![Using a Scrap Block to Make a High-Rise Mortiser](https://www.woodworkersjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/Mortiser-Riser-Trick-Lead.jpg)
My Delta mortising machine lacked the vertical capacity for mortising some wider stock recently, so I bolted a 2″-thick hardwood spacer beneath the tool column to give the machine more “reach.” Now I can mortise workpieces up to 4-1⁄2″ tall. But, to preserve the original mortising depth for narrower stock, I clamp a second 2″ spacer block to the table in front of the fence. A couple of stopped holes on the ends hold it in place with spring clamps.
– Ken Johnson
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania