He could also cut the mortices with a router and a spiral or morticing bit.
Then square the resulting mortice with a chisel and he'd have a flat bottom
square mortice the depth that he wanted.

--
Charley




"John Siegel" wrote in message
...


RicodJour wrote:
On Mar 17, 4:29 pm, "David" cosmosatnointerbaunspamdotcom wrote:

The flat bottom isn't a concern, the mortises are to receive 1/2" square
metal spindles (hollow) and the ring
that is left after
drilling the mortise prevents the spindle from being fully inserted.
(This a stair rail project)

The shoe (bottom rail) thickness is only 5/8" so I don't have a lot of
room to play with.

The ring that is the problem would also prevent the 1/2" slugs from
being pounded to the required depth.

The general consensus here is that the mortises are correct and while
time consuming, chiseling out the
offending ring
seems to be the solution.

Thanks for your response,

David.

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message

groups.com...


One more (maybe crazy) idea.

If you really need a flat bottom, then drill the mortise 3/8" extra
deep. Mill some stock to 1/2" square. Cut 3/8 wafers and pound them
into the mortise with a dao o glue underneath.

On Mar 17, 9:55 am, "David" cosmosatnointerbaunspamdotcom wrote:

Thank you all for your responses.

I have never used a mortise machine before and didn't know what to
exprect.

I'll be using a sharp chisel to clean the ring out of each mortise.


It'd be far faster to cut the spindles. Since they're hollow,
presumably aluminum or thinwall steel, it's no big deal.

R


I f you absolutely must have the flat bottom then use a thinner piece
and cut a through mortise. When that is done, glue a thin piece across
the bottom to close off the square holes.