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Mortise pairing by hand

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Previous Back to: Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration11 Replies

Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Mortise pairing by hand

Tagged: Pair square mortise

  • This topic has 11 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 1 month ago by bow.
  • Author
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  • bow
    12 April 2013 at 12:27 pm #10827

    Hello!    I’m training on doing mortises using chisel and mallet.   How to pair the bottom of the mortise by hand? I have  no  room to use a  router plane… And, last question , how to square mortise face to the bottom? i want to use only hand tools..

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    Ken
    12 April 2013 at 12:38 pm #10828

    Hey Carlo,

    See if this helps……….http://paulsellers.com/2012/07/chopping-mortises-bevel-edged-or-mortise-chisels-video/

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    Florian
    12 April 2013 at 1:58 pm #10830

    Hi Carlo,

    you can pair the bottom with the chisel bevel-down.

    I enjoy working wood in Germany.

    Settings
    bow
    12 April 2013 at 3:59 pm #10837

    Hi Ken and Florian!

    I use standard chisel to chop mortise, like Paul does in the video linked above. I have to work on really small mortises  and they must be stright and squared because i have to glue in a patch of good oak.  Mortise sizes are : 1,5 cm length  for 1 cm width or 1 cm depth in the wood.    Too short, to use a plane and  a router.

    Probably a liuthery  plane… Or i have to become skilled on using the chisel..any tricks?

    Settings
    Ken
    12 April 2013 at 4:29 pm #10839

    Carlo, you could use a forstner bit to drill out the bulk, this would give you a nice flat bottom, Then finnish with a chisel. Or you could use a chisel, and a small router plane.

    Settings
    robinhc
    12 April 2013 at 4:30 pm #10841
    bow wrote:

    Or i have to become skilled on using the chisel..any tricks?

    Carlo @bow … Use a knife wall to establish the walls of the mortise. Chop the mortise half way thru from the top, and then flip the piece over and chop the other half from the bottom.  Every so often, check to see that your chesil is straight up and down, so that the top and bottom half of the mortise meet in the middle.  You can also make a jig to keep the chisel straight.

    If the mortise is not all the way thru, the bottom of the mortus does not have to perfectly flat. The strength of the joint comes from the sides of the tenon in contact with the sides of the mortise. A little space between the end of the tenon and the bottom of the mortise is not a bad thing.

    Watch Pauls videos on chopping a mortus.

     

    Robin ... Richmond, Virginia, USA

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    Ken
    12 April 2013 at 4:39 pm #10843

    HaHa Robin, did you even read Carlo’s post. He wants to glue in a patch of good oak, not chop a through mortice buddy. 😉

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    jgust747
    12 April 2013 at 9:52 pm #10862

    Could you use the chisel and some smaller chisels in a poor mans router setup to square the mortise?

    Dallas, Texas

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    Dave
    13 April 2013 at 3:36 am #10883

    Umm, I think a swan neck chisel is supposed to help out smoothing the bottom of a mortise.  like this http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/page.aspx?p=30266&cat=1,41504,41533&ap=1

    I’ve never really worried about the bottom of a mortise so long as its deep enough to let the tenon seat properly.

    -Canada

    Settings
    bow
    13 April 2013 at 10:48 am #10898

    Tjanks you all. Below are linked  two pictures that reprsent what i have to do:

    Settings
    bow
    13 April 2013 at 10:50 am #10899

    Above is depicted the starting condition..  Next photo regards the mortise i have to do…with wood chopped away:

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    bow
    13 April 2013 at 10:51 am #10900

    Ant this last photo depicts the wooden Patches glued and fitted:

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