This restoration is on a 1900s patented door mortiser made by A.W. Miller Mfg. Co.. You can view the original patent here:
I obtained this tool knowing it was missing several parts that needed to be remade. Luckily, the missing parts were mostly easy to reproduce, except for the missing hand-wheel. For this, I decided to have all the hand-wheels re-cast in bronze by Windy Hill Foundry. The full process of that re-casting can be seen here: Big thank you to him as well!
The original finish for this tool was japanning, but I actually ran out of the ingredients to make a new batch, so I had to resort to repainting it. I made a new handle out of jatoba and brass. I was able to salvage the original cutter, but I wish I could find the other cutters, which apparently came with this tool originally.
As specialized as this tool is, it does perform very well and make quick work of cutting a slot into some test piece
1 view
38
11
3 years ago 00:25:21 22
Early 1900s Electric Door Bell - Restoration
2 years ago 00:24:27 1
1900s Door Mortiser [Restoration]
2 years ago 00:02:04 3
You Live in the 1900s in...
11 months ago 00:14:01 1
Early 1900s Relics Found Surviving by Underground Doorway
1 year ago 00:38:35 1
Primitive Fridge Restoration - Early 1900s Ice Box