Photo Index - Fred W. Wappat - Alta Door Mortiser

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
Fred W. Wappat
Pittsburgh, PA; Mayville, NY

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Mortising Machine
Machine Size:
Submitted By:	Jeff Joslin

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Alta Door Mortiser
Date of Manufacturer:	Ca. 1925
Serial Number:
Last Updated	5/11/2014 10:50:20 AM

Comments:

These photos are courtesy of Jon Kinne. The mortiser belongs to Don Biays.

This mortiser is not labeled with the 21 June 1927 patent, and so it probably predates the issuing of the patent. If this hypothesis is correct, it would also have to postdate the patent application, which was submitted 5 July 1923.
Here is the patent:
http://www.datamp.org/displayPatent.php?number=1633370
That patent is assigned to Wappat Gear Works. Fred Wappat received a 1929 patent for a substantially different mortiser design; we have not seen that design in the wild, although we have a "Fred W. Wappat" price list that includes mortiser cutters "for Wappat and Alta door lock mortisers".

According to the patent specification, this device is clamped to the edge of a door. The operator rotates the handles, which makes the router cutter rotate and oscillate back and forth. The cutter is advanced into the wood by the operator's chest pushing on the round knob that is similar in appearance and function to the knob on a breast drill.

The brass plaque reads, "ALTA LOCK MORTISER / WAPPAT GEAR WORKS / PITTSBURGH, PA. / [s/n] 1338". The gearbox is stamped, "WAPPAT GEAR WORKS / PGH.PA". The entire mortiser, not just the gearbox, was made by Wappat Gear Works.

Photo 1:

Comments:
Source: Jon Kinne

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Photo 2:

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Source: Jon Kinne

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Photo 3:

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Source: Jon Kinne

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