Shopsmith Forums

I've tried a number of times to cut mortises with a hollow chisel mortise attachment on my shopsmith. I had difficulty cutting mortises in pine and couldn't cut anything in maple. Tried sharpening, which was only marginally helpful. Finally got an unused 1/4" bit and tried it. The cut in pine was okay, but poor in oak. It took a lot of force to push through the oak. I don't think my setup is to blame. I've followed the instructions in the shopsmith video exactly. I've even tried varying the distance the drill bit protrudes, but no luck. From reading and talking to people, I've concluded there are two possible causes of the poor performance. One, the shopsmith chisels I've tried, including the unused one, were dull, even the from the factory and need to be sharpened. Although I've tried sharpening, which doesn't seem to help. Or two, the shopsmith chisels are inferior and would likely have better success with a better brand of chisel. I did look at Delta chisel/bit sets today, took my drill chuck and mortise attachment with me, and the shank on the Delta bit isn't long enough to reach the drill chuck, and wouldn't work in the shopsmith. Any advice from someone who has had success mortising on their shopsmith would be greatly appreciated.
Also, I'm not hell-bent on making mortises with a hollow chisel on my shopsmith. If it's not worth the aggravation, I'll consider another method of cutting mortises.

I don't have any mortisers but I know they take above average pressure. If you look at standalone mortisers they are built more like bearing presses than drills. They have about 2 ft handles and a gear rack about twice that is on the SS quil feed.

Personally I would not use my Shopsmith to cut mortises.

I rout my mortises or hand chisel them.

Always use the aux legs if you are going to do mortises on the Shopsmith.

What's a good hollow mortise chisel? The best one is a VERY SHARP one.

Even then, in my estimation, they are not the best. The best way to make mortises is with a router bit.

I agree with Ed, I see Drill Press Mortiser adapters for sale constantly on CL, Friend had one. I have a Delta Mortiser and work with Ash, and W Oak alot, and because you have the leverage it cuts easy. You just cant get that on a DP or SS. Also make sure you drill bit is low enough to eliminate most of the wood b4 the chisel contacts that area.

The mortising tools as they come from the store are not ready for use. They have an edge but they are not sharp. If you want them to cut they have to be sharp.

You need to have pretty much a mirror polish on the out side of the chisels and then use the supplied grinding wheels to touch up the insides, debur and then make sure you have about a dimes worth of space between the bit and chisel.

The table will need to be braced, on my 500 I notched a 2 x 4 and put that under the table edge for support. They make a real one or if you have a 510/520 use the legs.

I takes a good deal of pressure so it will be a workout using any drill press type system but they do work.

Like most of the other comments about routing these I agree it easier that way but again you can use the system you have but it will take some effort to get it ready and to use it.

Lee Valley sells a nicer set which I have heard work but I have not tested that out.

Ed

A sharp Forstner bit to hog out the waste material and a sharp bench chisel to square things up is another method.

reible wrote:The mortising tools as they come from the store are not ready for use. They have an edge but they are not sharp. If you want them to cut they have to be sharp.

You need to have pretty much a mirror polish on the out side of the chisels and then use the supplied grinding wheels to touch up the insides, debur and then make sure you have about a dimes worth of space between the bit and chisel.

The table will need to be braced, on my 500 I notched a 2 x 4 and put that under the table edge for support. They make a real one or if you have a 510/520 use the legs.

I takes a good deal of pressure so it will be a workout using any drill press type system but they do work.

Like most of the other comments about routing these I agree it easier that way but again you can use the system you have but it will take some effort to get it ready and to use it.

Lee Valley sells a nicer set which I have heard work but I have not tested that out.

Ed

Ed,

I am in total agreement. I use two or three paper thickness for the bit to chisel clearance.

Your sharpening advice is spot on.

I use the telescoping legs to support the front of the table and I cut two pieces of aluminum angle to support the table carriage.

I made a set of shutters for a friend at work. These were inside shutters for two 4'X4' windows. It ended up with 256 louvers for the 8 panels and over 1000 mortise cuts just for the louvers. The wood was clear white pine. The louvers were quarter sawn 1 1/2 X 1/4. The tenons on the louvers are 1/4 X 1/2. The picture of the stiles only shows one cut for the mortise for the louvers. I moved the fence and did it again.

The point is that the SS in mortising mode works. Is it a Powermatic dedicated mortiser hog? No but it works. Sharp bits are the key as that is in any wood working project.

Dang, JS, that is hardcore. Love it.

Well, your friend is lucky to have a friend like you. Very nice work.

jsburger wrote:

reible wrote:The mortising tools as they come from the store are not ready for use. They have an edge but they are not sharp. If you want them to cut they have to be sharp.

You need to have pretty much a mirror polish on the out side of the chisels and then use the supplied grinding wheels to touch up the insides, debur and then make sure you have about a dimes worth of space between the bit and chisel.

The table will need to be braced, on my 500 I notched a 2 x 4 and put that under the table edge for support. They make a real one or if you have a 510/520 use the legs.

I takes a good deal of pressure so it will be a workout using any drill press type system but they do work.

Like most of the other comments about routing these I agree it easier that way but again you can use the system you have but it will take some effort to get it ready and to use it.

Lee Valley sells a nicer set which I have heard work but I have not tested that out.

Ed

Ed,

I am in total agreement. I use two or three paper thickness for the bit to chisel clearance.

Your sharpening advice is spot on.

I use the telescoping legs to support the front of the table and I cut two pieces of aluminum angle to support the table carriage.

I made a set of shutters for a friend at work. These were inside shutters for two 4'X4' windows. It ended up with 256 louvers for the 8 panels and over 1000 mortise cuts just for the louvers. The wood was clear white pine. The louvers were quarter sawn 1 1/2 X 1/4. The tenons on the louvers are 1/4 X 1/2. The picture of the stiles only shows one cut for the mortise for the louvers. I moved the fence and did it again.

The point is that the SS in mortising mode works. Is it a Powermatic dedicated mortiser hog? No but it works. Sharp bits are the key as that is in any wood working project.

WOW! How did you cut all the louvers? I would have gone buggy!