Sherwood TBM-160 Chisel Mortiser — and the Amazon Alternative
Sherwood is Timbecon's machinery brand, sold direct. A benchtop hollow chisel mortiser is the machine class, and the WEN is the Amazon one.
Disclosure:As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. This costs you nothing and never changes which tools we recommend. Read more.
Sherwood is the machinery brand of Timbecon, an Australian supplier, and its machines are sold direct rather than through Amazon. The machine class is what matters here.
How a hollow chisel mortiser works
A square hollow chisel surrounds a rotating auger bit. The auger drills and clears the waste; the chisel, driven down by the lever, pares the round hole square at the corners. Move along, repeat, and you have a mortise with square ends and parallel sides.
The alternative methods all have a catch. A router leaves round corners you must square by hand or match with a rounded tenon. A drill press and chisel works and is slow. A Domino makes a different joint entirely.
The two settings that decide everything
Chisel-to-auger gap. The auger tip should sit slightly proud of the chisel — typically around 1 mm, set with a coin or a piece of card. Too little clearance and the auger rubs the chisel, overheating both. Too much and chips pack between them.
Chisel square to the fence. If the chisel is rotated even slightly, every cut is out of square and the mortise walls step. Set it with a square against the fence, not by eye.
Buy better chisels
The chisels supplied with budget mortisers are frequently soft, poorly ground and out of square. Good chisels from a specialist maker transform any machine in this class — they cut cleaner, need less force and stay sharp far longer.
If you buy a cheap machine, plan to spend a meaningful fraction of its price again on chisels. That is the correct allocation, not a disappointment.
Support long work
Benchtop machines have short tables. A door rail hanging off one end will lift the workpiece and angle the cut. Roller stands or a simple outfeed block solve it and cost nothing.
What works
- A hollow chisel mortiser cuts a square-cornered mortise directly, so the tenon needs no rounding and the joint goes together as designed
- The lever gives real mechanical advantage, so cutting a deep mortise in hardwood is controlled rather than a fight
- Cast iron construction damps the hammering the machine does to itself, which is why the cheap all-steel ones rattle
What doesn't
- Chisel and bit quality determines everything, and the bits supplied with budget machines are usually poor enough to need replacing immediately
- Setting the gap between the auger and the chisel is fiddly and critical — too tight and it overheats, too loose and it packs with chips
- A benchtop mortiser has limited reach, so a long rail or a wide board is awkward to support
Worth comparing against
- Check price
Rockler
Rockler Beadlock Pro Joinery Kit, 3/8 in