# Mortise Pal



## bigjoedo (Nov 21, 2007)

Hello,

Has anyone used one of these mortise jigs? Looks like a neat idea just looking for opinions. Thanks

Joe


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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

Here is a link for the mortise pal.

Mortise Pal

That is over priced. I know there is development time and they use high cost parts, but something like that would be better at half the cost and maybe they would sell more of them.

I do not see many people spending that much on that particular jig.


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## AxlMyk (Jun 13, 2006)

$190??? Holy cow.
You can make one for free out of scrap.


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## Mike (Nov 22, 2004)

Joe, Rockler sells a centering sub base plate for $21 that will do the same job. I would give the Mortise Pal a big thumbs down.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI guys

Trap a member of the forum made one for peanuts and it works 

http://www.routerforums.com/tools-woodworking/8240-home-brew-mortise-pal.html


copy cat of the rockler jig below,shop made 
it works great, and it's very easy one to make ,and puts the slot in dead center every time.
total cost about 4.oo dollars
just a note if you don't want it on dead center just use some 1/4" thick MDF and stick it the side of the board,that will move the bit over to one side or the other...easy trick.
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## dovetail_65 (Jan 22, 2008)

Mike said:


> Joe, Rockler sells a centering sub base plate for $21 that will do the same job. I would give the Mortise Pal a big thumbs down.


Well I have the Rockler and it is not the same

With the Rockler you have to mess around with shims etc to get an offset from the center. If you are referring the the same Rockler one I have it is only for dead center cutting of mortises and would be really tricky to use on narrow boards especially at a angle. The mortise pal is MUCH more precise too. The Rockler base is a little cheesy in its construction, it does work though.

I agree the mortise pal is over priced and I would not buy it, but it is a differnt animal than the 21.00 Rockler base.

Mortise pal

Roclkler Centering Mortise jig


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## Fourleftpaws (Feb 12, 2007)

Not to high jack this post but I was thinking of building a mortising jig and found this one in an old Woodsmith magazine. But then I thought why is a jig really needed if you have a router table ? - unless you have to do the mortising away from your shop.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

HI Larry

It comes down to how many times you use this type of joint 

If you use it all the time then it's worth it to make a jig...or buy one 
It's true you can do it on the router table but it's a bit hairy to do 
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18053
The hard part is putting the slot in the end of the stock or putting the Tetons on the end of the stock, it's not to bad if you use the floating type but you still need to drop the stock on the bit... 

The plunge router is the easy way to get this job done  without taking out a 2nd loan on your house.. 
Like many jigs you want it to be dead on every time, anyone can put in a slot but to do it over and over in the same way that's the hard part..many jigs just can't do it..


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Fourleftpaws said:


> Not to high jack this post but I was thinking of building a mortising jig and found this one in an old Woodsmith magazine. But then I thought why is a jig really needed if you have a router table ? - unless you have to do the mortising away from your shop.


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## rwyoung (Aug 3, 2008)

I made this for a quick and simple mortising jig. Won't auto center but infinitely adjustable.

Router attached to 1/4" hardboard. On the bottom side are two runners that I clamp against the workpiece to position the bit side to side. I made this to mortis the legs for my new router table. For start and stop blocks, I did some creative clamping on my workbench so that the leg is held in place and some extra blocks of wood act as the stops when the 1/4" hardboard hits them.

Set the plunge depth and fire away. I did'nt have an upcut spiral bit when I did this so I used a 2 flute straight cutter. Works but you have to stop and clean out the chips otherwise it does seem to bind up a bit. Next batch of these I'll be getting spiral bits.

Third picture is a corner of the table after assembly. Jig worked very well. Tennons on the table saw though.  Maybe next time another jig will be made.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Larry

Here's two you may want to check out , the gray one it neat as heck  and you can find one on eBay at the right price.. 

http://www.routerforums.com/show-n-tell/10133-birch-m-t-jig.html

http://www.routerforums.com/jigs-fixtures/2641-mortise-tenon-jig-plunge-router.html

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## Aparelo (Mar 1, 2009)

*Best jig I ever had...*

I have not one but 2 of them…I started with the 2 inches width model and as soon as the 3 inches model came out, I got one, simply, because is the best jig I ever had. Simple, extremely accurate, strong and help me to do my joinery really fast, just mark your layout lines, put the jig in place and route…simple as that, no need to do adjustments, special clamping, etc., it is an excellent tool…I think and got more bang for the buck…I have also rockler’s beadlock, but what a waste of money, it is extremely hard to get a correct alignment, most of the times it is 1/16 misaligned. If you don’t want to spend almost a grand on festool, mortise pal is your choice for $190.00 only.


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## Aparelo (Mar 1, 2009)

*Best jig I ever had...*

For me, it is the best jig I have ever bought…I do have also Rockler’s beadlock, but that is a waste of money, joints are usually misaligned by 1/16 and that jig is almost $100.00…then I found mortise pal, I first bought the 2” max stock width and love it, you avoid clamps, easy to use, fast to work with and dead on accuracy…I was so please with the jig that I no had doubt to buy the 3” max stock when it came out, specially because of the great discount I got for being a recent owner of the previous model (it cost me half!!!). I have seen a lot of home made jigs and everyone claims that it is cheaper and everything, but let me tell you, the precision, durability and easy to use features of mortise pal, will give you more bang for the buck, I think is even better than festool domino...what I can tell you is that you will not known how good is this jig until you got one…


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## Aparelo (Mar 1, 2009)

*Sorry...*

Sorry, I did not notice that I have posted my opinion twice, but both are kind of different…sorry again, new to the forums…


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## thistlefly (Dec 2, 2008)

*Mortise Pal purchase... another perspective*

Well now... I was going back and forth between making a "home brew Mortise Pal" or buying one, then came across this video: The Mortise Pal Tool Review (full length version) - by Gord Graff | LumberJocks.com :: woodworking community

Here's my takeaway: The cost of this unit should be weighed against the payback in terms of time and materials which are not wasted. The quality of the materials _and_ of manufacture are right up there with Incra.

Repeatable to a thousandth of an inch? Wow! If you are considering this jig, you should watch the above video (which is 27 minutes long overall) at least up to the point where the reviewer executes a double-tenon joint "live" and it just _works_, first time.

Also, note that the price I found on the Mortise Pal site is now $174, and they still offer the discount for using the "woodnet" code (without quotes), another $30 off. Getting down to $144 is still pricey, but I'm thinking that I will use loose-tenon mortises as my standard joint, so it will pay me back many times over.

Hope this proves useful to others-

Bob


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Bob

Great tool but most of the videos are like TV info commercial . you must hide the CC card and think about it for a day or two then get the stock and make one..  it's one of the items you will not use all the time..

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thistlefly said:


> Well now... I was going back and forth between making a "home brew Mortise Pal" or buying one, then came across this video: The Mortise Pal Tool Review (full length version) - by Gord Graff | LumberJocks.com :: woodworking community
> 
> Here's my takeaway: The cost of this unit should be weighed against the payback in terms of time and materials which are not wasted. The quality of the materials _and_ of manufacture are right up there with Incra.
> 
> ...


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## thistlefly (Dec 2, 2008)

Thanks, Bob. I really have been thinking about this for a while... the thing is, for those of us that don't have the experience you do, it takes a lot of time and practice to get even passable results, which for me means that I don't meet my own standards. 

The thing that keeps coming back is tolerances: I simply cannot reproduce the kind of precise repeatability that high-end machining and materials can offer. What you could do "by eye" reminds me of what my son can do with a firearm... which also is something I can't replicate.

You're one of the revered pros around here, what do you have to say about "home-built" versus manufactured when it comes to repeatability? I'm all ears (eyes)... 

Bob


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Bob

Well I have pickup my share of manufactured ones and have made my share of shop made ones, sometimes it's hard to copy the manufactured ones but the Pal is one you can copy easy,many members have 

After all is just a way to put in a slot or two in some wood..

here's a link to show how easy it can be..
http://www.routerforums.com/tools-woodworking/8240-home-brew-mortise-pal.html
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thistlefly said:


> Thanks, Bob. I really have been thinking about this for a while... the thing is, for those of us that don't have the experience you do, it takes a lot of time and practice to get even passable results, which for me means that I don't meet my own standards.
> 
> The thing that keeps coming back is tolerances: I simply cannot reproduce the kind of precise repeatability that high-end machining and materials can offer. What you could do "by eye" reminds me of what my son can do with a firearm... which also is something I can't replicate.
> 
> ...


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## Santé (Jan 14, 2010)

What y reproach to many mortising jig is that they limit the diving of the bit because it is a sole between the router and the stock.
It is many and many mortising jig shop made that are working very well .
My jig has a very high accuracy and speed, I clocked 10 mortises in 7 minutes and, with the sole of the router directly on the stock. You can than making mortises very deep whith short bit.
http://www.lescopeaux.asso.fr/Techniques/clic.php3?url=Docs/Sante_Mortaise_a_la_defonceuse.pdf
and this
http://www.lescopeaux.asso.fr/Techniques/clic.php3?url=Docs/Sante_Assemblages.pdf
They are in french 

Santé


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

New kit is often great, but making your own jigs may take time but it is very satisfying to solve a problem. I like the look of the Mortise Pal, and could make a good copy. But I use a mortising machine and cut the tenons on either the bandsaw, RAS or the router table. I don't use the table saw as I don't remove the splitter and guard (H&S regs at school)


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Santé

Take a look at the jig Bob R. and Rick R. (of the RWS) came up with,it's a real KISS jig... ( Keep It Simple S**** )

http://www.routerforums.com/jigs-fixtures/2641-mortise-tenon-jig-plunge-router.html

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Santé said:


> What y reproach to many mortising jig is that they limit the diving of the bit because it is a sole between the router and the stock.
> It is many and many mortising jig shop made that are working very well .
> My jig has a very high accuracy and speed, I clocked 10 mortises in 7 minutes and, with the sole of the router directly on the stock. You can than making mortises very deep whith short bit.
> http://www.lescopeaux.asso.fr/Techniques/clic.php3?url=Docs/Sante_Mortaise_a_la_defonceuse.pdf
> ...


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## Santé (Jan 14, 2010)

Yes they are very interestings things specialy for centering mortises

Thanks for this link
Santé


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## Edward J Keefer (Jan 28, 2005)

I am the guy that built a home made copy of Mortiseaaapal. I used it 1 time to see if it worked. It did and it hangs on the wall. I looked at a horizontal router table and built one. This makes tendons and mortises. No lossey tendons. Use it a lot. Except for a router and router bits, I make every thing in my shop. From drum sander to the horizontal roter table. The only thing that I could not build is a planner. but I am looking at it.
Ed Keefer aka trap


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## Santé (Jan 14, 2010)

trap said:


> I am the guy that built a home made copy of Mortiseaaapal. I used it 1 time to see if it worked. It did and it hangs on the wall. I looked at a horizontal router table and built one. This makes tendons and mortises. No lossey tendons. Use it a lot. Except for a router and router bits, I make every thing in my shop. From drum sander to the horizontal roter table. The only thing that I could not build is a planner. but I am looking at it.
> Ed Keefer aka trap


That is fine !
Imaked a special router (not the motor) all in wood and the same in aluminium.
You can see it at this adress : http://www.lescopeaux.asso.fr/Techniques/clic.php3?url=Docs/Sante_Defonceuse_Inclinable.pdf
This 2 routers can make mortises not vertical, from -45° to +45°, bu vertical too!
Santé


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## Mike Wingate (Apr 26, 2009)

Well done with your jigs and machines. you have made some fine equipment. Do you have the time to make things other than machines? I find I make more jigs than objects. I spent minutes making CAD designs and CAM templates on the Laser, only to cut the heart shape box on the scroll saw.


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## Santé (Jan 14, 2010)

Mike Wingate said:


> Well done with your jigs and machines. you have made some fine equipment. Do you have the time to make things other than machines? I find I make more jigs than objects. I spent minutes making CAD designs and CAM templates on the Laser, only to cut the heart shape box on the scroll saw.


I have more fun doing a jig to use it!:sarcastic::sarcastic:
Santé


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