I sent this morticing jig to Paul Sellers ...

[Reed Gray]

Efficiency it intelligent laziness. Wonderful development!

robo hippy

[Graham Haydon]

Neat job Derek. I'm with you on sharing simple tips, jigs etc. The paywalls seem to be raised on lots of things now, basic sharpening etc. Have you got a link to how much he's selling the ply versions you've shown?

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Graham

I have no idea what he is asking for his morticing jig. How hard can it be to make?

This was his first blog in 2017 ...

https://paulsellers.com/2017/12/devl...alignment-jig/

Another (2019) ...

https://paulsellers.com/2019/04/mort...-at-the-ready/

And the most recent one (where my post was deleted/not published). I don't see prices, but there are other tools boxed for sale...

https://paulsellers.com/2022/10/the-...of-innovation/

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Gary Focht]

I can’t find where Sellers is selling mortising guides. He is selling the router plane kits.

I just made one of his guides and used Formica for the wear sir face. Will try it out this weekend, but a rough test showed it worked well.

I’m contemplating one guide with a couple of shims for the clamping surface to adjust the thickness.

[Jim Koepke]

I have no idea what he is asking for his morticing jig. How hard can it be to make?

This brings up an interesting concept in woodworking. One comment about making "bench accessories" came from someone saying they would rather spend their time in the shop building their projects instead of building fixtures like bench hooks, shooting boards or other shop helpers. Never mind how much time such helpers might save when building their projects.

It seems a lot of teachers of woodworking sell "must have items" as much if not more than they teach.

Maybe on my next project that uses M&T joinery, building a guide will be the first order of business.

Though my last project with a lot of mortise cutting came out pretty good without one:

Mortised Rails.jpg

There were also a few test mortises cut besides these.

jtk

[steven c newman]

The only guide I use....MK II, MOD 4 Eyeballs...
Monday, Monday, last one.JPG
And...this simple little "fixture" that has been around the shop for a few decades....just 3 pieces of scrap wood...and few screws. A clamp to hold the part in place...and just chop away...
Monday, Monday, 2nd frame done.JPG
Also helps during a dry fit...

[Edward Weber]

I simply cannot fathom someone spending money on a jig which consists of two pieces of wood glued or screwed together.

Regards from Perth

Derek

This is exactly the point I've been trying to make for the last 20 odd years or so.
Why on earth would a "woodworker" buy something so simple?
Reminds me of the first time I saw a set of Kumiko jigs. I thought, those are nice, I wonder how much?. After I picked myself up off the floor, I proceeded to gather everything to make my own set for about one quarter the cost.
Making jigs, guides, fixtures and so on goes hand in hand with woodworking. It's in the DNA so to speak, it's problem-solving. Put simply, it's part of what we do.

More often than not, building your own "what-ever" to your personal preferences works out better in the end. Many times when you buy something, the first thing you end up doing is personalizing it to work for you anyway, so why bother in the first place.

Paul Sellers does run a business but personally, I find that anyone selling these type of items are hurting the craft of woodworking, not helping. Sell your courses or sell the plans, but selling ready-made items like this is not furthering woodworking.

I always think to myself, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

JMHO

Thank you Derek and everyone else who shares their work freely. It is appreciated, even if I don't comment every time.

[David Hardy]

Hello Derek,
Greetings from Washington.

I’m not sure why you think Paul Sellers is trying to sell his little mortising jig. Nowhere on his site can I find a mention that he has plans to market these simple guides – I think he’d find the idea silly. Those boxed up tools you mentioned are just parts for his router plane model that he was encouraging people to make to save a few bucks. Furthermore, he point blank says one shouldn’t need to purchase this little bundle of parts since they are easily procured.

I know from personal experience that anytime one comments on his blog and includes an external site link the entry is tossed – I don’t think it’s anything personal – just a computer algorithm. It happened to me once when I included an innocuous link about my father, Raymond Hardy, who had been a violin maker in Baltimore: https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0404web/sound.html – rather harmless stuff...
Best,
David Hardy

[Mark Rainey]

This brings up an interesting concept in woodworking. One comment about making "bench accessories" came from someone saying they would rather spend their time in the shop building their projects instead of building fixtures like bench hooks, shooting boards or other shop helpers. Never mind how much time such helpers might save when building their projects.

It seems a lot of teachers of woodworking sell "must have items" as much if not more than they teach.

Maybe on my next project that uses M&T joinery, building a guide will be the first order of business.

Though my last project with a lot of mortise cutting came out pretty good without one:

Mortised Rails.jpg

There were also a few test mortises cut besides these.

jtk

Nice work Jim. Most jigs end up impairing skill development. Sort of like the 8 year old wheeling around at a slight tilt - then you see he hasn't removed the training wheels for 3 years.

[David Hardy]

Hello Derek,
Greetings from Washington.

I’m not sure why you think Paul Sellers is trying to sell his little mortising jig. Nowhere on his site can I find a mention that he has plans to market these simple guides – I think he’d find the idea silly. Those boxed up tools you mentioned are just parts for his router plane model that he was encouraging people to make to save a few bucks. Furthermore, he point blank says one shouldn’t need to purchase this little bundle of parts since they are easily procured.

I know from personal experience that anytime one comments on his blog and includes an external site link the entry is tossed – I don’t think it’s anything personal – just a computer algorithm. It happened to me once when I included an innocuous link about my father, Raymond Hardy, who had been a violin maker in Baltimore: https://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0404web/sound.html – rather harmless stuff...
Best,
David Hardy

[Derek Cohen]

David, this is not the first time this has happened and not just to me. Plus, a web link was not always involved.

I have a love-hate experience with Paul Sellers. His videos on technique are excellent, and I have learned from him. For this reason, I watch his videos when I can. On the other hand, when he begins to philosophize and lecture about lifestyle and worldly values, I recognise that he he into his Salesman mode and talking up lifestyle for followers.

It is ironic that, for someone whose schtick is encourage beginners to use hand tools, that he uses so many jigs … morticing, dovetails, etc. I have also found him to bend the truth on occasions to make a point which demonstrates his mastery. An example is his attitude to BU planes. He compared a LA Jack to his beloved #4, and showed how the LAJ produced tearout repeatedly in pine. After a brief explanation, I asked him what was the cutting angle of the LAJ, and he stated 50 degrees. This is patently untrue - a LAJ with a cutting angle of 50 degrees cannot perform this way. What is more likely is the blade used a factory 25 degrees for a low 37 degree cutting angle. This discussion was subsequently removed from his blog.

Another time he was adamant that the chipbreaker only supported the blade and had nothing to do with controlling tearout. I’m not sure if he has changed his tune since, but he appears to be placing the chipreaker closer to the edge than he did before, Still, he does not discuss this method.

He does not appear to like others questioning his methods. By comparison, the late David Charlesworth, after decades of using a high backbevel for tearout, learned to set a chipbreaker, and changed his approach.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

Making jigs, guides, fixtures and so on goes hand in hand with woodworking. It's in the DNA so to speak, it's problem-solving. Put simply, it's part of what we do.

For me, building shop accessories is also a teaching/learning experience. Building a drawer for a shop bench helped me to improve my dovetail joints. Building bench hooks and shooting boards taught me about getting things square. Building winding sticks taught me about making parallel and straight edges on a piece of wood.

jtk

[Graham Haydon]

Thanks Derek.

I tried reading the link, it migh be my phone, but the blog isn't broken up into paragraphs. I might try looking at it on my computer.

I got the gist which seems it's an option if you're a beginner and want some help with preparing joints. Didn't notice any for sale, just a picture of some router kits.

I did get the impression it's his "invention". I have seen English Woodworker use something very similar a while back, I can't be bothered to work out who made it first. I'm sure some home woodworker knocked up something similar before the digital age and thought nothing of it.

I check in there because the content is free but I have found the blog posts in recent years difficult to wade through.

[Derek Cohen]

Not your phone, Graham That is the way Paul writes. One long sentence.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jim Koepke]

I can't be bothered to work out who made it first. I'm sure some home woodworker knocked up something similar before the digital age and thought nothing of it.

My guess is shortly after the first chisel was made, someone came up with a way to keep it straight in use.

jtk