Mortise layout tip

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I've always dreaded the tedious task laying out the mortises for Mission tables. This time I drew up 'templates' in AutoCad...then printed, cut and stuck 'em to the pieces with 3M Super77. I always use an odd number of spindles, so I drew a reference line at the center of the template, marked the middle of the workpiece and lined 'em up. Muuuuuch easier than measuring and marking 17 mortises. I happen to have access to a large plotter, but I've also taped 'regular' printer paper together to make large template drawings.

http://www.kcwoodworks.net/shawn3.jpg

KC :)

[Mike Cutler]

Nice tip KC. One of these days I have to start playing around with these drawing programs a bit more.
That's some nice looking wood you have in that post also.

[Doug Shepard]

Now that's using your noggin. Very slick. Just curious - did you have it print out some reference marks that you could check against a ruler? I always seem to have minor print scaling issues when I've tried putting paper patterns on wood. Maybe a quality plotter is the answer. At least on a home inkjet I always have to fuss with the printout to get 1" on paper to equal 1" when measured. I hadn't thought about doing it on something as big a scale as you did, but it's definitely going into my bag of tricks. Thanks.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

The big plotter is very accurate. I use my cheap PC printer all the time for arc templates, and it's very, very close.

[Ralph Barhorst]

I also use Autocad and plot templates both for my woodworking and my wife's quilting. It works great. I use an HP Inkjet printer that can handle 13 x 19 paper.

I found that the accuracy is only "right-on" when I print in the "BEST QUALITY" mode. In "Normal" and "Draft" modes the horizontal dimensions are good but the vertical dimensions are off.

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Now that is a great tip! After I spent about an hour trying to figure out mine this weekend! :) Thanks!

[Dan Gill]

This is a great idea.

Have you tried cutting a groove down the length of the rail, then gluing in a strip with dadoes cut across it? (It looks like dentil molding.) That was in the plans for the Mission headboard I just made, and it turned out very well. It was a lot easier than 112 mortises, especially since I don't have a mortiser. If you know what you're looking for, you can see that it was done this way, but it's not obvious by any means.