Look before leaping
Back a few years ago, I wanted to make a bunch of new desks in a craftsman style that required many mortise/tenons to be cut. Wanting to expedite this process, I began researching slot mortiser machines and came across Matthias Wandel's videos on youtube, which directed me to his website.
Matthias is an exceptionally adept woodworker, as well as engineer, designer, craftsman, programmer, etc... He seems to be a man of many talents. The plans he produces are the most thorough you will find, they include volumes of text, pictures, videos, and sketchup drawings. For example, it's not unusual for a set of his plans to contain 200+ photos with related construction and demo videos . The machine builds do demand a fairly high level of accuracy and if built to spec, will perform well and not cost much. Considering all that he puts into his plans, he sells some of his better ones for a token amount, while providing many for free.
A nice thing about building your own machines from plans is you can make changes as you see fit. It might be that you have some roller chain, sprockets, and threaded rod in your current inventory that would work fine for a part, but requires a tweak of the plan. You might decide to totally re-design an aspect of a machine for whatever reason - maybe to serve a specific purpose or just to make it your own. I rarely build anything exactly to anyone's plan. Usually during a build, I'll come up with changes based on function, aesthetics, or parts I have on hand. For more detailed changes, it's best for me to draw them out on a piece of paper while in the shop. I always figure that if I can draw it, I can build it and doing it this way allows me to continue my work flow without to much of an interruption.
I bought Matthias' slot mortiser plans and set about building that machine.
Woodgears .ca is Matthias' woodworking website and gets his constant attention. He updates his site at least weekly and many times more than that with all kinds of articles from machines built by customers, building a shed, or even how to catch wasps - most of it very entertaining stuff.
In 2012, I decided to build his pantorouter machine thinking it would complement the slot mortiser - thereby giving me a nice little mortise/tenon station...
All details of Matthias' plans are available on www.woodgears.ca.
Matthias is an exceptionally adept woodworker, as well as engineer, designer, craftsman, programmer, etc... He seems to be a man of many talents. The plans he produces are the most thorough you will find, they include volumes of text, pictures, videos, and sketchup drawings. For example, it's not unusual for a set of his plans to contain 200+ photos with related construction and demo videos . The machine builds do demand a fairly high level of accuracy and if built to spec, will perform well and not cost much. Considering all that he puts into his plans, he sells some of his better ones for a token amount, while providing many for free.
A nice thing about building your own machines from plans is you can make changes as you see fit. It might be that you have some roller chain, sprockets, and threaded rod in your current inventory that would work fine for a part, but requires a tweak of the plan. You might decide to totally re-design an aspect of a machine for whatever reason - maybe to serve a specific purpose or just to make it your own. I rarely build anything exactly to anyone's plan. Usually during a build, I'll come up with changes based on function, aesthetics, or parts I have on hand. For more detailed changes, it's best for me to draw them out on a piece of paper while in the shop. I always figure that if I can draw it, I can build it and doing it this way allows me to continue my work flow without to much of an interruption.
I bought Matthias' slot mortiser plans and set about building that machine.
Woodgears .ca is Matthias' woodworking website and gets his constant attention. He updates his site at least weekly and many times more than that with all kinds of articles from machines built by customers, building a shed, or even how to catch wasps - most of it very entertaining stuff.
In 2012, I decided to build his pantorouter machine thinking it would complement the slot mortiser - thereby giving me a nice little mortise/tenon station...
All details of Matthias' plans are available on www.woodgears.ca.
In this photo, the pantorouter is in the foreground with the slot mortiser next to it.
Click on the photo for more detail.
Click on the photo for more detail.
note: a router isn't mounted in the slot mortiser
Box joint jig, finger joint jig, screw advance box joint jig
Why stop at only 2?
I've done many drawers and boxes with finger joints and dove tails. I've always done finger joints using a simple table saw jig that required a dado blade and dove tails on the router table using a dove tail jig. Various methods can produce accurate joints.
The screw advance finger joint jig (I have a hard time with a consistent name for this one - maybe an acronym - SABJJ - ha, even that's a mouthful...), is the best so far. This machine allows you to accurately cut finger joints on the table saw, doing many pieces at once. I have done the eight pieces required for 2 drawers in maybe 10 minutes - plus it's fun to use!
I've done many drawers and boxes with finger joints and dove tails. I've always done finger joints using a simple table saw jig that required a dado blade and dove tails on the router table using a dove tail jig. Various methods can produce accurate joints.
The screw advance finger joint jig (I have a hard time with a consistent name for this one - maybe an acronym - SABJJ - ha, even that's a mouthful...), is the best so far. This machine allows you to accurately cut finger joints on the table saw, doing many pieces at once. I have done the eight pieces required for 2 drawers in maybe 10 minutes - plus it's fun to use!
This is a picture of the top with the machine sitting on my bench.
It does make nice wall art when not in use!
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A couple finger jointed drawers.
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Ok, why stop at 3?
After the slot mortiser, pantorouter, and the box joint jig thing (BJJT?), I had a few days between other projects. We all need a router lift for the router table, so why not build Matthias' tilting router lift?
Click on the photo for more detail.
Click on the photo for more detail.
A router mounts in the hose clamps.
