Loose Tenon Mortising

I received the email about this tool this morning -- took some time looking at the ad and think I like it .. now where to get the money.
 
i like the price compared to the mortise pal that glenn uses, but his does have a choice of larger mortise sizes which can be beneficial in some cases.. this appears to be limited to the 1/4 bit they have.. for most 4/4 applications it would be fine. will be interesting to see others views brent.
 
It sure looks sturdy and well made. I don't think I'd want to do mass production with it of course, but hard to see the down side on it.
 
I got the link also this am. Does look nice for the money. Does this only work with their loose tennons, or will others work as long as they are the 1/4" size? When will the version come out that you can mount a router to?:rofl: Jim.
 
It looks like a good idea to me, but I'll stay with my router table or handheld router so I can vary the mortise size. The price of their loose tenons seems reasonable, but I always have plenty of scrap to make my own of whatever size I need.
 
We have a group of us that jumped on these several months ago ... 14 in total. Very well made, works great. It is limited to the 1/4" bit. The loose tenons can be from them or home made. I agree with Brent .. if you are doing 'production' quantities a table and router is probably faster over all. But for that quick face frame cabinet, this is just the ticket ... and it is highly portable for on-site work.
 
Looks like a better price point version of the JessEm ZipSlot. At $200 to $250, I'd take a mortise pal anytime. For $70 and the occasional user it could be a good deal. JessEm has their problems but, tool quality sure isn't one of them. They are beautifully made and the smooth sides allowing good face to face grain contact are a step up from dowels or a BeadLock system.
 
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I'm still "working" (okay, it's on pause for the past 2 weeks due to other responsibilities) on my Woodgears finger joint jig.

BUT, I've also looked several times at his Mortising Machine. I might like to give that a try.

I did just watch that Jessem Video, and it does look reasonably straightforward. However, as I was watching, I found myself thinking about time. I've got a dowel jig, and it works great, but it is quite time consuming to drill all those dowel holes. This video really compresses things in the editing, so I'm curious just how long it takes to drill/mill those mortises. And then I'd like to see that compared to other methods.
I also wondered about if this was at all a problem for the drill to put a side-load on it like this jig does... or is it all born by that extra long drill bit?
 
I'm still "working" (okay, it's on pause for the past 2 weeks due to other responsibilities) on my Woodgears finger joint jig.

BUT, I've also looked several times at his Mortising Machine. I might like to give that a try.

I did just watch that Jessem Video, and it does look reasonably straightforward. However, as I was watching, I found myself thinking about time. I've got a dowel jig, and it works great, but it is quite time consuming to drill all those dowel holes. This video really compresses things in the editing, so I'm curious just how long it takes to drill/mill those mortises. And then I'd like to see that compared to other methods.
I also wondered about if this was at all a problem for the drill to put a side-load on it like this jig does... or is it all born by that extra long drill bit?

Check out my thread on that jig http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?28290-Shop-built-horizontal-slot-mortiser .

I love this machine along with the panto router of his I built http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?28373-My-Pantorouter-is-complete! .

I've used both on my queen size bed build, phase II night stand build and the storage cabinet for my daughter. You can also do box joints with the slot mortiser.
 
I have a slot mortiser on my combo machine, driven by a 4.8hp motor, so a cordless drill sounds grossly underpowered.

Generally I use a 3/8 inch mortise on 4/4 (3/4") stock, and almost never use my 1/4 inch bit. I have 1/2 inch and larger bits as well.

I make my own tenon stock whenever convenient - for example, if I have some 1 inch or 1 1/2 inch wide scrap I just mill it down to the 3/8 inch or whatever I need in the planer, round it with the shaper (router table) so I don't have to play with the round-end mortises, then I cut the tenon off the longer stick as needed. Some people worry about a 3/8" loose tenon in a 3/4 inch board, but I glue it in, face to face, so I have replaced the strength of the material removed.

The time to cut a mortise is perhaps 15 seconds, so I can do a mortise and floating tenon joint in just a couple minutes, and it is probably tighter than the hand-cut tenons from days past. I am sold on this approach, but would be concerned about the lack of flexibility (only 1/4 inch) and lack of power (battery drill) of this product.
 
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