Hi Roger,
The other day you mentioned Makita chain mortiser being catchy on end grain. My pavilion will have 4 posts, 4 beams, 8 braces, and 5 trusses. I don't see any end grain cuts unless I'm missing something.
Nothing against your for-sale chisel mortiser but one thing is I hope to spend a lot less than $1,500 on whatever mortiser I end up buying. I have already spent almost 2k on the timbers, at least 2k on mostly tools and some hardware not including the tools I already owned that will come into play, I'll have to spend 1-3k on the foundation depending on if I do that myself which depends on how much money I have when it's time to pour, I'll spend at least another 1k on T&G 2 x 6 roof decking and shingle or steel plus misc. materials for roof....so I really need to hope for a lot for a little when it comes to the mortiser. I don't mind the clean-up chisel work on the mortises as I have my mind set on my ability to build this right. At the same time, I have to try to expedite the labor processes because I will not have the time I wish I could to devote to this project within a reasonable timeframe unless I can speed up the joinery process. I know once everything is cut I will have the frame up in a day.
Anyway....you sound like a pro in the field so I value your opinion which is why I ask if the makita would be a good tool for this. Like a lot of other people I don't make a lot at my job and I'm in debt up to the eyeballs of they guy standing on my head so I will probably have to sell most if not all the big money tools when I'm done with this project. I'd like to keep them to eventually build an addition before I get too old if I can come up with the financing but that may not be possible.
I might have to sell the 3k+ worth of Sorby turning tools, my Delta 1442 lathe, and my Woodsmith portable bandsaw to help pay for some of this project but I've never tried to sell any of my tools before and don't know what luck I might have. All my turning tools have from no hours to 2 hours use as I jumped into the hobby with great expectations and quickly found I have to work too many hours to pay the living expenses.
This timber framing project may be the last chance I have before getting too old to do the heavy work and I have wanted to do this since I was able to move out to the country 4 years ago after 50 years of living in crappy areas around Chicago and northwest Indiana.
I guess I've babbled long enough for now so if you know someone who wants to buy what I can sell and/or you can give me more leads on mortisers I might be able to afford, let me know. I appreciate any help I can get.
One last question for now: I have probably over-engineered the post brackets I have designed to anchor to the foundation and I am still looking for a local price for someone to fabricate them as I am not a welder and don't have the tools necessary for heavy steel fabrication. My question is do you know where I can buy brackets with the proper structural qualities for four 8 x 8 posts supporting a 18' x 22' pavilion roof? I haven't seen anything online that looks right but maybe I'm using the wrong search terminology.
Thanks again,
Terry McQuade