Hand mortising reel seat

[LeeO]

So I was asked for a visual tutorial on how I cut a reel seat mortise by hand

First I mark the spacer with guides for my chisel cuts using a reel foot. The width of the mortise will grow as the mortise depth increases. Starting with the same width as the foot allows corrections for tear outs and slips.



Next I rough cut the mortise




Once I have hogged out the rough mortise I begin filing the depth. I check with dial calipers to make sure I am maintaining a uniform depth. I also periodically check the level of the mortise with the reel seat to make sure there isn’t a taper and the width is uniform.

I missed a photo in my primal post


I true up the mortise edges periodically with a file


When the mortise is getting close I check the profile compared with a couple of reel foots - CFO and a Ross




At this point I switch to sandpaper for final fitting. I make sure that the sliding band slides a reasonable distance on reel foot but not so far that it bottoms out. I also pay particular attention that the sliding band does not tilt.




At this point the fit is close but will still need a bit of work. It is also longer than needed but I remove the excess once it is mounted on the blank by grinding it down to level with butt end of blank using a Dremel




I’ll post more pics as I finish up on this seat. It is a lot more work than a router and fingernail bit, but I really like the quality of fit I get doing it by hand and it only adds a bit of time, mostly while I am finishing wraps

[flyman219]

Thanks Lee!

Mike

[WIHEXROD]

You can also use some 220 grit PSA sandpaper and attach to the reelfoot bottom.
Use the reel to sand the mortise area. This will give you a great fit.
Scott

[LeeO]

I missed a photo in my original post
Here is filing the mortise to depth

[LeeO]

You can also use some 220 grit PSA sandpaper and attach to the reelfoot bottom.
Use the reel to sand the mortise area. This will give you a great fit.
Scott

That is a great idea

[PlaneOldMike]

Lee... thank you.

This is very helpful to me, and I’m sure many others to whom making a mortised reel seat spacer is a bit of a mystery. I will be attempting this starting today.

I have been researching the router and bullnose method, and I’ve been having difficulty finding the instructions for the holding jig construction. Your tutorial has pushed that to the back burner. If I can hand make it, then that saves me funds for other projects!



If I could possibly ask... could you picture your weapons of choice (the chisels you choose to use)?

So glad you did this. Thank you so very much Lee.


Mike.

[LeeO]

Just a plane old 1/4” wood chisel

[LeeO]

One coat of CA glue, sanded, then 2 coats of GG

[6tUc05]

Mike...

The jig is made of scrap wood. I will post photos tomorrow. A brief description of mine is it consists of a block of full 1" hard maple 2 1/2" x 4". Back 3/8" from one edge I drilled a 3/8" hole from one end to the other. These holes established the "ends" of the jig, and the edge which the hole is nearest to establishes the "front" of the jig. One (1) inch in from the back edge and 7/8" in from each end I centered a 1" hole through the block to receive a 4" long 1" dia. peg for handles. After all holes were drilled, I cut the block into two pieces measuring 2 1/2" X 2", put a dowel in each piece and placed a 9" piece of all-thread through the 3/8" hole for my "alignment mandrel". I have a star lock washer between two nuts on one end of the rod with a standard washer between the outermost nut and against the wood end of the block on that end. The nuts and lock washer are permanent on one end of the rod. I use a similar washer, lock hut, washer arrangement on the other end, and again with a standard washer between the outermost nut and the other wood end. It is the nuts and washers on this end that I remove to place an insert in between the two halves of the jig. One originally "shapes" the face of the jig by putting an insert in and "cutting" both the face and the mortise at the same time with the first insert mortising. I had to grind one side of my two standard washers back to keep my router bit from hitting them. No big deal! (These washers may be unnecessary!)

[SpringCreek]

Nice walkthrough of the process. Thanks for sharing.

Jim

[6tUc05]

As promised last evening, here are three photos of my jig for mortising reel seat inserts with a router. I must give credit where credit is due. This jig "system" was developed by the late Tony Spezio. Tony emphasized that there is a specific "aggravation" with it's use; which is, getting the centerline of the mortise on the centerline of the insert. He noted the amount of time oft required in setting the height of the fingernail bit to "get it right" to be an aggravation. Towards this end, he highly recommended "dedicating" a router and table "exclusively" to cutting mortises. The idea being that once you get things properly set, you never need to make any changes. The depth of the mortise cut is determined the setting of the router table fence. To keep capital outlay to a minimum he recommended the inexpensive "edge routers" as the "dedicated" router, as they "could often be found on sale".

Use of the jig should be straight forward; but, to be sure: The insert is tightly secured on the all-thread between the two jig pieces, the left hand end is brought up to the spinning router bit at about the mid point on the jig (photos 2 & 3) while slightly advancing the jig to your left and pushed against it until the jig block is against the router fence, at which time the jig is moved across the bit until the bit is cutting into the opposite jig block. Voila'! You have just cut a mortise. I use a half-radius Fingernail Bit (Grizzly # C1214) for this purpose. The Venieri "cut" put on these bits by the late Bob Venieri was nothing more than a grinding back of the edge, top and bottom, of the cutters at a 45° angle, which is easily enough done.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Frank

[LeeO]

[PlaneOldMike]

Just gorgeous Lee. I love the cap and ring too.

[corlay]

If I were making commercially, I probably would resort to power tools and jigs - if anything for the consistiency, if not the speed.

But making for myself, I also make “by hand” mortises, but prefer the “Leonard style” of simply making the side of the spacer where the reel mounts more “oblong”. Your spacers, with their fine edges, are even more impressive. Ive done a few out of cork this way before, but never hardwood...

Theres something about a non-perfect, hand-tooled rod and components, with all of their bumps and warts, that just have more interest and “soul” for me...

[6tUc05]

Corlay...

I think what you are referring to as the "Leonard style" is known to a woodturner as an off-center, or elliptical, turning. It is accomplished by first turning round, removing from the lathe and re-establishing new centers a minute distance from the originals and re-turning. If you do this a second time, and create new centers equidistant from the original, and on the same center-line, you can turn nice oval hammer and axe handles.

[PlaneOldMike]

Well Lee...

My first attempt didn’t go so well. Trying to hog to much material led to massive tear out & complete failure. But I learned A LOT.



Second attempt had much better results. It ended up too flat. But it still holds a reel



Now I want to have some more fun. So I turned some maple down to as close to .690 as I could, and I now have 3 more tries at this :Rollin. One’s in the vise right now.



Thanks Lee. It’s all your fault!

[LeeO]

Good deal. I check fit constantly to prevent taking too much off or getting the radius wrong. Harry Boyd uses a file for his reel seats and has a much faster process

[sanderson]

Good info, thanks for sharing the process.

[eapling]

Thanks Lee. Nice job with description and pics. Very helpful. I'm going to try it.

E

[oldschoolcane]

Very good work!