OMG I’m in love. AGIAN.....

[Jeff Duncan]

I've been using an old Bini slot mortiser for making doors etc for years. Great little machine does just what I need it to. Not sure why yours is difficult.... maybe wrong/dull bits? Anyway I added a Powermatic 400 last year as I had to do some historical work which required traditional m&t, and its a great little machine! Neither of these are particular fancy or stunning to look at, but they both get work out the door which is my main concern. Then again if I did more of that type of work on elf the Maka's might make a lot of sense!

JeffD

[Patrick Walsh]

I’ve seen the BI is in use. I agree nice machines. My carpal tunnel hates the back and forth action of a slot mortiser. Anytime I have to grip anything the same exact way for long periods I’m in hell.

Plus bit whip, I hate bit whip. I’m picky I want perfect mortis like a Maka will cut for furniture. Then a chisel or chain I guess although I know nothing about them for large mortis for doors and large work. What can I say I a pampered picky bitch.

I've been using an old Bini slot mortiser for making doors etc for years. Great little machine does just what I need it to. Not sure why yours is I’ve seen difficult.... maybe wrong/dull bits? Anyway I added a Powermatic 400 last year as I had to do some historical work which required traditional m&t, and its a great little machine! Neither of these are particular fancy or stunning to look at, but they both get work out the door which is my main concern. Then again if I did more of that type of work on elf the Maka's might make a lot of sense!

JeffD

[Mark Hennebury]

Patrick,

The automatic slot mortisers, like the Bacci, Balestrini, Rye, Pade etc are all powered cross travel and variable feed speed. There is also no bit whip with these machines.
Bit whip occurs with the hand machines due to the table banging into a stop at each end of the cross stroke; these machines use a system like a piston and crank, where a rotary shaft drives a linear table, this gives a perfect ramp-down / ramp-up at the ends of each stroke, the change in direction of each stroke is incredible smooth and the stop is unperceivable.



Of course out of the factory they are designed for high production, speed over quality, but when properly tweaked for quality over speed

they simple cant be beat.
Matched with their counterpart tenoners are the dream team for chair making.

These are brilliant machines.

5-SAM_1349.jpg

Buckle up buttercup.....

[Patrick Walsh]

Will you call me buttercup all the time

Man you know so freaking much. I guess now that you tell me I should had figured out the whip was the result of banging a stop didn’t cross my mind. I figured it was just the result of coming to the shoulders of the mortise.

Yeah I’m screwed. I’ll look into them but I only have so much room. I got myself sold on a Robinson Chain Chisel and Maka. I know I dream big but I’ll run out of machines to buy soon enough. I dragged my Martin t54 around Friday as my long fork pallet jack was stuck under it. The thing is huge, like huge and heavy as whiffle balls. Having not seen it in a couple months I couldn’t help but think “I ain’t dragging that into my basement” .

I’ll move but not for a while. The unicorn t23 tenon table and the Robinson will give me something to dream about.

Patrick,

The automatic slot mortisers, like the Bacci, Balestrini, Rye, Pade etc are all powered cross travel and variable feed speed. There is also no bit whip with these machines.
Bit whip occurs with the hand machines due to the table banging into a stop at each end of the cross stroke; these machines use a system like a piston and crank, where a rotary shaft drives a linear table, this gives a perfect ramp-down / ramp-up at the ends of each stroke, the change in direction of each stroke is incredible smooth and the stop is unperceivable.



Of course out of the factory they are designed for high production, speed over quality, but when properly tweaked for quality over speed

they simple cant be beat.
Matched with their counterpart tenoners are the dream team for chair making.

These are brilliant machines.

5-SAM_1349.jpg

Buckle up buttercup.....

[Patrick Walsh]

For crap sake Mark!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ2sVuDZHg8

My first impression just seeing the cuts before I watched the video is that looks like the crap teak outdoor furniture I paid way to much for.

But when he showed how perfect the alignment was I changed my mind.

I can’t help but think well then where is the Woodworking. Kinda how I feel about cnc but you know I can’t argue with the perfect result.

How deep of a tenon can one of those things cut.

[Mark Hennebury]

Patrick,

The machine in the video is a newer Balestrini mortiser
Mine is an older one, you see in the video that the cross-travel is fast; this is meant for good mortise and high production output.
For a small shop you don't need that high output. And although the cross-stroke of the spindle head is variable it is way too fast. I put in a gearbox to slow the cross stroke of the spindle down a lot. The spindle is belt driven and slow rpm, so I re-machined the spindle to increase the spindle rpm. Now you are cooking. Slow Smooth cross slide of the spindle table, higher rpm of the spindle, and proper cutting tools, and you have a sweet machine. You also have infinitely variable infeed speed, and stroke length ( within the range of the machine) They provide a smooth gentle clean precise cut.
When you couple that with the incredible tenon machines, that have infinitely variable length, thickness and radius of the tenon, plus compound angle cuts, with automatic chamfered tenon ends, you have a pretty unbeatable setup. You can dial in to a few thou how you want the fit, slip fit on the width, tight fit on the length.
Pretty sweet setup.
I am going to do a rebuild on the mortise that I have someday soon, I will post it and show you just how good they are.
Depth if I recall is about 4" max

Before all. you have to decide what you are all about.


Do you want your furniture to stand on its own, good or bad, no explanations necessary.


To me it was simple;
I wanted to make furniture the best that it could be made, in the most efficient way that I could make it.

To me a mortise is either good or its not.
Whatever way that I can make the best mortise is the way that I will do it.
Anything else is about the maker not the work.

I make furniture not excuses.

Don't for one second think that doing the best is easy.


Woodworking for me is about doing the best work, not about bragging about how I do it.
So find me someone, somewhere that can handcut a better mortise, faster and more consistent.
I see no value in chopping sloppy joints by hand and taking tens times longer to do it, any more than handplaning all of my rough lumber.
Their is no mystical value added to furniture in doing it by hand.
Either the work is as good as it can be or its not.

I do both machine and hand work. I like handplaned joints for table tops, because I can get a better fit and finish.

I learnt with hand tool, I enjoy doing hand work once in a while, because its fun.

Understanding wood, tools, joinery, referencing, tuning machinery, cutting tool geometry, modifying machinery and doing complex projects without error, to the highest level of quality is plenty enough woodworking for me.

Like most things in life; in woodworking there two ways to do things; the best or the rest. Make your choice.

[Patrick Walsh]

Well Mark I can agree that “the best” is the best.

In all honesty I’m building my shop based largely around hobby Woodworking or a old retired guy trying to make a few extra bucks here and then doing something they don’t mind doing.

Part of my motivation is the experience of working for employers that do not share our ethic or moral regarding “best and most efficient”. It’s annoying, real annoying and someday and at least weekends I plan to not argue with my dam machines. Or walk both ways uphill in a snow storm just to complete a simple task.

If I do find myself self employed at some point like you I will surely just open the dam checkbook and buy the dam machine thats gonna get the job done to highest standard and ina time sensitive manner.

Not many take this approach is what I’m finding. Sounds like you found the same working for others.

[Darcy Warner]

I prefer the production side. Nothing like the sound of a few moulders running and all the equipment that supports them at the same time. Furniture is of no interest to me.

[Patrick Walsh]

No interest in production anything. Different strokes different folks. Each to his own though..

I prefer the production side. Nothing like the sound of a few moulders running and all the equipment that supports them at the same time. Furniture is of no interest to me.

[Darcy Warner]

Well tuned and well running production is a beautiful thing.

[Patrick Walsh]

I suppose it must have its appeal. Honestly any task under the helm of Woodworking I find great joy in. Well I don’t want to cut down the dam trees and I don’t ever want to touch a piece of construction lumber ever again but..

I know I can mill stock all day and it’s maybe one of my favorite Woodworking tasks. But I have always assumed that is largely as it mindless and a nice break from the previous days or weeks of thinking and head down focus that usual came prior.

I coils never run a moulding machine all day. No way no hell.

Well tuned and well running production is a beautiful thing.

[Mark Hennebury]

I will have to agree with Darcy, Much as I love one of a kind stuff, I do love to do production runs, the whole setting up and running, and the beautiful sound of machinery doing its stuff. And piles of work getting done, everything being done right.... it is very satisfying.

[peter gagliardi]

Production also equates to easily calculable time, money, and most importantly if you are in business, PROFIT.
Profit in and of itself is an important thing, but it also balances out those times that a job goes over budget or over time when you cannot let something out the door because it is substandard, and you invest from yourself to get it right and keep your pride and reputation intact.
I love challenging projects like what I am currently working on, but welcome the chances to fire the molder for a few hours of mind numbing hum. Knowing it is predictable income.
Balance

[Patrick Walsh]

Yes if I was self employed I’d be happy to take on the above mentioned type work to fill in with $$ in mind.

But all day everyday just for $$ no thanks. I refuse to work just for $$ tyoud find me strung up in my basement in a matter of months.

This is why I work for somebody. Find someone whom has a need for the work I like to do and I’m better off, then I don’t have to worry about money. I do however then have budget based on my earnings pretty much being fixed vrs the sky is the limit. Or in many cases of self employment I don’t have to worry about hard times until the economy goes way south then we all do really.

But I guess is still need to worry about longevity to my position. But I’d have to do the same if I was self employed as I’d have to be out hustling always worried about the next job. Sometimes I think that would be better but I know what works best for me a as I have tried both. I’d do the self employment thing again out of necessity but probably only necessity.

I agree balance is best.

Production also equates to easily calculable time, money, and most importantly if you are in business, PROFIT.
Profit in and of itself is an important thing, but it also balances out those times that a job goes over budget or over time when you cannot let something out the door because it is substandard, and you invest from yourself to get it right and keep your pride and reputation intact.
I love challenging projects like what I am currently working on, but welcome the chances to fire the molder for a few hours of mind numbing hum. Knowing it is predictable income.
Balance