Create a review for a woodworking tool that you are familiar with (Shopsmith brand or Non-Shopsmith) or just post your opinion on a specific tool. Head to head comparisons welcome too.
charlese wrote:Hi T.D.! Since you are considering getting a stand alone mortising machine, ($350 - $500) I recommend you take a look at the Overarm Pin Router (OPR) I've found, as shown by Nick in the Sawdust Sessions, it is a wonderful mortiser, plus it has many other features. See number two in the attached link.- - http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Arch ... _Index.htm
Also as Nick reported in another of the Sawdust Sessions, the SS mortising attachment is not the best tool in their arsenal. What he had to say was the same as other comments above.
I can use a router or the SS router set up to make mortises with round corners but I often want square mortises. So far when I need a square mortise I either use the router or drill them out and finish by hand.
I just built a workbench where I needed to make through mortises in my 3" legs and regular mortises in the 3 1/2" feet. I don't know of any router set up that can go that deep. In this case, I drilled them out and finished by hand, all 16 of them.
IMHO there is absolutely no need for square cornered mortises. You can always square them up with a chisel.
These mortises including the thru ones, were done on an OPR - however the legs were only 1 1/2" X 1 1/2". I think drilling is a good solution for 3" wide legs. I'd still clean them up and square the corners with my OPR and a chisel.
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Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
charlese wrote:IMHO there is absolutely no need for square cornered mortises. You can always square them up with a chisel.
Chuck,
From a functionality standpoint you are absolutely correct, but on a through mortise I like the looks of a square corner. Just like you did, I cleaned up mine by hand and they turned out fine BUT it did take quite a bit of time to hand chisel sides and corners of 16 mortises about 3" deep.
I don't have the OPR but on smaller mortises that don't show, I either use a router table setup or the SS in horizontal mode with a router bit. That usually works just fine but the SS setup for routing without a speed increaser is a little slower.
From a functionality standpoint you are absolutely correct, but on a through mortise I like the looks of a square corner. Just like you did, I cleaned up mine by hand and they turned out fine BUT it did take quite a bit of time to hand chisel sides and corners of 16 mortises about 3" deep....
Yes, it does take quite a bit of time to clean up rounded mortises to make them square. I can only imagine the increased difficulty working with a thru mortise 3" thick.
Here is a joint problem that is worth pointing out! -
One of the things I did wrong here was not orienting the grain correctly for the thru mortise. As you can see in my second photo - I should have rotated the leg 90 degrees before making the mortise. That way, any wood movement between the mortise and the tenon would not be at right angles. In the case of the above pictured joint, the legs movement will be mostly along the tenon, while the tenon movement will be mostly sideways. This potential movement will tend to weaken the joint over the years.
My error in this case was caused by being more concerned with the appearance of the surface grain than the joint grain. An error that makes the joint simply not as good as it could have been. The joint is pinned. That will help somewhat, but it could have been better.
Octogenarian's have an earned right to be a curmudgeon.
Chuck in Lancaster, CA
I have the mortiser but haven't used it yet. But I am surprised. My usual method is conventional drill and chisel cleanup, but I imagined using the mortiser set as a compliment, not a replacement. I mean drill out most of the material then run the pieces thru the mortiser to eliminate the chisel work. I never dreamed of removing most (or all) of the waste with the Special drill/chisel bits, chiefly because I don't like the idea of having to resharpen them any more than absolutely necessary.
The changeover is simple and minimal. Wouldn't such a procedure- which would only add a few minutes to a workbench sized project- remove the potential problems or worries about system stress? (As well as saving a few hundred dollars or a lot of hand chiseling time?)
Like I said, I've not used the mortiser yet, so I really just asking if I'm not being naive about this.
(Hope not. I don't have the extra floor space for another base.)
