Mortice chisel drift solution

[Larry Edgerton]

I am building some furniture out of highly figured wood and had a lot of 1/4" mortises to do with the mortising machine. I had a problem with the chisel wanting to bend and follow the grain so I came up with a solution that I thought some of you may be able to use.

I took some of the stock of the same thickness and cut a 1/4" slot in the center 7/16 deep, then ripped that stock with the groove to 3/4". I laid that on top of the piece to be mortised, taped it in place on the clamp side so not to mess with center, transferred the marks up to this scrap piece and clamped the whole thing in the machine.

By starting out the mortise with the chisel riding in the slot the mortise stayed straight and did not wander with the grain any longer. I had three mortise sizes so I made one for each size and just moved it from piece to piece, taping it where I needed the mortise.

Worked for me............

[Jim Becker]

Do you have the cutting bit extended far enough below the chisel?

[Larry Edgerton]

Jim, it was Zebrawood. Need I say more?

[Rick Fisher]

Good idea Larry ..

Zebra wood stinks ..

[Wes Ramsey]

Good idea! I've used similar method for drilling plumb holes with a cordless drill. Hadn't considered it for the mortiser, but stands to reason it would work like a charm. Thanks for posting this - I have some mortises to drill in a couple of weeks and will try it out.

[Bill McNiel]

Good idea, thanks for sharing.

[Ted Reischl]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I highly doubt the mortise chisel was "bending".

More likely the stock was moving. Or something is loose in your machine.

If you "bent" the mortise chisel, it would stay bent, it is not made out of spring steel.

[Wes Ramsey]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I highly doubt the mortise chisel was "bending".

More likely the stock was moving. Or something is loose in your machine.

If you "bent" the mortise chisel, it would stay bent, it is not made out of spring steel.

On my off-brand mortiser it isn't so much the chisel bending as the entire mechanism torquing out of alignment. If I tighten everything up so that it doesn't shift at all I can't hardly pull the ram down. It is a compromise with a cheap tool and one I'm willing to make until I can afford better.

[Larry Edgerton]

Don't take this the wrong way, but I highly doubt the mortise chisel was "bending".

More likely the stock was moving. Or something is loose in your machine.

If you "bent" the mortise chisel, it would stay bent, it is not made out of spring steel.

Well. You would be wrong. Just to humor me, go chuck a 1/4" chisel in your machine and start it up. Now take a block of wood and gently push on the side of the chisel. Notice anything? That change in sound is the bit rubbing on the inside of the chisel. Now it could be that my Clico's are just junk chisels...........

[Robert Engel]

Yes Larry is right. A small bit like 1/4" can flex or deviate. Not only with cheaper mortisers. I have a PM floor model and its happened to me.

I've found if I have the bit protrude just a bit more than normal and use very slow plunging, that helps a lot.

Of course, with any machine, it pays to double check alignments every so often.