mortiser

scottss · Post by **scottss** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:46 pm

Ok a month ago I bought the shopsmith mortise and tenon pkg. Yesterday I went to use the mortiser with a 3/8" bit and had flex on the upper tubes. What I am saying is I was trying to cut 3/8" x 3/8" mortise in oak and when I pressed into the wood the top would flex and I couldn't make the cut. Anyone have this problem before. I should say that I had the ext legs mounted and a 2x2 brace supporting just under the bit.

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:09 pm

Nick has a video on using the mortise attachment but my guess is the bit is set wrong in relation to the chisel. The bit needs to be sticking out past the end of the chisel by a "small amount". The small amount is about the thickness of one dime, if I remember correctly.

scottss · Post by **scottss** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:35 pm

Paul I watched the video several times and have the bit setup right and it is sharp. It works fine in pine but not in oak.

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:16 pm

One of the woodworking magazines rated mortising sets. One of the things they found was to set the gap to .117", it sounds like a lot but in their tests it ran cooler. Before sharpening the inside also sharpen the outside of the chisel with a fine diamond flat stone 12 strokes on each side helped, use light pressure and it probably only needs to be done once in a very long time. Inspect the bit to make sure it is sharp, look in PTWFE for instructions on sharpening it

For hard woods you can drill it or rout it first probably leaving it 1/8" undersized then use the mortising chisel to finish it up.

reible · Post by **reible** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 5:56 pm

Hi,

When you say it will not cut what does happen where the bit/wood meet?

I'm sure this is not the case for you but I once had a friend trying to drill some oak and the bit would go only so far. When I went to look at it he was a bit embarrassed... he had found that the depth stop was set right to where it was stopping!

Anyway one thing to check is that the quill can make the full travel without the stock in place. If you do have something setup wrong it might be easier to find out this way. You can always go back and see how it works on some more pine with the same setup.

You can also remove the chisel and just put the drill in like any drill bit and see if it will drill. If it has problems then you know where they might be starting from. This type of bit has a real issue with heat. If the bit is blue it might be to late for it, sorry to say. If the bit works well then go back and just mount the chisel and see how well it cuts the square corners without the bit in place (use the same hole you just drilled).

You might want to make sure that the table is at 90 deg to the bit with a square. Make sure that when the quill is in that you have minimum distance between the bit and workpiece so the extension is also minimal.

I personally have never seen the tubes flexing, you should never ever have to put that much force into this.

Ed

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:48 pm

reible wrote:Hi,...
I'm sure this is not the case for you but I once had a friend trying to drill some oak and the bit would go only so far. When I went to look at it he was a bit embarrassed... he had found that the depth stop was set right to where it was stopping!...
I personally have never seen the tubes flexing, you should never ever have to put that much force into this.
Ed

I'm not so sure this isn't happening to Scott. I've had it happen to me. I was fortunate to find the fix in a hurry. The bit should cut into oak fairly easily. Oak is the wood of my choice - drill it all the time!

Since Scott saw the tubes deflect, it's my guess the quill was stopped.

bkhop · Post by **bkhop** » Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:26 pm

................

paulmcohen · Post by **paulmcohen** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:13 am

It sounds like this is a class Nick needs to teach. I have used the mortise tool several times without issue in hard oak and soft cedar, but I was only successful after Nick showed how to install the drill bit relative to the chisel. I have only used the 1/4" chisel maybe the issue is with large bits. Otherwise I can't explain why some of use are successful and others "bend the tubes".

scottss · Post by **scottss** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 11:43 am

Well guys thanks for the quick responses. Like I said before it works fine in pine just not in oak. I will try to shorten the quill distance and see if that makes a difference otherwise I doing everything to book.

james.miller · Post by **james.miller** » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:19 pm

Just thought of something, was it the same setup you used for the pine that you are having problems with the oak? You could check the pine again and if it works then the problem may be the oak then try a different piece of oak and see if that works.

If it doesn't work on the pine then check the setup without any wood to see if the chisel or holder may be making contact with the hold down and not letting it go into the wood.

Some people put a 1/4" - 3/8" strip of wood between the fence and the workpiece to get it to work.

Just a thought.