Marc, how do you shim the bit exactly? I stabbed myself twice in the
hand fiddling with the bits. Those chisel tips are plenty sharp!
Hello Again Jack,
Here is how I set up my benchtop mortiser;
I set the clearance by inserting a dime between the shoulder of the
chisel and the mortising chuck and lightly tighten the chisel in
place. Then I insert the drill bit into its chuck until the flutes
barely touch the chisel points. (On some units you may have to install
both chisel and drill bit at the same time because of depth
clearance). Next, I loosen the chisel and (with the dime safely back
in your pocket, or piggy bank) push the chisel up into its chuck and
retighten securely. The gap introduced by the dime is now the
clearance between the drill bit flutes and the chisel points. For
good measure, use some type of dry lubricant on both bit and chisel-
inside and out- before and during the mortising operations. After the
propellents dry, the lubricant will not affect the wood or alter its
subsequent finish. I think Elmer makes a good dry spray lubricant in
addition to their spray adhesives. (I'm not joking here).
Hope this helps, if not type back.
Marc
(And just so I don't get sued for plagiarism by my best friend Brian
Graham, of the Cayce Company, I am referencing his Fine Woodworking
article from May 2002 for some of the terminology above. The piggy
bank comment is mine.)