Thread: Mortiser utility table

Nothing annoys me more than when I use my mortiser and the project lifts up with the chisel. The clamp that comes with my (very expensive) mortiser is junk - you need to crank it REALLY hard to hold the project, often leaving a mark on the timber. Even then, the project sometimes lifts up.

So I built the table you can see below, using the new kreg Automaxx clamps. These clamps serve double duty, also in use on my drill press table. They run in a special kreg track that you need to bolt to the table to prevent the track lifting up when you apply pressure with the clamp.

The special thing about these clamps is that they can clamp materials of different thicknesses without any kind of adjustment. Just crank down on the handle and it's locked in place. Fantastic. As you can see in the pics, it can hold timber of at least 90mm, but not much more. I made the table over-long so that I can apply some normal clamps if I ever need to mortise something bigger than that.

I also added in a bit of t-track with a little block so that I can use that as a reference when mortising multiples of the same item.

Before you think I'm in the employ of Kreg (I should be so lucky), there is one big downside. The cost. These clamps aren't cheap, and the track is outrageous. The 6" clamps are US$42, plus shipping from Amazon. The track is $40.

The table itself is made from 12mm MDF and 19mm birch ply.

Trav