When chopping mortises by hand, freshmen typically discover it tough to keep up exact management of the chisel. The result’s a mortise that’s incorrectly sized, with partitions which are out of sq.. To assist them right this, I educate the next technique.
It begins within the traditional approach, with sharply scored traces made with a marking knife and marking gauge. However you then outline these traces additional by chiseling shallow ramps main as much as every line. The subsequent step is to scrub out the house between the traces with a small router aircraft set for a 1/16-in.-deep lower. This leaves quick 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, practical mortises, nevertheless it additionally trains them on the right chisel orientation and really feel for chopping a mortise, serving to to ascertain the right muscle reminiscence.
If you’re slicing a through-mortise, create the identical shallow mortise partitions on the opposite facet earlier than chopping, which can guarantee clear outcomes on each side.
—Justin Masone, Washington, D.C.
Justin Masone, a gross sales govt for a scientific firm, is a longtime hobbyist woodworker and boatbuilder. He teaches hand-tool woodworking to freshmen in his storage workshop, in addition to common woodworking in a six-month different schooling program for younger adults on the Alexandria Seaport Basis in Alexandria, Va.
Effective Woodworking Really helpful Merchandise
Olfa Knife
Comfy steel deal with with a break off blade. A instrument for breaking off the blade is constructed into the helpful pocket clip.
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Veritas Precision Sq.
This precision sq. is extremely versatile, from checking squareness to dialing in machine setups.
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