DIY BARN BUILD E22: CHAIN MORTISER COMES TO THE RESCUE - CUTTING MORTICES IN OAK IS HARD

The oak frame continues and I work out how to cut mortices - not as easy as I thought, until of course I got hold of the right tool for the job...
FYI: Alex embarks on ambitious building projects. Whereas most builders rely on proven skills and experience, Alex prefers a potentially calamatous combination of optimism and youtube-based research.

[@schusterian0]

Love the series, Alex! Hand wrought stone masonry and timber framing is exactly what I plan to do someday when I get some property upstate in the Hudson Valley (watching in Brooklyn, NYC btw). Totally amateur, like you, learning from these amazing KZbin communities. Don't want the pressure and deadlines of getting paid by a customer haha! Your commitment, patience and persistence is inspiring! One note, which you may know or someone else pointed out: don't put bits that aren't designed for router RPMs in a router. Could be catastrophic such that you end up effectively shot in the gut. Speaking as a cabinet maker. But love your adventure of getting new tools as you discover the need for them tho! That's the way to acquire tools--justifies the expense and motivates the learning.

[@DumDumost]

Might be a little late to the party, but great watch. When you router, especially in hard woods like oak, light passes is best, around 6-10mm at a time You talked about worries going too deep with your mortises, good rule of thumb is going 3/5 of the dimension in depth as a max. Hope it's useful info And greetings from Denmark

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Better late than never! The chain mortiser just cuts through all the router problems! 😊

[@jacob_blue]

Love the project. "Normal guy tries ambitious thing. Learns a lot along the way." Jacob from Los Angeles CA

[@AlexBuildsUK]

The only way Jacob 😀

[@danielfaulkner7714]

Great Job! I built a bunch of retaining walls on my property in New Jersey, US, with no experience. Took three years. I feel your pain and pleasure.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

3yrs would have been great! Think I'm in for 5 here 😀 Thanks for watching

[@mannythepirate]

Binged the whole series about a month ago. Happy to see there's a steady stream of new videos! Cheers from Stockholm, Sweden

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers Manny - trying to get them out as quickly as possible. E23 comign next month 😀

[@TheBigdoggg33]

Seasons greetings my fellow Alex! I will be honest when i first clicked on your vid i saw the colorful watches/shoes and a viser and didnt expect much 😅 however after watching every single one of your videos today lol, i was sensationally incorrect! I worked at a rock quarry, stacked millions of pounds of rocks on pallets then worked for a log home building company, now live on the side of a mountain with multiple excavators, dozers and other equipment. I also have a sawmill and a large supply of logs. So plan on harvesting rock from my own property and doing exactly what your doing but for a home. Timberframe and stone construction is a legacy...Your professionalism and refusing to quit is inspiring!! CHEERS! Alex from Noxon Montana in the ol US of A

[@mattiasfagerlund]

Hiya from Stockholm- Regarding the chipout, you could turn the machine around at the end to always be cutting downwards. Basically, start one step in, work your way through cutting downwards. Go back with the machine facing the other way and cut out the last piece - cutting downwards. But what do I know, I use computers all day...

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Good tip Mattias I'll bear that in mind!

[@johngamble2758]

What is even more impressive than your collection of tools are you're problem solving skills. That job is not for the feint hearted and kuedos to you mate. Seriously impressed.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers JG - if only I could solve that wayward golf swing 🤣🤣🤣

[@Mr17nitram]

Hello from Olomouc, Czech republic. I am relatively new here, but have watched most of the stuff on the channel. PS the build is really nice

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers - appreciated!

[@nylesgregory2120]

Good God Man! Balls of Steele, Damn the Torpedo's and all that, but mostly measure twice and pray you've got your angles and cuts right. Incidentally - This Fan is from Madeira, Portugal to add to your Map of World-wide Fans. All around terrific effort watching this challenge develop and appreciate your "No-Fear," approach to such a daunting build. Riveted on the progress to date and will continue to follow and cheer you on through to the end. Best of luck every step of your journey.👏

[@MinecraftWarrior22]

I am from Burgas Bulgaria, I currently live in Louisville KY USA. Love seeing the masonry and the wood working with timbers.

[@gius1337]

Thanks Alex for all the videos. Even though you have no experience, you manage to get the job done. I love the realism and earnest content and the way you deal with set backs. Very inspiring! Cheers from Eindhoven, the Netherlands

[@mr-x7689]

Blacksmith, Woodworker n Leather craftsman here. About your question of "What the black stuff on the oak" is. Sorry for the werry late awnser, but hopefully you'll see it any ways. And if not it might help some one ellse later down the line. Oak contains somthing called Tannine, it's a natural chemical used when you make vegetable tanned leather. The tannine in oak when mixed with iron oxide (Rust) turns the oak black. it's completely harmless, but can turn nice oak items in to an ugly black/gray colour. An example being if you have a oak cuttingboard, and have left a rusty knife on it or used steel wool to clean the cutting board, you might have noticed that it have recieved black dots every where on it. As i stated earlier, its harmless, but might turn its apperance less nice. And it dosen't matter if the wood is dry or whet. the tannine is still in it. And if the rust/iron particles is still in the wood, then the dark spots will return at the slightest increase of air humidity. I've had it happened to several knife handles i've made in oak. But it's the price of working in natural materials. It forses it's own will on to you, just as mutch as you forse yours on to it. By the by, about what you say at 16:55. Oak is one of the densest and strongest woods you can use for any construction. And honestly the thickness you use for this build is probably waaaaaay over exaggerated. You most likely could go with atleast half the materials thickness and be more than fine. A 1cm thick wooden oak board, can easly hold several houndreds of kg of weight and not break. if I where you, i would rather ask my selfe if the buildings walls will be strong enough to support the weight of the wooden support beams for the roof, rather than if the oak is thick enough at this point. You are essentially using a 18-wheeler truck, for a job where a bicycle would had been enough. ( Hello there, down the line! :) )

[@bryantull7596]

Love your videos of a common guy making beautiful designs. Shout out from Jacksonville NC, USA. Helpful tip, make the Mortise for the king and strut beam one hole on the tie beam. Then they can all brace from each other and you won’t have that thin bit that broke.

[@dianahenderson]

Nicely done!...and to think, not so long ago, our ancestors did that with hand tools. Warren, Rhode Island, USA.

[@lantapaukku7629]

Optimism and youtube research is a good start.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Good enough for me! Thanks for watching

[@DiHandley]

For someone who’s never done this sort of work before, you’re a fast learner! Cheers. Melbourne, Australia.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers mate - a load more to learn before it's finished!

[@mikenapoli5789]

For the project you’re doing,and completely along with out experience I wouldn’t be to concerned about the length of time it’s taking great job.Mike Winder Georgia USA

[@bigredc222]

I've seen a lot of roman numerals punched into post and beam joints to keep track of which tenon goes in which mortise. That would be a neat touch even if you don't need them. Those beams are so massive, any little cracks or mistakes won't hurt anything. Good luck from Downingtown Pennsylvania, USA. I'm about 35 miles west of Philadelphia.

[@HenrikTorget]

You could do 5-10 mill passes with the router. Asking 70mill is quite a lot.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Routers are out of their depth - of that I am sure 😀

[@fredhogg4361]

Greetings from Thailand .... enjoying your journey towards competency. Remember - measure twice cut once ;-)

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Needs to be more like 5 times with my skills! 😀

[@davidepperson2376]

Outstanding woodworking skills, not to mention being able to grasp spatially how the timbers combine with each other. Bravo from Southern California!

[@Capitaine.Albator]

Nice work! And I like that you showed the process even the mistake… Hi from St-Denis-Sur-Richelieu on the south shore of Montreal in Canada 👍🏻✌🏻🇨🇦

[@AlexBuildsUK]

And there's been a lot to choose from 😀 Thanks for watching

[@brainvomit8541]

Fascinating project. Ill likely use this as inspiration in future projects. Well done. Sierra vista Arizona USA

[@astrowhale]

I love that you are putting this up for all to see. I reckon you’ll be an expert by the time you finish.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

"Enthusiastic amateur!" 🤣

[@Mike-Diamond]

I learnt from my dad, he never read manuals either. This is why we spend hours and hours trying to do a job that could have taken minutes if we had. 😂 I seriously considered cutting the mortice and tenon myself, all for about 20 minutes. However, considering the immense struggle I had cutting the angles on the end of the oak posts I decided to rope a friend in to help. He’s a joiner by trade so will do a good job. You remind me very much of myself, do loads of research, buy some tools and think it should be relatively easy. Only to find, it isn’t. Loving the content. Mike, Huddersfield.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Thanks Mike, appreciate the comment. No time to read manuals!!!

[@rayloobzer298]

Thanks for the new episode. Making good progress, at least from my point of view here in my chair. Looking forward to seeing the oak mounted soon.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

I'm dreading it!! Thanks for watching!

[@MrMadmark9]

love the cockups, nice entertainment, keep going - mark from Munich, Germany

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Many more of those to come! 😀

[@MrMadmark9]

@@AlexBuildsUK 😀

[@danielcolby7293]

good morning alex from Reno, Nevada the chain mortiser thingy makes a lovely hole…practice shall make perfect!!✌️-Dan

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers Dan - it's a serious bit of kit. I end up buying one in E23 (next month) 😀

[@greenmountainsuriving]

Hello Again, Sean here from Athens Vermont USA I am so hooked on this series thanks again.

[@sonorablue3291]

Very enjoyable watching you figure out the “old trades” of stonework and timber framing. Watch from NW Georgia USA.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers - enjoyable doing them too (most of the time!)

[@GrandpaAlex406]

Great work. Keep it up. From Billings, Montana, USA

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Thank you! Will do!

[@patricksilveri7688]

I’ll admit I’m very impressed with your wood and stonework. It looks storybook. I’ll definitely send my brother your channel. The black residue on the beams may be surface mold. White vinegar should do the trick. Savor the challenge my friend. -Patrick, Apollo Beach, Florida.

[@betsywhitaker1805]

Interesting channel, greetings from Arlington Virginia USA

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers Betsy appreciated 😀

[@EdwardSargeant]

Great to see another episode; you're really making great strides here. I have so much respect for you taking this project on and love seeing how it's all coming together. Excited for more joinery! Ed from Bismarck, North Dakota, USA.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Cheers Ed - glad you're enjoying them 😀

[@liamrogerson5971]

Bloody great work mate. Love the motivation and can do attitude. From Newcastle, AUS

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Thanks Liam👍

[@TG-zd9de]

Glad you got the tenons done. To speed it up maybe try and do it as a production line. Great work, really proud of you

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Well later on I'll have to do that, as a lot of repetitive cuts to be made. At this stage I'm still learning, but like the trench blocks or the stonework should speed up a bit soon!

[@steveschriefer2733]

Greetings from Yorktown, VA, USA! Glad to hear you have it almost done at this point. Only advice I could give you is to chamfer the edges of the tenon to make it easier to get into place. Keep up the good work!

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Yes good point Steve - I do do that and might be shown in the next episode

[@MrWaldorfian]

Working with large beams is never easy. Fantastic job so far. Writing from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada!

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Sure are! Thanks for watching 😀

[@mikestarkey7989]

I think that the router you started with is good for the smaller DIY jobs, I think you need something more industrial sized for those peelings and beams.

[@mph8759]

Been a long time since your last episode! I stumbled across your channel not too long ago, so was lucky to be able to binge watch the progress. I hope you can start posting regularly again as it’s a joy to watch

[@chrisfairbrother9197]

Alex, your router is too small. The one you were looking at was a 1/2”. Yours is a 1/4”. The demonstration showed using a template with many mortise positions. This would enable you to take small cuts by lowering the depth of the tool in each pocket. Even so, I don’t think you would be able to cut mortises as deep as you need with a router. Oak is very hard. When you tried drilling, your drill speed was too fast, that’s why the drill bits were hot. The black stuff is tannin from the oak. It will stain all your tools if you don’t clean them. But you got there in the end. Impressive work as usual. Keep up the good work 😊

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Yes you're right - but I cannot stress how tough this green oak is. The other guys online seem to be cutting into something far drier and softer. As you say - got there in the end!

[@chrisfairbrother9197]

@@AlexBuildsUK yes, your oak does look hard when you are cutting it. Look at Kris Harbour natural building. He is building a large timber framed barn in Wales. He did employ professionals to help. See how they cut the beams part 8 onwards. You may want to use draw pegging to hold your beams together.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Will do - yes hoping to do the pegging with dowels in the next week or two (nearly finished.) Might take slightly different approach, but will be covered in E23. Cheers!

[@chuckpechan]

Really enjoying the build Alex, you're an inspiration to all of us DIY'ers! Cheers from Little Falls, Minnesota, USA

[@lawrenceberlinski7643]

I'm not sure yet that I'm ready for such a massive undertaking, but you've inspired me to do little bits around the house that I might not have tried other wise. Thanks for the videos from Berkeley Township, New Jersey, US.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Start small and work your way up! I had a few unfilmed projects before this...

[@wv838]

Another enjoyable update, Alex. Great to see more progress and I love that you rise to each challenge with such a good attitude. Not ashamed to show the cock-ups either. Should have the whole thing finished by August. ;) All the very best, Roy.

[@AlexBuildsUK]

You're quite right Roy - August 2027 😜😜😜 Cheers for watching 😀

[@gartherickson2780]

Manuals are for Sissies. Keep up the Good Work. Garth from Cochrane, Alberta, Canada.

[@georgerobartes2008]

Ive noticed you left out the snecks in the walling , never mind, you dont have many principal rafters to supporr the thrust of the roof mass , but add snecks to remainder of work at random every 2 or 3 courses .Make sure you cap the walls and gable with slate after ridge tree and purlin install , this is also typical of " good work ". This will stop moisture entering the walls . Chain morticer and 2" chisel essential for jointing . Saw the tenons and fit using chisel .

[@peterwalton1502]

Alex, You give anything a go so well done. I am doing similar jobs to you soon so great to understand the ‘challenges’ 👏👏

[@AlexBuildsUK]

We'll get ther Peter - many more of those to come!

[@ryansmith9122]

Excellent series!! I watched every single episode back to back and found myself wanting more. Great stuff. I love your narrating and the fact you leave all of the mess-ups included; it makes for a truly authentic and realistic journey. I did have a question - what computer program do you use that prints out the measurements and drawings for each timber? And also, what computer program do you use to edit your videos to create your youtube channel? Love your work, please keep them going. Shout out from Springfield, Missouri, USA, if you can add it to your map!

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Hey Ryan - sure... The CAD package is called sketchup, and it's free to use. I taughtmyself how to use it within 1 hour using one of the many short youtube tutorials. The video editing is Adobe Premiere Pro - that's not free and is around $500 per year as part of Adobe Creative Suite, however I am sure there are loads of free alternatives. again, taught myself the basics of editing, timelapse, text overlays, voiceovers from youtube... Hope that helps & thanks for watching

[@chriscardwell3495]

Thanks for the video

[@AlexBuildsUK]

No problem! Thanks for watching 😀

[@dogf4ther]

Rtfm read the frigging manual. Swing the blade to make bottom flat.

[@simonvanellis2945]

I may be well behind the curve as I’m catching up on your videos but a 1/2 inch router is much better for heavy duty stuff like that. I’m doing an oak truss in my extension in the coming months and know that a chain morticer is the tool of choice. Let me know if you want to sell yours after?

[@simonvanellis2945]

Aha! Having watched further I now realise you managed to hire one, brilliant stuff.

[@rallymax2]

Are you going to wood peg them once up? Got to watch the end of the ashes in England with family a few weeks ago, not that rugby stuff. Edward, ex-Aus in San Jose, California USA.

[@DamianPenney]

Two months since the last update - now I'm worried there's been a terrible chain mortising accident :(

[@hamptonwick4962]

Chainsaw!!

[@JJawsyW]

A small chainsaw would work perfect and than clean the edges with a chisel. That's what I used on my large frame barn.

[@SlaveViktorijoski]

The main problem is you want it out and finished in one pass, that's not gonna happen. You'll need more patience, especially with the tools you have. Shallow passes with the drill bits and then cleaning with the router.

[@mattc1uk]

Or alternatively, a hammer and chisel. Long but would work

[@torwel24]

28:00 it's not stupid if it works! :)

[@fishbiscuit2000]

Oh dear Alex - you are making things hard for yourself. I'm loving watching the series but I do cringe a little when I see some of the problems you make for yourself.... Buy some decent tools. You need a good half inch router, a quarter inch Bosch green just isn't good enough for working with oak like this. Cheap router and drill bits won't do the job either. Personally I like Titman bits - not cheap but will deal with this stuff easily. Wood Owl drill bits are great and get a decent carpenters slick for cleaning up the tenon cheeks etc. Plane your timber square first before you cut the joints and you won't end up with twists. It also means that when you mark out your joints on either side of the timber the cuts will line up. You don't need to buy a £1500 makita beam planer to do it - Triton do one that does the job for a quarter of that price. You're doing a great job - but please please buy some quality tools!

[@DamianPenney]

I was thinking the same thing, definitely need squared lumber for accurate joinery and that bent bit looks terrifying 😮 The chain mortiser looks super fun though :)

[@AlexBuildsUK]

Don't bloody encourage him Damien 🤣🤣🤣 (just kidding fishbiscuit 😜) Yep the mortiser is fantastic and I end up buying one in E23 next month 👍

[@WesFanMan]

If you think the chain mortiser is a great tool, get a Japanese tenon saw. Now that's a power tool!

[@mikestarkey7989]

Here's a novel idea; try reading the instructions before you use the item?😁😁😁

[@DamianPenney]

Less building more episodes!