help! - want to hire a chain mortiser

[martynt]

I'm struggling to find anywhere that i can hire a chin mortiser to cut some clean deep holes in oak beams. I've tried all the local hire shops in my area - Gloucester to no avail. Non of them have an ordinary desk top mortiser either - which may just do.

Has anyone got access to a chain mortiser in the Glos area? I'm prepared to pay appropriate hire fee or take the beam along to a workshop.

These need to be very accurate so i.m reluctant to resort to drilling and hand finishing.

 

[gregers]

you can buy attactments that go on to a standard pillar drill to turn that into a chiesel morticer,i used to use a chain morticer many moons ago for doing upteem ammounts of locks in doors,never really liked the way it chipped out imo it wasnt neat,
how many holes/mortices have you got to do?
perhaps at a push you could use a drill with auger bit?

 

[merlin50]

do it by hand like in the good old days. I had a attachment that went on to a standard pillar drill it ended up on ebay

 

[gregers]

do it by hand like in the good old days. I had a attachment that went on to a standard pillar drill it ended up on ebay

wonder if i was the person who bought it?

 

[ladylola]

Agreed with gregers they aren't the neatest of tools to use. If it's neatness you're after I'd go for a drill and finishing by hand.The mortisers we have have a limited capacity on their clamps too something like 6" so we often have to rig something else up to use them. Mainly they seem to get used to cut continous "slots" in old timbers to take a strenghting steel.
Oddily enough when our yard was burgled last year most of the power tools went but the tea leaves left our two chain mortisers