit and the 8mm Festool dominos - works great and they fit tight.

Thanks Don, I was wondering about Dominos.....

[Don Dorn]

I use them all the time now - not a Domino, but the next best thing and certainly does a good job. The only catch is that you need the metric template from Mortise Pal.

[J. Z. Guest]

Bill, out of curiosity, what are the strengths & weaknesses of this compared to Dowemax?

What instances would you prefer one over the other?

[Prashun Patel]

Bill, out of curiosity, what are the strengths & weaknesses of this compared to Dowemax?

What instances would you prefer one over the other?


Dowelmax is less versatile - you can only do dowels. However, Dowelmax has one thing going for it: you use a drill to make the holes. They recommend clamping the piece in a vise and drilling, but I rarely do that; you can get spot-on results using one hand to drive the drill and the other to hold the piece. That makes it very fast.

However, I gottasay that drilling dowelmax holes in hardwood can be hard with the stock bit. I edge joined some walnut and I had to pry out burnt chips from the bit after each hole. A brad point bit worked better.

The other nice thing abt DMax is that you don't need to draw layout lines if yr working near the end of a piece (table legs, face frames, etc). You just line up the edge of the body to the respective edges of each mating face and drill. If you are drilling in the middle of a piece, though, you will need to draw a layout line a-la MPal.

[J. Greg Jones]

The only catch is that you need the metric template from Mortise Pal.

Is this a custom order item? Perhaps I overlooked it, but I did not see a metric template on the MP Web site or in the manual.

[Mike Gager]

http://www.routerforums.com/tools-woodworking/8240-home-brew-mortise-pal.html

here ya guys go

he spent a bit more then i would making it but still his cost $30 compared to $175

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[Don Dorn]

Is this a custom order item? Perhaps I overlooked it, but I did not see a metric template on the MP Web site or in the manual.

Wow - you're right. I just looked at the site and didn't see it anymore. In fact, he used to sell Festool tenon clones to work with the metric template and they aren't there either. I have found the guy at Mortise Pal to be very responsive to email inquiries - it wouldn't hurt to drop a line and see what the deal is. If he doesn't make them anymore, I'm going to be extra careful with mine.

[J. Greg Jones]

I sent him an email asking about the metric templates. I'll update here when I hear back from him.

[Eric Roberge]

Mike,
Thanks for the post and pics. Cool jig.
E-

[J. Greg Jones]

I sent him an email asking about the metric templates. I'll update here when I hear back from him.

Just to update so no one will think I forgot about this thread, I did email about the metric templates and mentioned specifically that I was interested in ordering the MP during the March sale. I never did hear anything, so I held on to my $175.

[Mark Carlson]

I may be mistaken but I don't think there are any metric templates. The templates just limit the width on the mortise. If you want 6mm, 8mm or 10mm mortises you need to buy the corresponding metric router bits. It looks like mortisepal.com doesn't offer the metric size whiteside bits anymore. I know woodcraft still sells whiteside metric spiral up bits.

~mark

[glenn bradley]

Just to update so no one will think I forgot about this thread, I did email about the metric templates and mentioned specifically that I was interested in ordering the MP during the March sale. I never did hear anything, so I held on to my $175.

He must be busy. I've always gotten a response by the next day, even on weekends. Are you sure he got your email?

[J. Greg Jones]

I sent the email using the contact link on the Web page and it was not returned. Other than that, I don't know if it was received or not, but there's nothing in my spam filter. I'm sure that he probably was busier than normal during the last few days of the promotion.

[Dan Forman]

I called him on Monday and left a message, he called back late in the day, said he is away at a trade show, and the folks back at the shop are not able to answer tech questions. If you still want the product, but needed to talk to him first, it wouldn't hurt to ask if he would extend the discount, based on not being able to get your questions answered. The worst that happen is he would say "no".

Dan