Is it possible to overcome lack of depth in Mortiser?

[Ben Rafael]

I have a delta mortising machine. I need to make some mortises that are too far from the edge for the machine to reach.
Is there some trick or workaround to overcome this?

[Gary Keedwell]

OK. How about ripping your part...make mortise...glue it back together.:confused:
I'm only be half facitious. You are talking about the reach of the bit from the fence? I think I wii have to go to my shop and look at it for awhile."
Gary

[Jason King]

Well, ther are all sorts of ways to avoid the problem, i.e. design around it, build in stages, etc... But, if you are actually faced with a mortice that is too far away, then I would recommend getting out the chisel and mallet. If you only have a couple to do its faster than using the mortiser anyway.

[Ben Rafael]

Yes, I am talking about the distance from the bit to the fence.
I dont want to hand chisel it since this machine makes a nicer mortise than I can.

[John Gregory]

What about cutting the mortise with a straight edge and a router?

[Warren Clemans]

How about a forstner bit in a drill press, then clean it up with chisels? It should come out just as clean as your mortiser can make it. I don't know of any way to get additional depth out of a mortiser.

[John Bush]

Hi Ben,
If you unbolt the upright from the base, turn it 180 deg., rebolt and clamp the unit to a bench, you can gain several inches of reach. If that isn't enough, hand mortising is kind of fun, router is quicker.

[John Thompson]

Yes, I am talking about the distance from the bit to the fence.
I dont want to hand chisel it since this machine makes a nicer mortise than I can.

Sometimes you run into this situation and you will either have to cut by hand or router. The machine "will" make a nicer mortice if you don't have any experience hand cutting until you get that experience BUT.....

If you can lay them out straight and keep it within the lines, so what if you marr the outer surface a bit prying it out! The shoulder of the tenon will cover your lack of experience. The tenon is more critical than the mortice as long as the mortice is squared to the stock....

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Ben Rafael]

Hi Ben,
If you unbolt the upright from the base, turn it 180 deg., rebolt and clamp the unit to a bench, you can gain several inches of reach. If that isn't enough, hand mortising is kind of fun, router is quicker.

That might work. I'll measure and see if it'll provide enough room.
To the drill press recommendation; One day I'll get a drill press and I'll make sure it has plenty of reach.
Thanks for all the suggestions, if turning the upright doesn't get me enough reach then I'll be banging some chisel.

How critical is it that the bottom of the mortise be flat?

[Thomas Williams]

How critical is it that the bottom of the mortise be flat?

Not that critical to me. I usually make the mortise and extra 1/16 or so deep for glue anyway.

[Don Bullock]

How critical is it that the bottom of the mortise be flat?

That's not critical at all. :D

[Gene O. Carpenter]

Ben,
This will work, I have done it! As has already been said, lay the holes out and bore them with a Fostner bit, then take the square chisel of your desired Mortise and a soft face mallet, align the chisel and give it a whack and another til you reach the desired depth..
I built a deck with the balusters inboard from the edge. To use nails or screws would have ruined the appearance so I decided to use my Delta Mortiser but when I tried to insert the 1" chisel into the yoke the diameter was too great so I tried the above method and it worked great!
I did 42 holes by this method..Just make sure to use a soft faced mallet or you'll ding the chisel so it won't fit your machine next time!