Faced with a mountain of home-improvement projects, John F. Matousek devised a technique for producing a large number of loose mortise-and-tenon joints. He designed a machine to make accurate cuts that is also easily adjustable. Detailed project plans will help you reproduce this shopmade tool with off-the-shelf parts. The horizontal mortiser is designed for joining 3/4-in-thick workpieces; it can be modified for other uses. It uses a solid-carbide, 1/4-in spiral upcut bit, and is powered by a standard 1-1/2-hp router. The machine has two movable tables and can be used it also as a conventional router table. A detailed exploded drawing shows how it was built and how it works.

From Fine Woodworking #141

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Marking knife: Hock Double-Bevel Violin Knife, 3/4 in.

This heavy, double-beveled knife stays on track in all directions, and works just fine without adding a handle.

Buy at Lee Valley

Hedgehog featherboards

The Hedgehog's unique spiral shape and single knob make it easy to set up and fast to adjust.

Buy at Amazon

Double Sided Tape

A thin woven core makes XFasten tape strong yet not too thick (0.008 in.), and helps it hold powerfully without being difficult to peel off.

Buy at Amazon

View PDF