Shopsmith Forums

My question is what all do I need for cutting mortise ? I see this part
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/rm_hollowchisel.htm Is this all I need ?
My wife got me making kitchen and dinning room chairs after she priced some good hardwood chairs I'd cut them by hand but there just to many. Then I was thinking of a stand alone mortising machine. Ill be cutting alot of mortise as time gose on so whats is the best way to go

littlejohnnc wrote:My question is what all do I need for cutting mortise ? I see this part
http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/catalog/rm_hollowchisel.htm Is this all I need ?
My wife got me making kitchen and dinning room chairs after she priced some good hardwood chairs I'd cut them by hand but there just to many. Then I was thinking of a stand alone mortising machine. Ill be cutting alot of mortise as time gose on so whats is the best way to go

Hi littlejohn,
There is more then one way to skin a cat, er, I mean to create a mortise. That is one. You asked "Is that all I need...?" All you really need is a chisel and mallet, but... there are easier ways. And yes, to do it the SS way, that is all you need, plus a Mark V complete with a table and fence. Will you also be needing a tenon master? http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/itemfind.htm?item=555479&Submit=Find+Item

As far as stand alone mortising machines; they are available for knot too much money, and they are another method. Depending on who you ask, better, or not as good as the SS method.

Tim
Thanks for the reply. Yup I got the mark V Got some 1/4 sawn curly white oak with plenty of flacks in it. Should make some preety chairs

littlejohnnc wrote:Tim
Thanks for the reply. Yup I got the mark V Got some 1/4 sawn curly white oak with plenty of flacks in it. Should make some preety chairs

Sounds like a good project, littlejohn. Take your time and you will do fine. Check this out: http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS101/SS101_Index.htm
It also gives you an excuse, I mean, a reason to buy more tools!!!

Hey Tim great video ... Dose the hold down shoe attach to a rod,what is the rod attached to Looks like the fence. Looks like he has a different fence than mine. I have the standard fence that came with my mark 5.

I'm glad to see someone bring this up! I've often wondered what the benefits of the mortising attachment are. On my last project, a nightstand, I just put a 1/4" plunge router bit in the shopsmith and routed my mortises. I had to round off the shoulders of the tenons to make them fit, but it seemed to work just fine. Is there a problem with doing it this way? John in Rolla, MO

jfran2 wrote:I'm glad to see someone bring this up! I've often wondered what the benefits of the mortising attachment are. On my last project, a nightstand, I just put a 1/4" plunge router bit in the shopsmith and routed my mortises. I had to round off the shoulders of the tenons to make them fit, but it seemed to work just fine. Is there a problem with doing it this way? John in Rolla, MO

That's the best way for me too! Recently, I've made a couple of changes though. I now use the OPR and I use floating tenons. This way I can plane boards to the right thickness to fit the mortises and round the edges with the router. You don't need an OPR to do this, just the Mark V and a router.

littlejohnnc wrote:Hey Tim great video ... Dose the hold down shoe attach to a rod,what is the rod attached to Looks like the fence. Looks like he has a different fence than mine. I have the standard fence that came with my mark 5.

I have only owned a Mark V with the 510 table system. My fence has a "T" slot on the top that, yes, the hold down wood be attached to. Now, I do not own one of those, as like jfran2 and charlese said, a router does a good job of this too. Did you watch both videos; part 1 AND part 2? Part 2 shows the overarm pin router setup on the Mark V. Very nice. You can do it pretty easy with a router table too. More to think about.

[quote="Ill be cutting alot of mortise as time gose on so whats is the best way to go [/QUOTE"]

Materials:
12X12"X1/4" Hardboard
4 ea 1/4X20X 2" pan head bolts
4 ea washers to fit
4 ea 1/4X20 wingnuts
2 ea hardwood sticks 3/4X 1-1/2X14"

Quick and easy. Make an auxillary base for your router. Cut a 12"X12" piece of 1/4" hardboard. Draw diagonals and mark the center of the board. Use the router's base as a template for screws. Drill and coutersink. With a hole saw, cut a 1 1/2" hole in the center of the hardboard. Using the outline of the router base as a guide, measure out 1" from the base edge. Mark a line parallel with one edge of the hardboard. Now, set up a router with an edge guide and a 3/16 bit or, use the router table . Rout a 6" through groove along the line (3" each direction from the center of the board) Do the same on the opposite side.
You now have a piece with a hole in the middle and grooves along two sides of the piece. Cut two 14" long X 3/4"X 1 1/2" pieces of hardwood. Lay them across the two grooves on either side of the center hole. Mark the two pieces of hardwood in the center of the grooves and centered on the
3/4" edge. You are going to use 1/4X20X 2" pan head bolts so counter bore approx. 1/4" with a bit slightly larger than the pan head at each mark on the hardwood sticks. Then drill through holes with a 1/4" bit.
I insert the bolts and epoxy the heads in the counter bore, taking care not to get epoxy on the lower prtion of the threads. Next, slip on a washer and wing nut. Snug it up until the epoxy sets up. Unscrew the wing nuts and remove the washer. Insert the bolts into the grooves in the base, put the washers and wingnuts on. Attach this apparatus to the router. You're done!
In use, simply loosen the wing nuts, set the base and router on the work, (Hardwood sticks on either side of the work) center the bit over the mortise location, snug up the pieces of hardwood to either side of the work, tighten the wing nuts, plunge to 1/3 the depth and rout the mortise in 3 passes. I use another piece of work the same width/height clamped to my bench along side the piece to be mortised. serves as a stabilizer for the router.
You can clamp stops to the work at either end of the fixture so that the hardwood sticks contact the stops and limit the travel. I just rout to the line I've scribed for the ends of the mortise.
Hope this helps.

Sorry for not repling sooner ,working late at night. Thanks for help
Lot of ways to do this .Now to figure out which one will work the best for the job.Thanks for all your help