Shopsmith Forums

I have been off the forum for a long time, but I need some of the advice that brought me here in the very first place. I am building a wedding gift that calls for a mortise in the ends of long (3 ft) pieces of stock. I know that the Jacobs chuck is not to be loaded sideways. Is there any way to do this on the Mark 5? Hand cutting them is not really a good option. I have never had great luck with this and my thumbs are not cooperating at all anymore. what other option would you suggest? I have dowell jigs, and I could get a biscuit joiner. Project is a trunk with a frame and panel design. It is a heavy trunk for tools and will require substantial strength. Thanks, good to be back on the site.

Router chuck is intended for just this type task. If you need square ends in the mortises, the mortising tool can be used to create the square ends first.

Thanks, I thought that might be the case, but I was not sure about horizontal use.

Actually I am unsure what you mean by 'horizontal' mortising.

Are you referring to horizontal movement of the workpiece with the SS in drill press mode, or moving the workpiece horizontally with the workpiece flat on the table which is also 'horizontal'(horizontal boring mode).

Either way will work. Keep in mind the forces resisting straight motion of the work piece.

In drill press mode, the workpiece must be held tight to the fence whereas in horizontal boring approach, the work piece must be held tight to the table. The table is the backup reference for depth in drill press mode whereas the fence provides that in horizontal boring mode.

Actually the table could be set up as when in drill press mode but with the SS still laying down('horizontal').

I consider the ability to do 'drill press' operations but when laying down is one of the most useful and unique features of the SS.

After trying horizontal mortising it quickly became the only way I will make mortises.

This method is fast, accurate and clean.

If you want to use your jacobs chuck, you can drill sequential holes, then clean the mortise with a chisel or even drilling out the uncut portions. This will still need a clean=up with a chisel.

However it works a whole lot better using a router chuck and router bit. Using your Mark V, You will have to make light cuts. One method would be to use the router bit as a drill, then use it to clean up the edges.

I have never understood the reason to make square ends to a mortise. It is a lot easier, and probably more accurate, to round the ends of tenon than squaring ends of a mortise.

In fact my favorite method is to mortise both sides of the joint. Tenons can be make on a long board. They can be cross cut to length later. The long tenons can be rounded with sanding, hand planing, or routing. This type of tenon is called a loose tenon, although they fit very snugly.

I don't want to hijack your thread but I think this is very related. After I upgraded to double tilt earlier this year I built a horizontal router table that uses an extension table base. I turn the main table around like you would for under the table routing and set it at 90 degrees. Here are some pics.

I was asking if the mortise can be made with the head stock in the normal position. I have used this set up to drill a mortise and the clean it up with a chisel, but thought about using a router bit and sliding the stock along the fence. Then I thought I might be able to do the same thing with the tenon, using the table and depth stops. I think you have given me the information I need. My question was really prompted by a shop built slot mortiser that can cut tenons on the end of a longer piece of stock. Thanks, sometimes I get to involved in finding a $20 solution to a $.02 problem.

charlese wrote:After trying horizontal mortising it quickly became the only way I will make mortises.

This method is fast, accurate and clean.

If you want to use your jacobs chuck, you can drill sequential holes, then clean the mortise with a chisel or even drilling out the uncut portions. This will still need a clean=up with a chisel.

However it works a whole lot better using a router chuck and router bit. Using your Mark V, You will have to make light cuts. One method would be to use the router bit as a drill, then use it to clean up the edges.

I have never understood the reason to make square ends to a mortise. It is a lot easier, and probably more accurate, to round the ends of tenon than squaring ends of a mortise.

In fact my favorite method is to mortise both sides of the joint. Tenons can be make on a long board. They can be cross cut to length later. The long tenons can be rounded with sanding, hand planing, or routing. This type of tenon is called a loose tenon, although they fit very snugly.

I am so glad you said that .... I have been doing it that way but thought I was "cheating" and doing it wrong, but liked the way it worked ...

Thanks for setting me straight .... as usual!

There is no such thing as 'cheating' when using a multi-function SS.

I got the router kit with the chuck and the shield. I am still doing practice on some scraps, but this is a leap forward for sure, It does exactly what I wanted and was not to expensive. I played with it just cutting some slots for a jig and it is so easy to use, especially on stopped dados. I have owned my SS for 11 years or so and I am still amazed at what can be done with these machines. I hope one day to be as good at the work as the machine.