A couple of Mortiser related questions

[Doug71]

I have a lovely old Robinson mortiser which caused me a couple of problems today.

First problem was while I was using it the big hand wheel suddenly stopped moving the table left and right, this was followed by a thud and a cog rolling out from underneath #-o After struggling dragging the mortiser away from the wall I also found a long tapered pin. I worked out the cog was part of the rack and pinion and it had a hole in the bottom of the teeth which the pin went through but only one way as tapered. After much swearing I managed to get it back together again but just wondered if the tapered pins just rely on the taper to hold them in? I pushed it back in best I could and it seems to be holding.

Got started mortising again and after less then a minute the bit decided to snap :roll: Second question does anyone know if the Harima bits from Axminster are same as the Nakahashi ones, they certainly look to be in the photo?

Actually third question, Mortiser or Morticer or does it not matter?

A photo for no reason except to show what a lovely bit of kit it is 8)

 

[Myfordman]

taper pins hold in by the taper alone and if properly fitted will provide a stong grip due to the large surface area and the self locking angle of the taper.
No idea on Q2

 

[Trevanion]

Yep, I definitely have morticer envy =P~

I'm surprised the taper pin worked loose but I suppose it has been a few years since that rolled off the factory floor, one hard tap with a hammer and drift should set it again for your lifetime. You can heat the gear a bit with a blowlamp and cool the pin in the freezer and then assemble it for a near-permanent fix but it isn't really necessary at all.

I can't say for certain that the Harima and Nakahashi chisels are the same but I remember being told there are only two factories left in the world that make mortice chisels, one in Japan which produces the Harima and Nakahashi chisels and one in China that produces all the cheap tat. Even if they aren't the exact same (Although I would bet money they are) I would say the augers would most probably be interchangable.

I've always called it a morticer, and so does R.H Hordern in "The Woodworking Machinist" and so does F.L. Dunsmore in "The Technique of Woodworking Machinery" although George Ellis calls it a mortiser in his book "Modern Pracical Joinery", and so does Arthur Haycock in "Tenoning, Mortising, and Boring", and Leonard Lowsley in "Joinery and Carpentry Volume 1", and T.Hesp in "Principles of Woocutting Machinists Work", and Herman Hjorth in "Machine Woodworking", and Stafford Ransome in "Modern Woodworking Machinery" , and H.J. Fulker in "Foundations of Machine Woodworking", and H.R. Hudson in "Woodworking Machinery", and M.Powis Bale in "Woodworking Machinery"and so do Wadkin and Robinson catalogues...

So it's essentially take your pick of the two

 

[Steve Maskery]

As a fully paid-up member of the National Pedant Society...
As a general rule, Verbs have the S and Nouns have the C.
So it's a Mortice made by Mortising. Now where does that put the machine itself? Is it a Morticer because it is a noun, or is it a Mortiser because it is Mortising? Hmm. I might have to think about that. My first leaning are towards Mortiser.
It's easier with words like Practice (medical, dental, veterinary) and Practise (medicine, dentistry, the piano etc.)
The only one I can think of that doesn't follow this rule is Notice and Noticing.
English, eh?
Answers on a postcard...

 

[guineafowl21]

As a fully paid-up member of the National Pedant Society...
As a general rule, Verbs have the S and Nouns have the C.
So it's a Mortice made by Mortising. Now where does that put the machine itself? Is it a Morticer because it is a noun, or is it a Mortiser because it is Mortising? Hmm. I might have to think about that. My first leaning are towards Mortiser.
It's easier with words like Practice (medical, dental, veterinary) and Practise (medicine, dentistry, the piano etc.)
The only one I can think of that doesn't follow this rule is Notice and Noticing.
English, eh?
Answers on a postcard...

Advice, advising, adviser
Mortice, mortising, mortiser

Don’t you dare check my previous posts to see if I’ve stuck to that!

 

[Steve Maskery]

Yes, I'd go along with that, GF.