Can anyone tell me if they have purchased one of the used models from Japan and if they had any issues with voltage (Japan is 100v while USA is 110-120v)? The sunken mortise surrounds are easily enough dealt with by router, so its only the slots I am bothered about. The chain is rotated from a sprocket wheel at its upper end, as shown in the cut, while it is brought to a proper state of tension by the feeder bar which is seen at its lower portion. The biggest downside is that you are limited by the depth of the mortises, they are not UL listed (the last time I checked) and the upfront cost. This is a pretty ingenious build that only cost a little effort and will end up saving a bunch of time mortising countless fence posts.

majority of our projects now are CNC machined, but I still use the old mortiser when on site for modifications.It is obvious that, if the chain is rotated in the proper direction, the edges of the teeth will cut their way through a piece of wood. Can’t help but think that if they take that path we will miss the opportunity to learn something interesting, just saying that doing things in the “correct way” not always gives the community the best results, experimentation is the key to learning. They seem to have disappeared from most of the usual outlets, does anyone know of someone still supplying them or have one that is surplus to requirements? Works fine and is easy on oak (easier than douglas) once you get the method it's fairly quick to do.

As Henry says the size of mortice required on most oak framing is too much for a pillar drill morticing attachment. I am making a couple of timber frames shortly, and have about 120 mortises to cut in green oak beams of either 175 x 175 or 150 x 150 cross section.

Able to cut mortises both quickly and accurately, the durable Makita 7104L chain mortiser makes fast work of mortising with a head that pivots to three plunge positions. If you've done it, made it, got a van load of oily t-shirts and have decided to give something back by sharing your knowledge or wisdom, then you're welcome too. However, an innovative tool like the Makita Chain Mortiser is a great time saver that provides professional results for both timber framing and log home construction. One can make through mortises on large timbers by laying out and cutting from both sides of the timber. I have now finished the rebuild of a very run down Haffner SL100 hinge and lock motiser which I got for free.