Chain mortiser

[Bradley Gray]

Cut mortises yesterday for a double door unit.

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[Frederick Skelly]

I've heard those are nice machines. Sure looks like a timesaver - those mortises would have taken many passes on my PM benchtop.

You should post build pics on the doors, if you can find the time. It would be interesting to "watch".

[brent stanley]

I've had one of those for years and it does a surprisingly nice job, though not as nice as my floor model which incorporates a chip breaker.

[Bradley Gray]

It took about 2 hours to do all the mortises, 11/16 x 3 1/2" deep.

A lot easier to move the mortiser than stock this heavy and it doesn't take up any shop space when not in use.

[Brian Holcombe]

Excellent!

[Phillip Mitchell]

Awesome! I’ve used the Makita for years in timber framing, but never done much mortising in smaller, woodworking applications. I’ll have to keep it in mind more when it makes sense like you did to gang parts together like this so it sits balanced. Doors mortises are an awesome use for it.

Thanks for sharing!

[Bradley Gray]

A few more pix






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[Wakahisa Shinta]

I am curious about a few things. Is that tear out in the second picture, mortise #2 from left nearest to the camera position? Is this common for a chain mortiser? Looking at the chain, it seems the minimum width of the mortise is dependent on the size of the chain. What is the minimum size of the chain?

[Bradley Gray]

Tear out is common, I generally score around the mortise with a chisel first. These doors get moulding on both sides so not a big issue. The chain is 11/16" wide and about 2 1/8" long. The bar tilts in 2 steps to make a mortise about 5 1/2" long and can be moved sideways for wider holes. I don't know of a different width chain.

[Phillip Mitchell]

A bit of tear out is common within chain mortising, though you can score / knife the perimeter of the mortise layout and that can help or eliminate it. Depends on the wood species. For these door mortises, I would imagine the tenons have shoulders that will cover that small amount of tear out when assembled.

The chain width on this machine is 11/16” so yes, you can only make mortises that size or larger (if you make overlapping passes, which is how you’d use this machine for say a 2” wide mortise in timber framing.)

[brent stanley]

It's an extra step, but I will often turn the machine around so you're working with a pushing chain on the ends. You need to reposition your head front to back, but it'll do the trick if needed. That's an advantage of the integral chip breaker in the floor model units.

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[Joe Calhoon]

I have a Mafell chain mortiser that is purpose made for lock mortising. It cuts very clean with no tear out because it has 2 counter rotating chains. I have never used it for door joinery but would probably work if you didn’t have anything else. I also have a portable Makita for timbers. Seems like it would be a little inaccurate for door joinery but again if your only mortiser worth a try.

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[Brian Tymchak]

Nice! Is that mahogany?

[Bradley Gray]

Sapele. I went for Honduras but couldn't find stock flat enough for door parts. The 20"w panels are 1 piece.

[Brian Tymchak]

Sapele. I went for Honduras but couldn't find stock flat enough for door parts. The 20"w panels are 1 piece.

Where did you find Honduran Mahagony? I haven't seen any around here (Columbus) in years.

[Bradley Gray]

Probably closer to you than me - Muterspaw lumber near I71 just north of Wilmington:

https://crlumber.com/

[Brian Tymchak]

Probably closer to you than me - Muterspaw lumber near I71 just north of Wilmington:

https://crlumber.com/

Wow. Only $10/bf for 8/4. Way better than I would have expected. May have to put some of that away for the future.

Thanks for the link Bradley.

[Bradley Gray]

Easy place to deal with. I was able to hand select stock. When I couldn't find what I needed The yard man brought out a new banded unit.