Mortice Pal. Any good?

**spokeshave** · 18th August 2012, 06:43 PM

Hi all.

Been browsing for an easy to use and affordable morticing jig that is acurate aswell.

In the past i have made my tenons on the router table and drilled and chiseled out the mortices. But i seem to be getting less and less time in the shed so was looking for a quicker way using loose tenons instead.

I know a Domino is super easy and dead accurate as well but for the amount of time i will use it, it's just not cost effective. But still on the wish list.

A Liegh Super FMT looks good but is still a little to on the exy side at the moment.

So i saw the Mortice-Pal on the Proffessional Woodworkers site and thought it may fit the bill. But information on this tool seems very limited, a quick search on this forum found very little. It looks simple to use and well made (from pics atleast) and may be able to suit the use of domino's too. And at $283 incl postage is well priced.

If anybody out there has one of these, an unbiased opinion on it's merits (or lack there-of) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Steven.

**Bodgia** · 18th August 2012, 07:41 PM

Hi Steven,

I've had one for about two years. I don't use it too often but it is very well made and easy to use. I was in the same boat with the Domino and the FMT, but I only do M&T joinery now and again so I didn't think those options were cost effective for me.

The Mortice Pal is suitable for use with shop bought dominoes, which makes things very simple, but there are a few different templates that come with it for different sized floating tenons, or even dowels if you're that way inclined. Personally, I just bought a bag of dominoes when I bought the Mortice Pal and I use them.

As far as accuracy is concerned, I personally couldn't ask for more and I always get nice tight, flush joins. The one drawback, compared to the Domino, is that the Domino is very quick compared to the Mortice Pal, but it's all relative - the Mortice Pal is infinitely faster than cutting M&Ts by hand. I couldn't tell you exactly how long it takes to cut each mortice (haven't used it for a while), but essentially, once you've taken a couple of simple measurements and set them on the jig, each mortice is as simple as clamping the workpiece in the jig, turning on the router and plunging. Probably one minute per mortice. Edit: of course you also need to set up your router with the appropriately sized upcut spiral bit and template guide, but once it's set up everything is very quick.

Put it this way, I'm very happy with my purchase and see no need to upgrade to a Domino or an FMT. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Steve

**damian** · 20th August 2012, 09:18 AM

What about beadlock ?

Rockler Beadlock 3/8" Pro Joinery Kit : CARBA-TEC

Never used it but it's fairly cheap and would get the job done. If you happened to do a through mortice with a contracting wood it'd be pretty too

One thing with the mortice pal is you can make your own loose tennons. Just run the dressed stock over a roundover bit on a router table or even handheld.

**spokeshave** · 25th August 2012, 10:27 AM

Thanks guy's for the replies.

Unfortunately i'm now looking for a new dusty so the mortise-pal may have to wait for a while.
Back to the old way of making my M&T joins.

Steven.

Thread: Mortice Pal. Any good?

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Mortice Pal. Any good?

Similar Threads

Smallest mortice

Leigh FMT Mortice Jig

Mortice ends

Mortice and Tenons.

Mortice Misery

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions