Making Mortises

[Chris McLeester]

So I have been learning woodworking and completed a few small projects. I've made a bookshelf (rabbeted dados), made divided light windows (using rail and stile bits on the router table), etc.

I was trying to make a table for my daughter and consulting Hylton's "Illustrated Cabinetmaking". Almost all of them were mortise and tenon joints. Tenons are a no brainer on the table saw. I realized that I don't know how to make mortises.

So I did lots of research, and there seem to be as many ways to make mortises as there are woodworkers. In one book I have (a "project" book that is way to advanced for me), almost every project uses a different technique for them: mortising machine, drill press, plunge router, chisels and a different style: all the way through, blind, etc.

Does anyone have any advice? I have no problem making an investment to be able to do this, but I'm not sure which way to go. I'd prefer not to make the wrong decision and make the investment twice.

Mortising machine: seems reliable and quick. I have space for a benchtop model.

Drill press: I don't own one (let alone the chisels), and it seems the like the jig is a little cumbersome.

Chisels/planes: Roy Underhill makes it look real easy. But it seems like you need the chisels, then all the sharpening equipment. I still can't properly sharpen a plane. It seems like this is a skill that you really need to learn from someone, not from a book.

Plunge router: honestly, I'm worried about making mistakes and wrecking wood and cut pieces. I do own a plunge router (which I use almost exclusively on the table (or to occasionally make through dados).

Any advice is appreciated.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Chris,

Last year I built a modified version of Norm Abrams porch swing. It had over 40 mortise and tenon joints.

I bought a General International dedicated benchtop mortiser. It worked well on the white oak I was using. Just as importantly is the sharpening equipment to sharpen the mortise chisels. I bought 2 different kits. One tool reams a new sharpening surface and the other is a diamond hone. Then you also need to sharpen the bits. I used a jewelers file for the bits. With sharp tools it didn't take me long to make most of the mortisers.

My point? Regardless of the method you choose, sharpening is still VERY important to speed, ease and accuracy of the mortises!

Good luck with you decisions.

[jack forsberg]

festool domino would give you what you want if your just starting out and in fact a very good portable slot mortiser. You don't have to make tenons ether. . I don't have one but i hear they are very good . I do have a slot mortiser, a chain mortiser a chisel mortiser and a Maka swing chisel mortiser, but there are industrial machines and big bucks . if you had the the money the Maka is the best for furniture of the stationary machines.

here is a Maka its maker is German.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=KJUJ796jxls

jack
English machines

[Paul Symchych]

You already own a plunge router so adding a bit and a chisel would be a minimal investment to give you all the tools needed for mortises. I would not buy a dedicated machine that costs serious money only to have it sit idle for long periods. Use the money saved to buy her some fine wine.

I use a plunge router and chisels for mortises. Quick. Easy.

Practice on some cheap 2x4s [if such things exist any more] and then on some hardwood and it won't be any time at all before you will get beautiful mortises.

[Mike Henderson]

Use a drill and drill out most of the waste, then finish with chisels.

Mike

[lowell holmes]

+1 for what Paul said.

I would buy some cheap wood from thr BORG and practice with the plunge router. It helps if you spiral upcut bits (some are recommending downcut bits for Mortise and Tenons that are visible).

You should find plenty of instructions on the web for making mortise jigs to be used with plunge routers.

Also, +1 for what Mike said. You will get a few chisels and learn to sharpen them at some time.

The four chisel set of Blue Chips are a good first set of chisels and they are not expensive. Lee Valley has a good selection of low priced chisels as well.

[Jim Matthews]

Do you own a drill motor?

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VtVGnxlBrc) works for me....
I then square up the ends with a chisel for M&T.

Having cut (by hand) eight 3/8" mortises to house aprons on a table, it's not something I'll choose to do by hand.
Me elbow is just now recovering from all that mallet work.

I say the dedicated mortising machine makes the most sense, if you have the space.

Banging these out by hand, or using a drill press to hog out the bulk waste requires a great deal of chisel work.
That's a hard way to learn using a chisel. Certainly, it's something to progress toward but
the tool will make the cut straight and clean while you get your skills up to speed.

It is MUCH easier to adjust a tenon to fit a given mortise with chisels than the other way around.

[Prashun Patel]

I'd suggest you start with the plunge router and a spiral bit + bushing. For many things, this and a homemade jig will suffice. If you don't already own one, I think a plunge router is a versatile tool that will serve you in other applications as well. You may find that you don't do enough projects that require mortises for a dedicated mortiser to be worth the investment. If you already own a drill press and forstner bits + chisels, then I suggest you also try that; learning to pare with a chisel is a great skill to develop.

[Bob Lang]

I would get a drill press (it does a bunch of other useful things) a couple of Forstner bits and a couple of chisels (essential for almost everything in woodworking). That will enable you to make mortises relatively quickly, won't stick you with something you may not need again.

Bob Lang

[Clint Baxter]

Don't know if you've seen or considered the Leigh FMT. Does a nice job of making the mortise AND the tenon. Very accurate when setup. They make the Pro, (pricier and better), and the Super version. Either one allows you to use a plunge outer to precisely make mortise nd tenon joints.

Good luck with whichever way you decide.

Clint

[Mike Henderson]

Let me add an additional piece of advice. Start simple. Then, you can takes steps that will be more expensive and maybe more complex when you know more about what you want.

You may find that mortises are not something you do a lot of, and if you've bought something expensive, you'll be stuck with it and it will take up shop space.

Mike

[Jim Mackell]

Chris, basically you want to make square holes to receive the tenons that you make on your table saw. I learned by using a forstner bit and then squaring up the corners. After a while, I found a benchtop mortising machine on craigs list for about $100. Makes the round hole with the drill bit and squares the corners at the same time! Bought a few good mortise chisels for the machine and a diamond hone from Rockler and now I can make mortises any time I want. Yes, it's not the machine in my shop I use most often. But, nothing else replaces it when you need to make those square holes!! If you see more of them in your future woodworking, you can't go wrong.

[Bill Huber]

I don't do a lot of mortises, I use a lot of dowels, quick and easy with a good doweling jig.

But when I do use mortises I use a little jig call the Mortise Pal, not the cheapest way to go but it is a very good little tool that can also be used for some dowel work. http://www.mortisepal.com/

With the Mortise Pal kit you get all you need to make mortises but the router. You can buy the tenons or I just make my own on the router table.

I guess it has to be up to you and how many M/Ts you plan to make over the years in woodworking, if you plan on using them a lot then a bench top would be best but if you are just going to do a few now and then I really like the Mortise Pal.

[Paul Murphy]

Chris, since you have the plunge router perhaps that is the method to try. You can get a bit the diameter of your mortise, a guide bushing large enough for your bit to safely pass through, and build a template jig with a slot to fit the the outer diameter of the guide bushing. The template jig can have a fence to clamp against your stock, and then you rout the mortise by increasing depth 1/4" at a time. The fenced jig/bushing prevents "router adverse feed" that can occur when a one-sided fenced router is advanced in the direction that causes the bit to drift toward the fence. With the fixed length and offset jig, your mortise will be identically located every time, and the slot ends will control the mortise end points. Round the tenons to fit the slot end, or chisel the slot ends square.

There is no "best way" to mortise, only the method you prefer based on the tools you own, plan to buy, or prefer to use.

[pat warner]

Doesn't the swarf accumulate in the mortice, on the collar, templet edges, and elsewhere when templet morticing with a router?
Wouldn't that spoil the dimensions of the mortice, especially in soft woods?

[Prashun Patel]

Pat is a router expert, so I will defer my experience to his advice. However, even with my down-cutting spiral bit that spews chips into the mortise (many would advise using an upcut bit), if I cut shallow passes then the chips do not build up to the point that they compromise the fit. I've used both the mortisepal and homemade jigs, and they seem to work fine.

[Jim Rimmer]

[QUOTE=Chris McLeester;2132232] Mortising machine: seems reliable and quick. I have space for a benchtop model. Pricey investment unless you plan on a lot of projects with M&T joints. If you're going to outfit your house with Craftsman style furniture, it's a good choice.

Drill press: I don't own one (let alone the chisels), and it seems the like the jig is a little cumbersome. Stay away from this option.

Chisels/planes: Roy Underhill makes it look real easy. But it seems like you need the chisels, then all the sharpening equipment. I still can't properly sharpen a plane. It seems like this is a skill that you really need to learn from someone, not from a book. OK if you want to use hand tools versus power tools. The Neanderthals will endorse it strongly.

Plunge router: honestly, I'm worried about making mistakes and wrecking wood and cut pieces. I do own a plunge router (which I use almost exclusively on the table (or to occasionally make through dados). This is the way I make them and it isn't as scary as you think. Here's a ink to a crude video I made on how I made mortises. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2KCIxnx7lk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUO4XJL_GDUzqjtvceSDBO7w A good bit and a shop made jig and you're in business.

[glenn bradley]

I'm an upcut spiral bit user just adding to your observation that there are as many ways to do mortises as there are woodworkers . . . actually more as I use four different techniques regularly ;-) Given your situation I would try Mike's recommendation of a drill and some chisel work. My preference for this method is forstner bits as they offer more control when drilling the overlapping holes and give relatively flat bottoms.

I did some serious shopping for a benchtop mortiser and arrived at the General model that always wins the bake-offs except in price. I realized that by the time I got the machine and a decent set of bits and the sharpening stuff to go with, I was blowing up my budget and would have a machine that took up space whether I was using it or not. This sent me to the Mortise Pal which is how I do 80% of my M&T work. It drops into a drawer when not in use as opposed to taking up a lot of room.

The other 20% is done on the drill press, freehand drilling or just chisel chopping depending on the material, the location and the requirements. For you I would again side with Mike on the drill and chisel method. It is slower and more controlled. Just practice up a bit on some scrap.

P.s. Don't practice on soft woods. It seems counter intuitive but, getting a clean cut in pine versus cherry is a world of difference. A hardwood like cherry, beech or maple would let you work on your chops (pun intended). Pecan and other REALLY hard woods would not be my choice for practicing but, I would use them before I would use cedar ;-)

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi, I have the GI bench top mortise, bought it about 11 years ago, it was the best of the bench top machines. I have made thousands of mortises with it, keep the chisels sharp and you're good to go................Rod.

[Mark Furjanic]

I've always used a forstner bit and chiseled out the rest but I bought a mortise pal a few months ago. It's a very well thought out and effective tool, I like it.

[John TenEyck]

Or you could build this horizontal router mortiser for around $50 and about 8 hours of your time and cut any edge/end type mortise fast, accurately, and safely.

266585266586266587266588

It will cut mortises for loose tenons or you can cut integral tenons with it, too. Here is a link to a SketchUp model and basic instruction on how to build it. Hint: It's not hard to build.

https://sites.google.com/site/jteneyckwoodworker/current-projects/horizontal-router-mortiser

John

[Paul Murphy]

Doesn't the swarf accumulate in the mortice, on the collar, templet edges, and elsewhere when templet morticing with a router?
Wouldn't that spoil the dimensions of the mortice, especially in soft woods?
That's a funny question, because in my ignorance it seems like without dust collection anything I do with a router results in a blizzard of chips that interfere with my operation. I can use a shop-vac with my plunge router, and then my mortise jig or mortise-pal works well.

[I would love to have something like a Felder slot mortiser, but it isn't in the budget.]

[Paul Murphy]

John has the most cost effective and effecient slot mortising solution I have ever seen. Excellent design!

[John TenEyck]

Thanks Paul. Best of all, it's easy to build and works amazingly well. I've cut hundreds and hundreds of mortises with in the three years since I built it. I know it looks low end, but that was the objective so I used maple runners and routed T-slots instead of aluminum extrusions. After all those mortises the thing is as tight as the first day.

John

[Brian Jarnell]

Then we can move with the times and get a Domino.

[Roy Harding]

Everybody above has given you good advice.

I started with the drill press and chisel method. Then I moved onto a bench top mortiser. Then I got a Leigh FMT jig. I've never tried a Domino, or dowels - but I understand that they are good methods as well.

I still have the bench top mortiser, and the Leigh jig. I use the Leigh jig most of the time, but when making Craftsman style furniture (through mortises), I still use the mortiser (the Leigh jig makes holes which are rounded at the ends - nothing wrong with that, but it is not true to the Craftsman "look").

I won't make a recommendation for you. As you found both in the book you referenced, and in the replies on this thread - how you make mortises is a matter of personal preference. There is no "best" method. Find a method that you're comfortable with, and works well for you - and then use it. By all means, if you have the opportunity to try a different method (a friend with a mortiser or a jig, or whatever), give it a whirl - you may find a way which suits you better.

In the meantime - just start making holes with whatever you've got handy.

I WOULD, however, tell you that I've found it easier to "tweak" a tenon to fit a mortise, rather than the other way around, so make your mortises first, then make the tenon to fit. No doubt, there's someone who feels differently - doesn't make either of us wrong.

[Christopher Clark]

I built the jig below for my router table to do plunge mortises.
After looking at a lot of different mortising jig ideas last year I came up with this one.

I added a vertical MDF 90 degree table to my existing router table and put in a few vertical T-tracks. I clamp the workpiece to the vertical table.
266598
Then slide the TS fence out to the end and put a couple of stops on it. The TS fence has T-track on it. The router has a 12" metal rod on it to meet the stops. I cut the mortise in several passes with an upcut spiral bit then clean the corners square by hand.
This version of the table has three T-tracks and all the stop blocks are from melamine shelf boards with added iron-on edging.
266599
This setup works well for me. With some practise, it makes some very repeatable cuts. YMMV
I already want to build a new, better one. Of course, That's part of the fun.
Good luck!
Chris

[Mark Furjanic]

I haven't had a problem with the Mortise Pal. It has machined in relief on the underside to help clear the waste but it still accumulates though it doesn't cause any problem A spiral upcut bit helps pull a lot out of the mortise too.

[Chris McLeester]

Wow. Thanks for all the great replies. Given all this info, I think I will try out the plunge router and see how I can do with it. The mortise pal looks interesting, but the benchtop mortiser I was looking at was about the same price. Any recommendation for a chisel to use for squaring the corners? Do I need a special "mortising" chisel just to do that?

[Chris McLeester]

That's a really cool set up. Thanks for sharing!

[Paul Symchych]

I use a plain 'ol chisel the size of my mortise.
Don't forget that if you don't want to chop the mortise square you can always round off the corners of the tenon to match the hole and get just as secure a joint. Specially useful in extra hard wood that doesn't want to graciously allow squaring off a mortise. A chisel +/- a rasp will do that nicely.

Consider using a hardwood dowel as a pin both for strength and as a decorative feature. I use contrasting color dowels all the time. People notice and it sets a piece off from the mass produced items.

[Chris McLeester]

Thanks again to everyone for the great replies. The plunge router seems like the best solution to implement in the near term. I can always try something else later! I can't wait to do some practice mortises.

[John TenEyck]

Then we can move with the times and get a Domino.


And how much does one cost? Oh yeah, about $1200 for the little one once you get some of the stuff that makes it useful and some loose tenons. For the price of a bag of their tenons you could build my slot mortiser and have money left over. I'm sure I'd love the Domino, but it's just too expensive for this hobbiest woodworker. My machine is within the budget of anyone here and can do most things a Domino can do and some things it can't.

John

[Frank Drew]

Chris,

Since you already have a plunge router I agree with those who've suggested going that route; a simple mortising box to hold your work securely while the router rides on the top edges is quick and easy to build. Tage Frid detailed one years ago if you have access to FWW archives or back issues.



Don't forget that if you don't want to chop the mortise square you can always round off the corners of the tenon to match the hole and get just as secure a joint. Specially useful in extra hard wood that doesn't want to graciously allow squaring off a mortise. A chisel +/- a rasp will do that nicely.



I totally agree with Paul here; IMO, it's much quicker and easier to round the corners of the tenon than to chop the mortise ends square.

[Sam Stephens]

Here's the mortising jig I built from one of Carol Reed's books. Setup is a cinch and it's very precise for repeats.

266621266622

[Roy Harding]

Wow. Thanks for all the great replies. Given all this info, I think I will try out the plunge router and see how I can do with it. The mortise pal looks interesting, but the benchtop mortiser I was looking at was about the same price. Any recommendation for a chisel to use for squaring the corners? Do I need a special "mortising" chisel just to do that?

Depends on how deep your mortises are, and how often you'll be doing them. When I started I used generic bench chisels - but as I started doing more and more I invested in mortising chisels. The difference is that the mortising chisels are THICK, and the handle is built to take constant pounding. The result is a very robust chisel, designed to take a beating (which, after all, is what you are doing to a chisel when mortising - beating the heck out of it).

[Joe Hillmann]

Here is a great way to learn how to do it with a chisel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N1bo6NVYCc0#at=73

[Myk Rian]

If you don't plan on making a lot of mortices after this project, this has worked for me.

http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad222/MykRian/Delta%20DP220/0401012102_zpsd51078a8.jpg