Mortise Pal

Mortise Pal

Looks interesting Pat.
A much smaller footprint than a dedicated machine.

If it works as well as the video it’s going to give some of my woodworking friends a bit of a disappointment. <g>
Still, at $189.00 plus the rest of the kit “a la carte” it’s a bit for what it is.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I just read a magazine with a dead simple jig to build somewhat like that.

It has 2 wood sides held on by Aluminum bar stock. 1 screw in the jig 1 in the side on all 4 corners. The sides would then swivel left and right keeping the middle piece centered.

Not sure I would blow that much money on a jig that would take about 2 hours to build.

It’s very similar in function to the Festool wiggly wag thingie.

...I looked it up “domino” I think it’s starts at round $700.00.

They will have to duke it out for that Yuppie wallet! ;-)

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

I built something similar a few months ago that has been working out quite well for my use. It’s certainly not as elaborate but it cost less than a buck. :)

You can see it here

-- I'm a wood magician... I can turn fine lumber into firewood before your very eyes! - http://www.woodworkersguide.com

Mercy! I like a guy who thinks on his hind legs before he reaches for his wallet!

Good job and excellent presentation.

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

awesome. thanks ted. I’ll be making one of these. Exactly what I’ve been looking for for weeks.

Interesting website Ted. hmmmmm?

Boib

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

i bought one several months ago. it is a well made tool.

-- rob

looks good, but kind of pricey. You should also look at the leigh FMT.. even more pricey but far more functional and easier to use.

-- making sawdust....

Thanks to eveyone for their replies!!!

-- Pat, Colorado

Interesting tool, I like TedM’s approach. Thanks Ted for the info.

-- ....next big purchase is wood for the next project, Mark

Any tips for centering that shopnotes jig on the workpiece?

I have a little machine shop hobby use only but very well equipped ,and could make an exact replica of that jig with scrap lying around plus some new stock for about $30 U.S. or probably even less.so I wont be rushing out to buy it.But to be fair it just shows us how simply we could copy this even in wood almost exactly to the original design.Alistair

-- excuse my typing as I have a form of parkinsons disease

I saw one on SMC and it was similar to the one Ted shows. It took me about 1/2 day to build one and it works like a dream. I did a set of legs and they all came out sweet looking. clamped the legs to a bench and used the clamp as a stop for cutting the length.
The best thing I found with this jig is its very repeatable. I layed out my mortice on one face of one leg, centered the bit on the layout, made my cuts, then repeated the same cut on the other seven faces.
Since I was using a DW621, I had a shop vac hooked up to it so the amount of chips were very small.

I do however still want to explore a horizontal router table.

-- MISSION FURNITURE-My mission is to build furniture

I made the same mortice jig that TedM has and it works very well. Quick and easy to make and very accurate. It might be a little more difficult to make the angled mortices but they are doable as well. Give it a try before you shell out $200. Maybe you can spend the $200 on something else.

-- John, Long Island, NY

If you Ted’s jig with a piece of Lexan or Acrylic instead of Masonite or plywood, you could scribe centering marks on the underside and darken them with a marker.

-- Quantum materiae materietur marmota monax si marmota monax materiam possit materiari?

I am one to try to come up with my own solutions also.
Here is a jig that I made many moons ago. It has been used on many projects in the past. All I do is change out the 1/4 inch hardboard or plywood in the inset on the top to give me any width or length.
But I do see a versitle easy to use jig in the Motise Pal design.
!

-- Garry, Engadine, Michigan (Upper Peninsula)

instead of mounting the router to the jig like ted, could cut a slot for a guide bushing, that would control the length of the mortise

-- Fred, Springfield, Ma

That’s a nice system you have. Looks simple and also looks like it would be very accurate.

-- John, Long Island, NY