I see a lot of discussion about cutting mortises and it makes me wonder how many people out there have and use the old treadle mortising machines. I picked one up at an auction a few years age and with very little tinkering, have it working. It was made by “Gould – Newark, N. J.” probably in the mid to late 1800’s. Of the three ways I’ve cut mortises (Mortising Chisels, Router, This Machine), I like this the best. Are there other machines and users out there?
The guy with the most tools wins and I’m in first place.
Edited 11/27/2005 7:07 am ET by shopteacher
Replies
I've seen pictures of treadle powered lathes, scroll, and table saws, but never a mortising machine. Would you be able to post some pictures of yours? Thanks.
I'll borrow a digital camera and post a couple pictures. Its quite a tool and is a joy to use. It uses a chisel like a hand mortising chisel and with each stroke of your foot you take a bite similar to the action of hand chopping. If you aren't careful, the legs that you are cutting end up red because the chisel is very sharp.
Here is some pictures. I'm guessing that there are not a lot of these out there. This one came from a sash shop.
Okay, now it makes sense. I would not call it "treadle" but rather foot operated. A treadle rocks back and forth like a treadle sewing machine. That I could not imagine how that would work on a mortise bit.
Foot operated is consistent with some of the even much older Shaker mortise machines.
Alan - planesaw
Thank you for the look. It's in principle, a little like a miter guillotine for picture frames that a buddy rescued from a scrap dealer. It sits in the corner of his shop unused.
I know I've seen an article on making a wall mounted, hand operated one years ago that worked on the same principle, and I can't remember if it was in a book or a magazine. If I look for it I won't be able to find it. If I don't, it will jump out at me when it's the furthest thing from my mind. It wasn't very complicated to build and would probably cut a good mortise, just slower. Does yours come with chisels for different sized mortises? Or do you shift it to the side and take another pass to widen the mortise?
Would this be considered a "machine" or a "dark sider" tool? ;-)
I've seen it suggested that an arm operated version of this could be built from a drill press, possibly without changing the machine so much that it couldnt still be used for drilling.
You would just need some way of locking the arbor so it wouldn't rotate and a a set of chisels that would fit in the chuck or the taper at the end of the arbor. This would probably put a fair amount of strain on the quill feed gears but a sturdy older press could probably handle the load.
John W.
These should have a set of chisel sizes, unfortunately this one had just the 3/8" left. They are a tapered fit, much like lathe tail stocks. It has a "swivel" mechanism to let you turn 180 degrees to reach both ends of the mortise. I've made my own depth stop to do blind mortises. I think a machine shop could make chisels.
I'll second the Inspector's request for posting a photo of your machine. I have a number of photos of Shaker mortising machines, but I don't think they were treadle.
Alan - planesaw
Teach, I would like to see a picture of this machine too.
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