A stationary power tool used to excavate mortises quickly and uniformly. The most common type is the hollow-chisel mortiser, which plunges a spinning drill bit encased in a square, sharp-edged chisel into the wood. The bit removes the bulk of the waste while the chisel squares up the corners in a single downward stroke.
Heard on the job
Set up the fence on the mortiser so we can punch out all the table legs in one batch.
Insider tip
Always cut the outer ends of the mortise first, then clear the middle waste, to prevent the chisel from deflecting into the empty space.
Also heard as
- hollow chisel mortiser
- mortising machine