Ken Fitzgerald
Member
- Messages
- 2,322
Well.....yesterday I got the upper and lower back rails and the front seat rail for the porch swing cut to length, ripped, jointed and planed to thickness. Then I cut the tenons on each end. Then I drew out on those 3 rails the 34 mortises that need to be cut........30 - 1/4" mrotises and 4 - 1/2" mortises.
I used a reamer to sharpen my 1/4" moritser chisel followed by a coarse and fine diamond cone hones. Then using a jeweler file, I sharpened that convoluted mortiser bit. It was 8:45 p.m. and my favorite show on television comes on at 9:00 p.m. but..... in 15 minutes I got the mortiser set up for position and depth and cut 4 of those mortises.
This morning with my first cup of coffee, I went to the shop and finished those mortises on the lower back rail.
After mowing the yard, I finished all 34 mortises.
What I learned:
1. I really like my General International mortiser! It made the job a lot easier and more fun.
2. Sharp tools whether a standard bench chisel, a hollow mortiser chisel, a bit or a plane blade is a must. Abraham Lincoln was right. The time spent sharpening is more valuable than the time spent cutting.
I used a reamer to sharpen my 1/4" moritser chisel followed by a coarse and fine diamond cone hones. Then using a jeweler file, I sharpened that convoluted mortiser bit. It was 8:45 p.m. and my favorite show on television comes on at 9:00 p.m. but..... in 15 minutes I got the mortiser set up for position and depth and cut 4 of those mortises.
This morning with my first cup of coffee, I went to the shop and finished those mortises on the lower back rail.
After mowing the yard, I finished all 34 mortises.
What I learned:
1. I really like my General International mortiser! It made the job a lot easier and more fun.
2. Sharp tools whether a standard bench chisel, a hollow mortiser chisel, a bit or a plane blade is a must. Abraham Lincoln was right. The time spent sharpening is more valuable than the time spent cutting.