Photo Index - John Clark - Solid-chisel door-rail mortiser with X-Y table

Machinery Photo Index

Manufactured/Badged by:
John Clark
Leeds, York, England

True Manufacturer:
John Clark, Leeds, York, England

Machine Specifications
Machine Class:	Wood Working Machinery
Machine Type:	Mortising Machine
Machine Size:	Big enough to mortise a door rail
Submitted By:	Jeff Joslin

Machine Specifications
Description/Model:	Solid-chisel door-rail mortiser with X-Y table
Date of Manufacturer:	1860s
Serial Number:
Last Updated	10/30/2024 3:38:17 PM

Comments:

I no longer own this lovely mortiser as I have downsized and no longer have a shop. I never did take proper photos but I did take these to illustrate a forum post I did on getting it home and reassembling it:
https://owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=176700

As described in that post, this substantial machine was transported in the back of my wife's mid-size SUV. It was picked up in Cookshire-Eaton, Quebec. We disassembled it into a handful of pieces (mortiser, support strut, handle, and base with table). When we got it to my house we had to disassemble the base and table because it was too heavy and awkward to get it down the stairs in one piece. Everything came apart easily as the machine was rust-free and a few years before had been disassembled for a cleaning and paint job.

I found this mortiser entire satisfying to use. The muscle power required is astonishingly low, and carefully setup, especially in inserting the chisel square to the fence, is rewarded with a nicely cut mortise. Once the machine is set up, any number of similar mortises can be cut in rapid succession, just a few seconds for each assuming that one or two holes were drilled in each mortise (either one at either end or one right in the middle).

The mortiser may appear somewhat spindly but the main castings average about 0.75 inches thick.

Photo 1:

Comments: The assembled mortiser in my basement
Source: Blame me for this terrible photo

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Photo 2:

Comments: Badge
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Photo 3:

Comments: Disassembling the top of the mortiser
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Photo 4:

Comments: Base which went into the SUV as a unit
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Photo 5:

Comments: Base was reassembled for the trip into the basement and then reassembled. It's sitting on the wheeled base for a 21" telecom equipment rack.
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Photo 6:

Comments: The chisels that came with it. The middle chisel on the left does not fit this mortiser.
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