WOOPEE, finally (Tool Gloat)

[harry strasil]

I finally got my W. F. & J. Barnes Foot Morticer down in my basement. A young husky smith friend from Northern Minnesota came to visit me and my shop, and he just picked it up and carried it down the basement stairs. Oh to be young and strong again. LOL.

A few years ago, quite a few in fact, a fellow smith and also tool collector found the Morticer in an Antique Shop, it had a tag on it "Wood Press". He knew I was looking for a Foot Morticer so he bought it for me for $60, yes that's right $60.

The 3 Claw Feet are rusty like it set in dirt for a number of years. It has the Original Paint on it yet, just like new, except for the feet. There is no wear anywhere, so it evidently never got used more than a coupla times. The table evidently was never moved from the factory setting, so I had to scrap the paint off the rails that the table slides up and down on.

In the picture you will notice I made an Oak Riser with a sacrificial piece of 3/4 oak on top so that I can cut thru mortices with it. I Only got 2 chisels a 3/8 and a 1/2 inch, so I am going to try and make a 1/4 inch chisel, unless someone has an extra they would sell me. The hard part is the short tapered mounting shank.

I got to try it out tonight on some old hard red oak trim board, and am completely amazed at how easy it cuts and how easy it is to operate with my foot.

I did a little checking via the internet tonight and it is a Type 3, with a tilting table and a coil return spring instead of the old Wood Return Spring. It was only made one year in 1892. It cost $20 new without chisels and chisels were $1 apiece. Talk about inflation it tripled in price in 115 years.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer.jpg

http://www.tooltimer.com/barnesmort.html

[James Mittlefehldt]

How does that thing work Harry, does it sort of hammer the wood when the pedal is depressed?

Nice find by the way.

[Jim Becker]

That's a really interesting looking tool, Harry! Beautiful shape, too, as you describe. When you have the opportunity, perhaps you can post some close-up pictures of various parts and areas of it so we can "get to know it" better...

[Mike Cutler]

Very cool looking machine Harry. :cool:

I'm with the others. I'd like to see it in action also.

[Brian Kent]

Glad you showed us the picture. I couldn't figure out why you wanted to mortise your foot.

[Charles McKinley]

Nice piece Harry,

I couldn't wait to see it when I saw how excited you were in the title.

I always look forward to you post.

[harry strasil]

Description as requested;

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer.jpg
The machine is a W.F.&J. Barnes Foot Morticer. Its about 5 foot tall, weighs about 130 lbs. And this model was made only one year 1892.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer001.jpg
This is a picture of the head, the arrow points to the handle that you loosen to move the cutter in and out in relation to the width of the table. The adjustment mechanisms for moving the stops in and out and up and down that restrain the work piece when the chisel is withdrawn are clearly shown also.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer002.jpg
The arrow in this picture points to the ball on the end of the lever you raise and then rotate either right or left to change the direction of cut on the chisel, Notice there is a notch that a V protrusion on the bottom of the handle sets in to keep the orientation of the chisel.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer003.jpg
The arrow in this picture points to the locking nut that locks the guide on the back of the table so that the table may be angled either right, left or centered and holds the guide in place when the table is lowered or raised.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer004.jpg
The Back Side, the (A) arrow in this picture points to the table locking lever. The (B) arrow points to the round guide on the bottom of the cutter operating slide. The (C) arrow points to the right upper guide that is a milled slot in the maind frame, with milled ways that slide up and down in the slots to keep everything in line when operating.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer005.jpg
This picture shows the base and foot operating lever. The lever is 24 inches long and the operating rod attaches 5 inches from the pivot in the leg. Thus 1 pound of pressure on the end of the foot lever delivers 3.8 pounds of pressure at the chisel cutting edge. What makes this recognizable as a Type 3 is the cast brkt to hold the top end of the spring that slips onto the original brkts that held the top of the wooden spring.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v81/irnsrgn/wood/footmorticer006.jpg
This picture shows a side view (top), back view (middle) and the tool I forged to remove the cutters from thier tapered mounting socket.

On seasoned red oak, I imagine I put about 60 to 100 lbs of pressure on the foot lever, which is about 228 to 380 lbs at the chisel end. It slices thru like a sharp knife thru an apple. From experience with my bench scissors morticer, I use bees wax on the front and sides of the chisel and when this is done it takes a lot less effort to push the chisel thru the wood.

I hope this is what you wanted Mr. Becker

[James Mittlefehldt]

So then with each strike of the stuff being morticed how deep does the chisel penetrate? Do the cutters have an inward tapered side so they don't get stuck in the mortise, and how deep could you reasonably go with one of those things?

I have to say it does look fascinating.

[harry strasil]

Length of stroke is 2.5 inches, total depth is regulated by the usable length of the chisel, for a mortice in the middle of a piece, you drill a hole in the center and then work first to one end then , reverse the chisel and work to the other end. Depth of mortice is regulated automatically by raising and lowering the table.

[Brett Baldwin]

I'd never heard of one of those before. Very cool tool Harry. Glad you got it down to your shop.