Mortising Machines

[Wilson]

Any opinions on benchtop mortising machine. I've got a used Central Machinery mortises and it takes longer to set up that to drill the mortises. thanks

[ClemsonDave]

Lots of posts on that subject, search.

I use a small Delta drill press and the mortising attachement. Works well, but lately I have been using a router table, its quicker.

dave

[Edwin Pawlowski]

IU bought a Delta machine. It works well with hardwoods, but I did have a bit of bit clogging on pine. Probably needs a little TLS to get it just right. Overall, I'm satisfied but I've only done 32 mortises so far. Better than drilling and hand chisels though.

[Never Enough Money]

Shop Fox bench top beats the Delta bench top according to my friends

-- I'm in the market to a mortizer, too. Everything I read says Shop Fox is best ... in the bench top class.

[Bill]

I had a lot of trouble with the shop fox. It sits in the corner now and I use my Delta 14-651. I'll save the shop fox for my daughter to learn on.

[Jack]

you don't like your daughter? What did she do to piss you off enough to make her use a machine you don't like???

Jack

[Edwin Pawlowski]

We read different magazines. Delta and Jet are rated tops in one. IIRC, it was WWJ. In an issure of Amercian Woodworker, SF, Woodtec, Delta, Jet were all considered "bets buy".

What do your friends say that makes the Shop Fox better? Never used one so I don't know the differences.

[Swingman]

I scoped both out carefully a couple of years ago and, while the ShopFox "looked" better in fit and finish, I settled on the Delta 14-651, which had the best/beefiest head assembly (dovetail gib) of the benchtop models in that price range ... this is a critical engineering point with the benchtop's as they are good tools, but still borderline for doing the job. The only thing I would trade it for would be the PowerMatic floor model.

[Swingman]

It is available, but expensive. While a very good machine, at +/- $650US, it is almost 3 times the price of the Delta 14-651. If I were looking to spend that kind of money on a mortiser, I would spend a bit more and go for a dedicated floor model.

Just my tuppence ...

One last note on the Delta ... there are two benchtop models last time I looked, the Delta 14-651 is the better one.

[Russell]

Multico PM20 dont know if its available in the US I know the small pm16 is.Great morticer really versatile and powerfull Russell

[Swingman]

It's been a while, but I am fairly certain it was the 16S? ... that is not to say that there is another model available in the US by now.

[Bill]

Would you let your child LEARN to drive in a brand new car? Not me.

She can learn on a something that won't upset me when it gets broken.

That's also why I bought her a $39 HF benchtop drill press instead of letting her break her teeth on my floor model.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Yes, they drove my car when learning (with me in it). Of course when they used the car themselves they got the older one. I was a teenager once and know how cars are used.

Using poorly made tools teaches frustration. My kids and now my grandson use all of my tools and I taught them to use them properly.

Exception: I could not find some of my #$% sockets after my son used them. Ed

[Russell]

Is that the PM20 and not a PM16 for +/-$650 that is cheap they are made in England or France now I believe and I just paid 850eur ex tax (tax

19% )I chose to have it without the stand as I mounted it on a custom stand. Russell

[Iraxl Enb]

sorry, but shouldnt that be "cut her teeth"? breaking teeth on the floor model seems a little hard on the poor kid :-)

irax.

[Lawrence L'Hote]

FWIW I got a PM20 from GarrettWade several years ago and have found it to be well worth the additional cost. When it arrived on a truck the driver said,"the crate looks a little rough." Rough, indeed, the crate was completely broken off the top and a real mess. It looked like it had been dropped on its top, the mortiser was exposed and dented. Most people would not have accepted it, but I did, with the idea if the mortiser was damaged badly I could just send it back. The top cover of the mortiser showed obvious damage. Anyhows, I set up the thing, cutting my hand on one of the very sharp chisels and it worked fine. I called Garrett-Wade and got a top cover shipped, pronto, and now it looks just great and works super. Larry

[Russell]

thew...the PM20 is a lot more capable than the pm16.The head moves in all plains and can cut 20mm mortises no problem. have a look.Its sometimes so bizzare the difference between european and American style tools/machines.just look at the threads over saw fences and such like

[Mike in Idaho]

I just spent the weekend with my JET benchtop and it was pure bliss. It was quick and easy to setup and it cut the mortises just like I wanted them. I was using pine too and it didn't clog or anything. Absolutely loved it. (Even SWMBO came into the shop after I had finished and said "Wow, you got all that done already? That was fast!" -- lemme tell ya, that's saying something, I've never equated "fast" with any of my woodworking.)

Mike

[Larry Jaques]

On 16 Feb 2004 20:39:46 -0800, [e-mail] (Never Enough Money) brought forth from the murky depths:

They're great, and they have a capacity for MUCH larger lumber than the others. The head swivels to the side so you can cut end or panel mortises, too.

Now that I'm done with the chiro (I think) I'll be getting back into the shop and using it.

- Inside every older person is a younger person wondering WTF happened. ---

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[Bridger]

yeah. older cars tend to have bigger cushier back seats....