Well, I have had it with modifying my delta drill press with the moritse attachemt to cut mortises. I read an artical a while back ago and it stated something like the best use for the delta mortise attachment is for melting it down into something really useful!
There was an article in FWW reviewing tese machine, anyone recall which issue?
I am in he market for the table top varity.
Thanks
Replies
http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/FWNPDF/011178068.pdf
Edited 5/4/2007 12:24 pm ET by Cincinnati
Thank you, I must have that issue home.
I'm pretty sure sarge and forestgirl will second my nomination of steel city's benchtop mortiser. Solid machine, good value and good folks to stand behind it. All of their tools have a 5 year warranty. I am about to pull the trigger on their mortiser and 14" bandsaw. Good quality tools. Tom
I recently purchased the Powermatic 701 bench top mortiser, influenced more than a little by the Popular Woodworking review.
http://www.powermatic.com/Media/index.cfm?navPage=2
The Powermatic has lived up to it's billing and is a huge improvement over using a router and/or router table. Also purchased at the same time was the Delta Tenoning jig and these two tools in combination made life much simpler and the work waaaay more accurate.
Another heavy-duty mortiser to consider would be the General but I wasn't able to put my hands on one to check it out and didn't find a good recent review. A cheaper, and my thought was probably lighter-duty machine is the Steel City. Haven't seen a review but owners on this list seem to be uniformly happy with their Steel City purchases.
Good luck with your decision.
Bob
Woodmaster:This is a little "out-of-the-box" and most likely won't make sense, but you just might want to consider the Domino. I know - not another Festool junkie!I saw this post on the Festool Owners Group:"I'm reading all these different threads about the uses of the Domino and one thing struck me. I can't believe I initially didn't want one of these things. Not only did I eventually see the light, but now I've gone and sold my biscuit joiner and my hollow chisel mortiser too."I am a "consider all options" person and it is in that vein that I make this suggestion. At least if you rule out all but the best option for you, you won't have any regrets later.Regards,Hastings
Thanks for the info. I'm a little gun-shy of Festool because, what little I know about the line, everything seems proprietary and they lock you in at a premium price. What little I've read about the Domino, it seems to make only loose tenons, and since I wasn't interested loose tenons for any current projects, I moved on. Maybe I'm missing something, though.Bob
<<< I'm a little gun-shy of Festool because, what little I know about the line, everything seems proprietary and they lock you in at a premium price.>>>With their pricing strategy, it would seem counterintuitive that the Festool consumables would not also be premium priced. So, when I was looking at the Domino, I checked the price on their loose tenons, and then walked over to look at the prices of the Porter Cable biscuits -- which were only slightly more expensive per piece than the biscuits. I also thought the various bits you need for the Domino were reasonably priced -- about $25-30 -- compared with router spiral cutters. I still haven't bought the Domino, but it is intriguing.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Mr. 82 is right, but I have to admit, I haven't had anything with mortises to build yet on my machine. But I have no doubt it'll work great, based on test mortises I've done with it and on-line reports from a couple people who've used theirs. Here is the thread I posted when I got it. Check out the spacious table, built-in extensions and roller hold-ins. This machine wasn't available in 2005 for the article I saw linked above.
I have a Delta that I get along fine with although I don't use it extensively. I use it hard when I do use it. I mounted it permanently for more stability. I would buy one like it again if I needed one. I agree that all drill press mortising attachments should be melted down. They are so hard to set up and about the time you get them set right, you will need your drill press for other purposes.
Edited 5/4/2007 8:23 pm ET by wdrite
I used the Delta mortising kit on two drill presses with great success. You mention modifying your drill press. Why? Is it the mortising kit or the press? I had to machine an adapter ring to fit it to my quill since none of the spacers that came with it fit my drill press, an oddball brand. A real disappointment occurred when I bought a Delta 17-965 which the adapters did not fit either! (Do their designers talk to each other?) Luckily, I have a small metal lathe for just such instances.
My point is that possibly the source of your frustration is your drill press, not the mortising kit. However, if you earn money at WWing, which I don't, a dedicated mortiser is a good investment.
Cadiddlehopper
I had a bench top mortiser for years (Delta), and it always seemed slow and cumbersome. You had to move the piece for every plunge, and the clamp was less than good.
I finally sprang for one of these, and the difference is night and day. The clamp works as it should, but the real time saver is the X-Y table -- which allows you to do the entire length of each mortise by simply moving the wheel.
If you are just going to be doing a few mortises now and then, one of the bench tops will work fine. But if you will be making more than occasional use of the machine, then an X-Y table will be a great convenience and a time saver.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Morning Spitfire...
I have used most of the bench-tops and haven't found one yet that won't work with a little tweaking.. and "all" the bench-tops require some tweaking to get a maximum out of them as the clamping systems just aren't what they are on a stand-alone unit with movable X-Y table.
I have a Shop-fox which has preformed admirably for me. I am told it is noisy by those that can hear... :>), but after mounting it permanently between two 4' counter-tops, length of stock is not an issue. The SF has a very long stroke also and I do some pretty deep mortises. I got it over the General as it was a floor model I picked up years ago for $185.
Using a quick clamp, I can move the stock pretty rapidly across the table as I am familiar with the machine and have cut enough that it is almost second nature. But.. with some chairs I did recently that had a ton of slats, I wished for a floor model for the first time.
The SC to me is the best buy for what it has aboard. The General is very well built as is the PM, but for the asking price I would probably fore-go and spend a bit extra to get a floor model which neither can match up too and I do cut a lot of mortises. That movable table makes a difference in time which is no biggie if you don't cut a lot.
So.. price point is a good place to start looking with tweaking in mind. I would stay away from the early Delta's before they improved it. And as far as using a drill press attachment, that would be "never" at my shop.
A DP is a finesse machine that is designed to cut a small hole, IMO. It should do that with no problem, but it isn't designed robustly enough in the plunge mechanism to power a sharp chisel through very hard wood. It would probably be OK with soft-wood and shallow depths, but you're going to put extreme wear and tear on the plunge mechanism that will eventually lead to excessive run-out. You will reach a point there is no further point in what it was intended to do which is cut smaller round holes very accurately.
A DP should last a life-time. And IMO, that will be a very short life by adding the mortise thingy and taking it on turf it doesn't need to go!
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
"Using a quick clamp, I can move the stock pretty rapidly across the table...." One of the big reasons I like the Steel City mortiser is those roller "hold-ins" - no clamp needed.
When you gonna get your floor model mortiser, Sarge? ;-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Evening FG...
Not going to purchase one new is the current plan. The other machine up-grades are complete now and a floor mortiser was not on the "do it" list. If I run across a deal either used or floor clearance, I wouldn't hesitate to write the check though..
Regards...
Sarge.. jt
spitfire:
I've got the General 75-050T tilting head morticer, which was rated as top in the FWW article. No problems , no complaints-save one--the chisels that come with it aren't the best. I had another set, and will sharpen the ones that came with the morticer before using them on a real morticing job, and see. I have not had the need to use the tilting head yet, but have a project in mind that will require it, and it's nice to have ( comes under, you never know when you'll need it ). It does cost a bit more than most bench top morticers, however, I'm worth it and it will be a lifetime investment, and having used it , I don't think you could go wrong.
Roger
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