Bud Brinkley
12-31-2020, 5:14 PM
Just thought I would share my mortise technique with those who are interested.
I recently built a Morley Mortiser jig to use my plunge router. I really like his design as it is very quick to set up and mostly because I get repeatable accuracy time after time. I did modify mine from his original design. Instead of using a 5/8" guide bushing, I just set up some fence stops to guide my router. My old Ryobi router has a nice flat cut into the side of it's base which makes it very easy to register against a fence and with my setup using two fences the router base is captive and so it is pretty fool proof to cut a straight mortise.
I am building two large bedside tables out of some antique longleaf pine that is about 200 years old. I am using reclaimed wood from roof beams from an old dairy barn. It has it's issues, mainly it's rosin rich and hard and brittle with a lot of nail holes and damage. I have built several furniture pieces from this wood and it finishes beautifully using shellac and hand waxing. It's a pain to work with and it's tough on cutting edges, but the end results look great and it has a lot of family heritage in each piece.
Anyway, enough yammering, so on to the mortises...
448308
Here is the mortise jig. I am really liking the Matchfit Clamp setup as it allows for quick clamping of all sorts of shapes and is very quick to set up and use.
448315
You can see the two small fences I have added to guide my router. The adjustable stop blocks on each end control the width of the mortise. I have pre-cut some shim blocks that allow me to quickly set these stop blocks to standard mortise widths such as 1" or 1 1/2" etc. I just set the stop blocks and go without having to think too much which is a good thing.
448325
What I really like about Morley's jig is that everything is set up using just a single center mark which saves a lot of time. Here you can see the center mark that is circled.
448326
Here is a centering bock that allows me to place it into the slot and center the jig to the mortise location. It is then removed and set aside, usually getting lost in my pile of shavings on the bench. I really need to paint it orange or something. :)
448327
You can just see the mortise inside the slot with everything centered around that one point. I then tighten all of the knobs and lock everything down. I am now ready to cut the mortise.
To be continued....
I recently built a Morley Mortiser jig to use my plunge router. I really like his design as it is very quick to set up and mostly because I get repeatable accuracy time after time. I did modify mine from his original design. Instead of using a 5/8" guide bushing, I just set up some fence stops to guide my router. My old Ryobi router has a nice flat cut into the side of it's base which makes it very easy to register against a fence and with my setup using two fences the router base is captive and so it is pretty fool proof to cut a straight mortise.
I am building two large bedside tables out of some antique longleaf pine that is about 200 years old. I am using reclaimed wood from roof beams from an old dairy barn. It has it's issues, mainly it's rosin rich and hard and brittle with a lot of nail holes and damage. I have built several furniture pieces from this wood and it finishes beautifully using shellac and hand waxing. It's a pain to work with and it's tough on cutting edges, but the end results look great and it has a lot of family heritage in each piece.
Anyway, enough yammering, so on to the mortises...
448308
Here is the mortise jig. I am really liking the Matchfit Clamp setup as it allows for quick clamping of all sorts of shapes and is very quick to set up and use.
448315
You can see the two small fences I have added to guide my router. The adjustable stop blocks on each end control the width of the mortise. I have pre-cut some shim blocks that allow me to quickly set these stop blocks to standard mortise widths such as 1" or 1 1/2" etc. I just set the stop blocks and go without having to think too much which is a good thing.
448325
What I really like about Morley's jig is that everything is set up using just a single center mark which saves a lot of time. Here you can see the center mark that is circled.
448326
Here is a centering bock that allows me to place it into the slot and center the jig to the mortise location. It is then removed and set aside, usually getting lost in my pile of shavings on the bench. I really need to paint it orange or something. :)
448327
You can just see the mortise inside the slot with everything centered around that one point. I then tighten all of the knobs and lock everything down. I am now ready to cut the mortise.
To be continued....