A hollow-chisel mortiser is by far the most-often used tool for cutting mortises, according to the results of the latest poll on Knots, the user forum on FineWoodworking.Com. More than 4 in 10 of the 1,039 people who voted chose it. A router, either with an edge guide or a template, is the favorite mortise-making method for 1 in 5 respondents. Drilling and chopping mortises was equally popular. The graph below gives the results.

At one extreme, cutting mortises completely by hand was favored by about 1 person in 10. At the other extreme, about 1 in 10 most often uses a dedicated machine, a horizontal mortiser. The other mortise-making method most often mentioned was the Festool Domino, a biscuit joiner-like tool that cuts a slot for a loose tenon.

The poll is a completely unscientific (but, we hope, thoroughly entertaining) feature of Knots. A new poll will soon be posted on the home page.

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