Shop built slot mortiser

[Jim Martin]

Hello All:

Recently someone was requesting information about slot mortising machines so I thought I would post pictures of mine to a.b.p.w. I got the idea that I just HAD TO HAVE a slot mortiser by watching the promotional video for a Robland. One thing led to another and I built this from a hodge podge of parts for about $250 (not including the router). It works like a champ. The main components are:

1) A sliding x-y table on linear ball bearings, purchased on ebay for $100 plus shipping. 2) A Richards Light table. This thing is some sort of cold war era film viewer which reportedly cost Uncle Sam several thousand $$. I paid $50 at a local surplus auction for it. This table is built like a tank and has vertical travel, which is critical but very hard to come by. 3) A tablesaw table with t-slots. T-slots are critical for the hold down. I salvaged this from a burned out delta contractor saw purchased from a local tool supply shop for $40. The "wings" are aluminum angle. 4) The router is held in a maple and purple heart block. The big clamp is from my Accumiter (I never use it on the miter gage). The little strip you see at the front of the table (closest to the router that is) was part of the light table and allows me to quickly set a piece perpendicular to the cutter and it has a sliding stop for positioning repetitive cuts.

Cheers,

Jim

[max]

Any pictures? max

[Jim Martin]

One pic posted on alt.binaries.pictures.woodworking. Two more pics posted in the photos section of the yahoo group "shopbuilttools".

Cheers,

Jim

[Never Enough Money]

I had a recent post on a slot mortiser. I'm very interested in your. However, I must not know how to use a.b.p.w. When I go there, I see about 30 pictures, but none of them are a slot mortiser. I imagine there's a way to see the archives, but I can't seem to find out how. Or perhaps yours haven't appeared yet????

"Jim Martin" wrote in message news:

[Never Enough Money]

Found a shop-made slot mortiser at Wood Central, too.

[Jim Martin]

Not sure what might be up with your newserver. It may show up directly but with the binary groups you just never know.

I also posted pictures to the yahoo group called "shopbuilttools" but you'll have to sign up for the group to see the pics. Failing those two avenues, I can email pics directly to you.

Cheers,

Jim

[max]

I can't find it either. Can you send me a pic. Thanks ma

[Mark Jerde]

Here's a free place to post photos.

"Welcome to TinyPic, an internet hosting service running on a linux dedicated server network. Quickly link to auctions, message boards, blogs, etc. Best of all, the url will always be tiny!"

[Bob]

If you posted them, they did not show up.

Bob

[Jim Martin]

[Mark Jerde]

-- Mark

[Bill Wallace]

Jim,

Nice job. I also found that other on with pictures posted online that is referenced in this thread. I have ne question about these.

The Multi-Router, that theses seem to emulate has the concept of a tracabl;e template to control the mortise and tenon sizes. Also supposedly supports a box and dovetail joint mode.

Does yours have some dsort of follower setup or is it just a manual process for each joint.

BW

[Jim Martin]

No follower. I just set the stops and cut slot mortises. Also, I use a lot of loose tennon joinery in which you cut mortises into both peices and then use tennon stock.

Cheers,

Jim

[Larry Jaques]

On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 16:57:36 GMT, "Mark Jerde" calmly ranted:

Yeah, very nice, Jim.

Questions:

What are the bearings?

Is that built on top of your table saw?

I see that you fabricated much of it yourself. What was the sourcing on the rest?

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[Jim Martin]

"Larry Jaques" wrote

Linear ball bearings

No, I just used a tablesaw table.

Hi Larry:

Here is the description I posted originally that has probably dropped off of most servers by now. It describes most of the parts and their procurement ;-)

Recently someone was requesting information about slot mortising machines so I thought I would post pictures of mine to a.b.p.w. I got the idea that I just HAD TO HAVE a slot mortiser by watching the promotional video for a Robland. One thing led to another and I built this from a hodge podge of parts for about $250 (not including the router). It works like a champ. The main components are:

1) A sliding x-y table on linear ball bearings, purchased on ebay for $100 plus shipping. 2) A Richards Light table. This thing is some sort of cold war era film viewer which reportedly cost Uncle Sam several thousand $$. I paid $50 at a local surplus auction for it. This table is built like a tank and has straight vertical travel, which I considered critical but was very hard to come by. 3) A tablesaw table with t-slots. T-slots are critical for the hold down. I salvaged this from a burned out delta contractor saw purchased from a local tool supply shop for $40. The "wings" are aluminum angle. 4) The router is held in a maple and purple heart block. The big clamp is from my Accumiter (I never use it on the miter gage). The little strip you see at the front of the table (closest to the router that is) was part of the light table and allows me to quickly set a piece perpendicular to the cutter and it has a sliding stop for positioning repetitive cuts.

Cheers,

Jim