If you are not into woodworking, chances are that you don’t know what a mortiser is. Far from everyone has heard about the mortiser. Some people call it a mortise machine. While most people know what a drill press is and a lot people know that a router is a woodworking tool, few know what a mortiser is. Here is a short mortiser introduction.

A mortiser is used to cut rectangular or square holes in wood. You can use a drill press or a router instead of a mortiser but it will take much longer time and the result will not be as good. In order words, it is a useful tool for woodworking.

The mortiser is fairly old. It was invented in 1874 by Robert and Ralph Greenlee. Their Greenlee company, the company is called Greenlee Textron after it was bought by Textron in 1986, is still producing mortisers.

The first mortiser was a square chisel mortise which works almost in the same way as a traditional drill press. It combines the action of a drill bit with a hollow four-sided chisel. The drill bit makes the hole while the chisel ensures that the edges are straight. This type of mortiser is nowadays called a square chisel mortiser.

The mortiser quickly became popular amongst woodworkers. It provided a quick and easy way of making accurate mortise and tenon joints. Mortise and tenon joints have been used for ages, despite being simple they are very strong. But cutting out the mortise manually with a chisel and a mallet is a time-consuming task. Thanks to the mortiser accurate mortises can be created quickly.

The square chisel mortiser, sometimes also called hollow chisel mortiser, is the most common type of mortiser nowadays. The horizontal mortiser is a relatively recent invention. It is really a router mounted on its side. So strictly speaking, it is not a real mortiser but it is very good for floating tenons. The chain mortiser is very good for cutting large mortises. They are meant for timber framing and log home industries, not for home use.

Instead of a mortiser, you can use a drill press with a mortising attachment. Unfortunately, virtually all mortising attachments are cumbersome to set up and produce poor results. It looks like most people who has bought a mortising attachment for their drill press, buy a real mortiser soon afterwards. You can, although a lot of patience will be required, use a router instead of a mortiser. Unfortunately, you still need to use a chisel afterwards to make the corners square. If you are regularly cutting mortises, buying a real mortiser is the best solution.