151 - Hollow Chisel Mortiser - Purchase, Use, and Maintenance

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If you make a lot of mortise and tenon joints, a Hollow Chisel Mortiser is a tool you should really consider. It makes quick work of the repetitive task of batching out mortises. And unlike the router, it leaves nice square ends that pair perfectly with tenons made at the tablesaw or cut by hand. This is a fairly comprehensive video and tells you pretty much everything you need to know to purchase, set up, and use a hollow chisel mortiser.

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[nov]

Unlike TV shows where a 30 min show is only 21 minutes long, Wood Whisperer 30 min videos are thirty minutes (well almost) of CONTENT!. Way to go Mark. Keep 'em coming! I certainly hope that you can sell the rights to the manufacturer for inclusion in their instructional material. I learned a LOT here today!

[deucerider]

Outstanding teaching video! Every facet was not glossed over or skirted, but addressed head-on, explanations were clear and concise! Thank you!

[davide]

I purchsed a drill press mortiser and have used it for some time. Wish I had found this excellent video before. Well explained, it addresses all the issues that arise. Well shot with clear instructions on use and maintenance of the machine.

[jknott]

Thanks for the tips! I got a drill press version of one of these 20 years ago along with a drill press and now I finally know how to use it properly 🙂

[woodwhisperer]

@afsecaira I use large flat diamond plates. DMT makes some nice ones. Just rub them together until the stone is nice and clean looking.

[ChrisHornberger]

Marc, thank you for showing the sharpening cones. I generally just use them 'til they're too beat up, toss them, buy a new one because I had no idea how best to handle that internal surface conditioning. Nice. Thanks!!! Can't believe I went this long without knowing that. Hah! I really only ever use 1/4 and 1/2" chisels and bits, so it hasn't been a big issue thus far.

[bnelsonbraveheart]

This is a very helpful video on a mortise machine. I need one and my budget says it needs to be a preowned mortiser. Thanks!

[edadpops]

Every sail boat in the 60's -70's had teak louvered doors, and we used a hollow chisel mortiser to cut 1/4" squale holes for those louvered doors. I must have punched 100, 000 square holes during that time, one hole at a time. each set of stiles had to be layed out right and left sides, the holes were cut on an angle so louver blades would slightly over lap.It was a very time consuming job. I think though the glue up of the doors was the most time consuming part. Glad that part of my life is over ! we got good with the cone shaped sharpening stone too, because teak is abrasive and carries silica sand from the rivers it floats in before harvesting.Sometime youd see sparks when running it through the trable saw. I think greenlee still makes a quality drill set.

[humphandhumbug]

Excellent video. I bought a second hand mortise press yesterday with no instructions. It’s been about 30 years since I last used one, but this video was really helpful and pleasant to watch also. 10 out of 10.

[maddog]

To help with friction " my boss" would always have us use a bee's wax bar. Every 3rd or 4th hole you had to stop and slap a little on the chisel. it only took a few seconds and it made it much much easier to pull out and it did make the chisel last longer

[thesquad-airsoftgamingnerf]

thank you mate, very informative and very helpful for my college work.

[petcatznz]

Excellent video. Been waiting for a decent 2nd hand chisel mortiser to come my way for several years. It finally happened today, so thought I'd brush up on it's set up and use before picking it up tomorrow. Great thing is, my new (to me) unit has all of the attributes Mark highlights. Looking forward to getting into it. Thanks a bunch.

[woodwhisperer]

@jawadsaadi The only reason I can see it being a problem is that fact that you'll need really long bits. The chuck on the mortise is up above the part that holds the chisels. So you need fairly long bits to extend far enough so that you have some room to work. And the longer the bit, the more runout.

[kdkintz]

Cool video, I have a small machine but have not needed it. However I have a project coming up I will need it for. After watching this I feel I will not have any trouble. Thanks

[jaramima]

You are a great teacher. If I had you in high school, I am sure I'd do way better. Thanks for the vid.

[johnfithian-franks]

Hi Mark, I have a bench top model that I bought from one of our cheap supermarkets and it was less than £50 in cost. It work well enough for what I want to do but as you will realize it hasn't any of the moving top or table. I also have the panterrounter plans from Matthias and that has a movable table using two sets of draw slides, I made one for the mortise machine but I had to double up on the draw slides so that the pressure from the chisel part did not crush the slides, it works so well that I am going to make one for my drill press as well.

[robertsullivan]

Excellent. very informative and very well prepared and presented.

[neilrelph-olivewoodturning]

Great tip about using a card scraper to set the chisel / drill relationship. Thanks

[MadeinSweden]

Hello Marc!

If you want to clean up the bottoms of your mortice you can use a Sokosari Nomi - Japanese Bottom Cleaning Chisel They are superb!

[redlancer]

Just bought my first morticer. Great advise. Many thanks.