Unlocking the Power of a Makita Chain Mortiser for Timber Framing

We're just getting started, actually doing the first joinery on our timber frame barn. And guys, one of the most daunting tasks of doing a timber frame is actually making all the mortise holes that you need for your pegs. I mean, not just your knee braces, your posts, your tie beams, they're everywhere. Today, we're gonna go over the modern way of actually cutting a mortise hole, how we do it, which makes this a lot less painless for you to get there. And is this tool worth it? I'll let you know. Let me show you. It's so sexy to make it. You had the outside here. You can see that this frame, this is two sections of five for each one of our lengths. So we actually need to make 1,000 mortise holes. So realistically, guys, the old-fashioned way, or let's just say the old-timers way or a traditional timber framers way, I don't wanna insult anybody, is to take your Forrester bit and drill, drill, drill, drill, chisel, chisel, chisel. You do that a few times, my friends. I think you're gonna be thinking like maybe I should get a chain mortiser even for the smallest project. And we're cutting oak, so this stuff is hard. Hard, hard, hard. So if you thought that you're gonna watch me drill and chisel out this hole, no, it's about the chain mortiser today. And I'm not doing it either. We're not doing it either. So you're probably never gonna see a video of me actually chiseling out of pocket when I have one of these. So guys, I mean, this is actually a very, very, very simple machine. You guys that don't know, this is actually a specialty chain right here that's on this. So let's say it's not like a chainsaw. It's more like, you can see the hook tooths of it. And these blades actually come in different widths depending on what you're actually cutting. So it's not a regular chainsaw chain. It's a specialty blade. And honestly, I have professional sharpened mine. And this one's been sharpened four times. And I'm plowing through oak. I never, never mess with plowing, always an oak. So we've actually beat up this machine for the last three years, multiple projects. And we're gonna kind of go over, I guess, maybe the differences that we know from the other brands. And what we can actually do with this machine is maybe a little more than you actually expected. That's really it. I mean, as far as anything, guys, the setup on this is pretty simple, okay? If you got your line where exactly you wanna be, I mean, you just clamp it on right there. Before I actually go in to do that, I need to, this is the only quick thing that you should do, and it'll help make you a cleaner, cleaner pocket, is that the end grains, because this is a chainsaw, it's gonna wanna peel up. You just take your chisel, and you only have to do it on the end grains for this. Make your line. That's where you're gonna set up your mortiser. So I should have done that first, but that's really the only, let's say, real manual thing you're gonna have to do. Easy. Line up. There's a gauge right here that's actually adjustable. So when you get your machine, you're able to tune it up right where it needs to be. Really, you're just putting your, on your line, you're zeroing out, clamping your machine. Now, this machine is a little different than the other ones. Some of the Maffel ones actually cut in this direction. And yes, very fast, very big machine, but it actually does, you're actually between two-inch pockets, an inch-and-a-half pockets, or maybe you're doing three, or maybe you actually have to do a custom size, because, I'm sorry, I took an eighth inch off one of my tenons over there. So the thing with that one is you're actually gonna have to change the blades in the whole bar between inch-and-a-half and two. So for something like this, when we're doing so many multiple different pockets, here, it's pretty simple. You can adjust this anywhere across this beam. So even if, so we can do a two-inch pocket, we can do an inch-and-a-half pocket next, we can do a three-inch pocket, it really doesn't matter. If I gotta do an inch-and-seven-eight, I can do an inch-and-seven-eight. So we find this a little bit, let's say, easier for us to work with. So real simple, you're just gonna bring your blade down. You're gonna check your lines right here. Make sure that's where your pocket wants to be. Now, I'm really close, but I actually wanna be out just a hair more, gonna check it. So, it's been working good today. The spring. I mean, honestly, the only, the little thing we broke on this, I don't wanna say broke, but it came off a couple of times this spring, and actually latching this up, little bit of difficulty sometimes, but really, not really. You gotta remember, we've used this hundreds and hundreds of times. We try to oil inside here. We actually try to keep our machines out of the rain, but you see, we work outside, so it's damp here anyway. Our shops are dehumidified, but these things still get rust, and they need to be oiled up. And really, we've been using this all week, and quite frankly, you could use a little cleanup. I know, I oiled it yesterday. I didn't clean it very good. That's okay, Jay, we're working it. So you put it, changing this chain. We're putting this chain on, simple, simple. You're just gonna loosen this nut right here. Loosen this. You can guide the chain, pop it off, put it on, but quite honestly, this chain will last. This is a big project. I'm hoping to get at least halfway through before I'm gonna resharpen. But really, you're gonna get a lot, a lot, a lot of cuts with this before sharpening's even necessary, especially if you're not doing giant projects. It could last forever. Well, especially if you're not doing white oak or red oak, like we did. And hickory. Hickory. I mean, we hit hard wood, so pine, I think it's gonna last a little bit better for you. But real simple. Now we're lined up. We got our line where we want to be. We've checked where we are here. This first hole here is always a little slower because you're cutting the entire amount right there. You click over. You're getting another pass at it. I'm still checking to make sure I'm on my line. Pull up, third click. So realistically, you're taking out a 3 1⁄4-inch chunk every time. Most important, what you do is, what you need, your three passes here. You come down, and you want to sweep everything. That's gonna clean your bottom. It's gonna be slightly, let's say, off, but I'll show you how we take care of that. So you can see how much material gets moved quickly. This machine, you're set up. You just blow the arm over. You're ready to go for your next hole. Guys, this is a piece of red oak. So it's not the hardest of oaks. This is oakwood. You see how quick that went in. So now after that, you've passed your point where you just need to readjust to whatever your outer line is or what you're actually looking to put together. I'm coming down. I'm checking. I probably want to be a little bit in check. Just got to make sure it's locked in. A lot of times, you'll get a lot of this sawdust. It's trapped in here, and actually, the levers are not moving away. So really, I hate to say it. Here's our problem. I should just do it. Try to keep it blown out of there. That's all you really got to do to get that through. So boom, I'm on my side. I'm still on my line because, sir, the machine has not moved yet. That's really it for that little piece right there. You see how quick that works. What we're going to do is actually just keep moving your machine down the line. Now, what we do is because this, let's call when you're swooping this thing here, it's getting smaller. We kind of start a little bit further back here, and that's where we start. I'll take care of that so you don't have to come back out and clean that up. And frankly, see right there? You see how that jumped just that little bit of hair? Got to make sure it's locked in there. Now, I'm testing. I'm still right with my line, and I don't want to say my beam is pretty square. These are off-the-mill beams. These are not plain beams. There's always an opportunity for a little wave, so you should check because if you have just a hair dip, even an eighth of an inch on your beam here, it could kick off exactly where that line is going to be. So be just, you should be always looking. Now, we're going to just work our way backwards. Boom. Keep on taking this pocket out. And this is not a small pocket. This is a 12-inch pocket. I'm going to have to get into something, Jay. So I'm going to have to go into, when I pull over here, actually how to set the depth gauge there. I might've jumped right into it because we know we had it set. I wasn't going to say anything because you're doing... He's doing so good. Everybody's pockets could be different. These, we're trying to make four and three-eighths-inch pockets of kind. Everything's going to be super tight for it. Sometimes they're five inches. Sometimes they're six inches. Sometimes you got to go all the way through. So, easy way, drop your blade down. Sit on top of the wood. This gauge right here. Boom. Definitely. All you got to do is measure. You can see we're at four and a half. That's pockets I want to make. The sweep's going to give me my room for my four and a quarter-inch tabs. So, that's an easy way to do it. If you're punching through, you're punching through, make sure you pull this all the way down because the opportunity, when this chain comes through here, it's going to want to yank you down. And if you're not familiar with it, or you're not ready for it, this is the only time we use the gauge is when we're gauging our pockets. If not, got to keep it down there. I think it's very powerful. It does. I mean, it'll get away from you easy. Even if you're waiting for it, it's strong. It's strong. You see what's going on. I mean, I'm very used to using this machine. So, I make it look comfortable, but realistically, it's easy. It's on here stable. I mean, I'm moving 300, 400 pound beam with it. So, hopefully I didn't get out of order there for you, or just took a break from a little sticky still there, Jay. But it's sticky out today, guys. Here. I need to give it a good cleaning, Dan. Re-oil everything. Re-oil it, Jay. You can never have too much oil on that thing. No. So, here, we're just sizing. Coming back to make our last cut. Boom. I need to come in just a little more. Check that you're sitting where you want to be. Fast. Fast, fast, fast. Is that sticky here, Jay? Yep. Sorry that we didn't time this of how quick it is. And hopefully you're getting the idea by just what I'm doing. The last time I ran that through pine, I didn't even feel the pine. I mean, it was almost too fast. I know. I had to hold it up to support the machine. So, I'm still running down my line, just back and forth, back and forth. Thank you, Jay. Stick coming back. Oh, got a little crinkle right here of our stuff. Make sure you're down. Hold that stuff down. You can see, if I didn't chisel at the end, there's the tear off I'm talking about. Now, we've controlled it because of our chisel mark. Then, we can just clean this pocket up here with a chisel. I don't mean to be a baby, Dan, but I don't ever want to do hand chisel. I'm sorry, guys. Sorry. I have, and honestly, I already had to have operation on one of my wrists. I don't need another one, to be honest with you guys. True story. Clean, clean. Give me a shot, Jay. Okay, now, so depending on your pocket, now we're at our last end. Normally, I would do that. That's going to leave a little bit around where we need to dip. Honestly, this is normally Jason's job. So, I like to be able to, if we can, we go right down the line, cut what we have, come around, flip the machine. Go the other way. Reline us up. I'm going to have to switch places, Jay. Getting to my zero. Don't overdo it. Let me be a little guy. It's always a little touchy on that edge. It is. There we go. We're clamped back in. We're going to double check. That's where I want to be. So, you see how little I can move that. Now, I'm able to sweep it. The reason we turned it is that maybe the pocket's a little big. We can clean it off in this direction. Nice piece, Jay. Nice piece. I know, I like it. It's not bad. That's a big pocket. It is a big pocket. Now, I did it one time. Let's say, shoot back on here. There's a little gauge here that you can actually, if your line extends into this position, you can use this gauge to get where you want to be. Now, I also, at one point, made a little mark. You can see it on the inside. That's where my inside pocket would be. Honestly, I just check my chain each time. Why don't you crank it forward and show them what you mean? They may know it's a little pain, but bring it up to the front. Oh, I gotcha. I'm sorry, Jay. Bring it up to the front. Right here, I had made a mark. It's not going to change. Oh, I gotcha. It's stuck on that part of the machine, Jay. I gotcha, sorry. It'll only be a close-up. So, right there, you have your outside gauge. If it lines up with this, and I made the mark. If you like to do that, if your lines are longer, I actually just gave up. Not because it was harder. I think it was easier, more accurate for me to read the lines that I need to cut that I made. So, that was the reason I did that. I almost forgot about it because we don't use it that much, or I don't use it. I don't use it, really. A little bit. It's good enough for the whole pocket. I'll take that, Jay. Thanks. So, yeah, you see, sawdust heavy. So, you can actually see the pocket, how it is with the chainsaw, well, the chain mortiser here. So, I'm actually just checking that my highest peaks are more than I need, which they are. They're actually perfect. So, I have just a little bit of play. You can see where this pocket is, what it is. Honestly, there's a cut pretty darn good that I just shaved the hair. Get that smooth. That's my kind of chiseling right there, Dan. It is, too. And this little bit's satisfying. Beating it with a hammer, different story. And for a lot of guys, they love it. Me, no. Oh, I appreciate the traditionalists on this. I mean, it's just, you know, when you have 150 or 200. A day. Okay, so, I mean, if you really think about it, this pocket, you'd probably be able to make eight or 10 a day if you're doing this by hand. And then, let me tell you, your arms are going to be hurting. Guys, you could do six to 10 of these an hour going this way. So, it makes assembling a lot faster. You don't have to worry about, I mean, look how clean. I mean, and that's not even one of our perfect ones, but that's what we do. I wasn't going to say anything, but. No, well, you usually use it, Jay. I hook him up. I mark him the holes. He does his thing. So, no, good job, Dan. Good job. Now, the way the chain mortiser works here, we have, it might be hard to see, but if you're looking at the chain, it's going to be round coming up here in this corner. The other brand, in this direction. So, I don't know how they deal with that. I'm assuming that they chisel it out, but I don't have one. Us, which makes it easy, is that we just prep all of our tabs. We put a round to fit in that round. So, we don't chisel that out of there. For us, that pocket is done. I don't want to say that this is where this is going. To be honest with you, we're putting a giant hygiene in this, but. Let's see. So, it's not really meant for this pocket. You see how tight we are on the side. My other one. Oh, dang it. That's not only old, then it was hugging itself. You always find Jay sitting down on the job as he's going along. But here, instead of flipping the beam, we've rigged our gear up. Had to run up a little bit more work, but not as much work as actually flipping this gigantic beam. I'll take this any day. Think outside the box, fellas. It works. And honestly, guys, is a chain mortiser worth it? It is to me. And honestly, you don't even need a giant project to say, hey, I want one of these. I know it's not cheap. Neither is the medical bills. It's definitely worth it to me, especially since I didn't pay for it. Hopefully that helped you out. You can actually not only do pockets, you can do laps, you can do anything that's square. But that's how quick and easy chain mortis will work. I give it a thumbs up, Jay. Yeah, you do. Me too. Thumbs up. And I would buy two of these. I have this broke. Buy the same model again. Can I have one, Dan? That's yours. Awesome.