When chopping mortises by hand, learners usually discover it tough to take care of exact management of the chisel. The result’s a mortise that’s incorrectly sized, with partitions which might be out of sq.. To assist them right this, I train the next methodology.
It begins within the normal approach, with sharply scored traces made with a marking knife and marking gauge. However then you definitely outline these traces additional by chiseling shallow ramps main as much as every line. The subsequent step is to wash out the area between the traces with a small router airplane set for a 1/16-in.-deep lower. This leaves brief mortise partitions. Use these as a information for the remainder of the method, resting your chisel towards them as you chop out the mortise.
Not solely does this strategy enable any woodworker to cut clear, useful mortises, however it additionally trains them on the correct chisel orientation and really feel for chopping a mortise, serving to to determine the proper muscle reminiscence.
In case you are slicing a through-mortise, create the identical shallow mortise partitions on the opposite aspect earlier than chopping, which is able to guarantee clear outcomes on either side.
—Justin Masone, Washington, D.C.
Justin Masone, a gross sales government for a scientific firm, is a longtime hobbyist woodworker and boatbuilder. He teaches hand-tool woodworking to learners in his storage workshop, in addition to normal woodworking in a six-month various training program for younger adults on the Alexandria Seaport Basis in Alexandria, Va.
Fantastic Woodworking Really helpful Merchandise
Olfa Knife
Snug steel deal with with a break off blade. A instrument for breaking off the blade is constructed into the helpful pocket clip.
Suizan Japanese Pull Noticed
A flexible noticed that can be utilized for something from kumiko to dovetails. Mike Pekovich recommends them as a woodworker’s first handsaw.
Veritas Precision Sq.
This precision sq. is extremely versatile, from checking squareness to dialing in machine setups.
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