I’m making some mortises that are 5.25” deep, so I’m looking for a straight cut router bit (1/2” or 3/4”) that is about 6” long. Does anyone have one that I could borrow? Do they even make such a thing? I’d rather not go the drill and chisel route.
For regular straight plunge router bits you’ll be lucky to find a 3.” probably Ebay may be a better choice. 2 1/2” you may find it locally at woodcraft or rockler. Counting you can find one Whatever you do please don’t try to cut it in one pass. I don’t think the router can handle it and the dust collector will not be able to evac the chips. Have you considered using 1” rods or an 1.5” closet hanger rod? You can use an auger bit or a forstner bit with an extension shaft to cut the holes. Otherwise. Use forstner bit to cut as much material then clean it up with a chisel. Using a big 1 1/2 chisel is not hard to do, is easier than you think, and it is done rather quick. I just dont get why such a deep mortise. Normally is not more than half the thickness of the board but usually a third is strong enough. Good luck.
Thanks for the response @JOSEGAYTAN. I hadn’t thought of using a mortising bit versus a regular drill bit. A 3” router bit would work if I was doing a through tenon, but I don’t trust myself to make that look nice. I’ve routed out the first 1.5” of the mortises, with 1/4” deep passes .
These big mortises/tenons are for the top/bottom and side rails for a door I’m building.
My bad, I never thought about a door being your project. You can still drill as much as you can with drill bits or forstener bits then clean up the hole and make it square using the mortise bit as a chisel (take out the round drill bit). It does work rather nice but you do have to take as much material as possible with the drill/forstner bits. Is a lot of work for such small detail but I done worst. Looks like a very nice craftsman door. What kind of lumber you’re using?
I wanted to use mesquite, but couldn’t find enough good lumber. I’m using hickory.
Hickory is tricky to work with. It dulls tools rather quick. Normally is mixed with pecan at the lumber yards. If you have brownish color throughout and wavy grains is hickory. If you have color variations (usually whitish, creamish, and light brownish) and straight grain is pecan. Both lumbers have pretty much the same qualities with the exception that pecan tends to spalt with black lines. Keep your tools sharp and you should have no problems. Myself I don’t like either but it is a good choice for a door. Please share the photo of your finished project. Craftsman/mission style is one of my favorites.
I was looking for a native wood (you’ll see why, when it’s finished), which is why I wanted mesquite. My second choice was pecan which, as you said, is often mixed with hickory. I wanted mesquite to say that it’s pecan, but some of the boards that I picked up at Dakota actually had HICKORY stamped on them. 
You tried to source Mesquite in the wrong place. Lumberyards do not have good quality Mesquite. They get it from local sawmills and usually those sawmills dont sell them the “good” stuff. I don’t think I ever seen Mesquite look like Pecan. Mesquite grain is much different than Pecan. Mesquite is much denser and easier to work with. Also it is a lot easier to sand and more forgiving in the finishing processs. But my opinion is biased I just don’t like Pecan.
No, @Jeffmc had told me of a couple of sawmills that have mesquite. The one near Bastrop was closed for awhile because the owners were having health issues, and the one in Floresville didn’t have enough good pieces of the size that I needed.
@sneezix Frank, have you looked into a router bit extender? While I have not personally used one, I know of a few people who have and they worked great. If nothing more, it’s good to know there these are out there.
When I said “local,” I meant Texas. The only good, furniture grade Mesquite i have found is hours away south of Austin. The exception is Red Oak TX (about an hour away). The sawmills are very notional, some times they sell it to you and others they don’t. The good thing is if you call, they tell you up front. I dont have my old phone with me (I’m not in TX right now) otherwise i would give you some names. Most of those sawmills have deals with “rustic” furniture makers out of Dallas and Houston that pay premium $$$. BTW it will not be cheap when you find it and they like cash. The exception is Jane Holland in Red Oak TX. He may not be in business any longer though. Last time I went hunting (3 yrs ago) it took me two months and many miles to find boards I liked. In that process i ended up with many boards to my collection for future projects. Anyway, good luck with your project!
I have not, but I’ll look into it. This is what I need. Thanks!