Hollow chisel mortiser experiments

http://woodgears.ca/mortise/hollow_chisel.html
Experimeting with building a hollow chisel mortiser out of wood.
In the end, I realized that building it right would cost about as much as buying a cheap one, so it doens't really make sense to build one.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• hollow
• chisel
• mortiser
• build
• wood

[ThePaulCDickie]

For better (and inexpensive) speed control, just use a plug-in dimmer.

You may have to limit its use, though, to short bursts of activity to prevent the motor getting too hot, as the cooling fan will also be slowed down and it might not push enough air past the motor armature.

[Matthiaswandel]

A plug in dimmer would not provide regulated speed, just like the drill doesn't either. So the plug in dimmer wouldn't help at all.

[row907]

how much does making your own tools compare to buying them?

[Matthiaswandel]

for this one, it doesn't make sense. More info at the URL at the end of the video.

[specialks1953]

@doghouse144 - The drill bit removes the bulk of the wood while the square chisel shaves the hole square forcing the shavings into the bit for removal. Hope that helps. The required strong plunge force is because of the resistance that the 4 sided chisel, not because of the drill bit.

[BernhardHofmann]

DeWalt ought to give you a drill - the advertising alone should be worthwhile for them.

[avlockin]

Thanks for your work. It's great info and learning.

[ThePaulCDickie]

@Matthiaswandel I agree - it would not be regulated, nor would it have any sort of speed sensor; it would just slow down the motor in much the same way that a Variac auto-transformer would.

At one time - probably some 40-50 years ago - one could buy an epicyclic gearbox for electric hand drills to slow down the speed for (rotary only) drilling into masonry. I have not seen such devices for years, though.

[cl1azn]

can you build a drill press with a similar assembly?

[hydeph]

that would make a nice overhead/plunge router if you used a palm router, like the bosch colt.

[Patriot1776]

@earlye The main reason why he decided to experiment with hollow-chisel mortising was just to try it for himself and see if his own biases against it were well-founded or not, and also I'm guessing discover why his dad never used a hollow chisel mortising kit after first trying it when he bought it years ago. Matt says on his website the brackets and hollow chisels for this came from that kit, his dad letting him have it just to get rid of it I'm sure.

[willrod1025]

 Good video.

[Patriot1776]

About the only good thing Matt says on his website about inexpensive hollow chisel mortisers is that if you're a beginning woodworker and still learning the craft, hollow chisel mortising is the fast track to cutting mortises until you either have the skill to build a better mortising machine yourself, or have the money to buy one.