Anyone here built the drawer-slide slot mortiser?

[Mark Burnette]

I think I'd like to build a slot mortiser. I work in a place that does lots of fabrication so I'm exposed to linear bearings, ways, etc but I think the humble drawer slide version I've seen on Youtube and FWW would be fine for part-time use and I like how compact it is.

Who's built one & how do you like it? Any changes you've made or would suggest? How do you feel about screw-adjust router height vs. basic slots?

Is there any such thing as "shielded" slides? I'd prefer to not make the XY table big enough to fully enclose the slides so I'm thinking about some sort of cover to keep dust out. A rubber sheet (like on a Bridgeport) would get the job done but maybe there's a better way?

[Garrett Ellis]

I built one a while back... never completely finished it but it is useable. I used short (10-12") drawer slides for the router carriage (depth of mortise) and a big sliding dovetail for the table movement. I didn't do anything fancy like micro-adjust with springs and wedges like i've seen on some plans. My router height is adjusted with some slots and hand knobs.

The sliding dovetail will change a little seasonally, so i just wax it and use layers of tape to take up any slop.

[Mark Burnette]

The 2 I like best:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfvMGtSQSQY


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciXplz3SrMk

One has a stationary router & XY table, other has stationary table & moving router.

[Alan Schaffter]

Mark, there are a bunch of DIY and a few commercial slot mortisers out there. Most mount the router horizontal. The ultimate DIY one is Mathias Wandel's Pantorouter- does even more than the DIY versions of JDS Multi-Router. I personally would like my router mounted vertically like on the Richline pictured below. The Richline table is "adjustable" only in the "Y" direction and slides only in the "X" direction. I want a table that slides in both "X" and "Y" directions.

I added a cross-slide vise to my hollow chisel mortiser. I did the usual swap of the "Y" leadscrew crank so both clamping and "Y" positioning can be done from the front. I totally removed the "X" leadscrew, ground off the CI base and replaced them with a sliding based made with wood and drawer slides. I modified the slides- took parts from three to make two, only used the inner 2 of 3 races, and mounted them vertically instead of horizontally like Wandel does. It works well. Someday I will buy or build something like the Richline, but with an X and Y sliding table:

JDS Multi-Router:

http://jdstools.com/SiteImages/MultiRouter.jpg

Wandel Pantorouter:

http://lumberjocks.com/assets/pictures/projects/189651-438x.jpg

Richline router mortiser:

http://www.richlinemachines.com/images/mortise1.jpg

Cross-slide vise mod to my hollow-chisel mortiser:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2457/medium/IMG_40702.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2457/medium/IMG_40722.JPG

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/2457/medium/IMG_4074.JPG

[Mark Burnette]

The second video posted above is a Wandel DIY mortiser. Both seem to work very well in the videos so for me the jury s still out whether to make the table slide or the router slide.

[brian lundy]

I built the woodgears version (mathias). put the handle on the opposite side to keep from being hit with all the dust. This was my second one I made, the first one had a wooden mount for the router also got rid of that and used a router plate to mount the router. Made several other tweaks also. Works very well though, especially since I'm only a beginner and I made this without a set of prints.:D

[Mark Burnette]

Did you use regular drawer glides? In the video he mentions "modified keyboard slides". Also, in use does the fairly short travel of the table stay away from the built-in "catches" on the glides--or do you use a different type? I know there's a kind where the shuttle can extend out either end of the shell but it doesn't look like there's enough travel to need that type of glide.

[Alan Schaffter]

I used standard full ext. bb slides. Used three to make two- like Wandel, added an extra segment and bearings to both slides. First tried laying them flat like keyboard slides- didn't roll easy enough- the slides weren't designed to lay flat plus ply wasn't perfectly flat. I removed the catches.