I'm looking at the Delta and the Jet bench mortisers. Any recommendations?
Max
- posted
19 years ago
Dedicated mortising machines.
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- posted
19 years ago
I have the Delta. Works well. The chisels have to be sharpened before using them for best results. Lee Valley has a conical shaped tool for doing the inside, any good stone can hone the outside.
I chose the Delta over the Jet because it had a little more heft to it and a better metal fence, no MDF. Thee was about a $20 price difference. One of the magazines rated a few machines and both of these were good buys.
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- posted
19 years ago
"Max" wrote in news:qAbTd.56978$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com:
I have the General 75-050T. It's more expensive than the Delta or the Jet, but it's beefier, has a front holddown, and has a tilting head.
The July 2004 issue of Wood contains some comparative reviews.
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- posted
19 years ago
I have the Delta too and Ed is right - you have to sharpen up the chisels out of the box. And sharpen often too if mortising hard wood - not unlike a normal chisel.
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- posted
19 years ago
I have the Jet and have been very happy with it. I haven't sharpened the chisels, and the mortises always need some clean up. But it cuts effectively and is easy to set up.
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19 years ago
I bought the delta bacuse it had a dovetailed (?) column rather than the round column on the jet, On a dovetailed coulmn, you can adjust the slop out by tighening the set screws on the slide plate (Like a milling machine.) The primary reason I bought a dedicated mortiser rather than go on using my drill press was to eliminate the slop of my drill press. The Jet may be adjustable as well. but I really liked the dovetail design. They were about the same price when I bought it, 3 years ago. I use it often, and have had no complaints.
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19 years ago
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- posted
19 years ago
Took the Delta over the Jet for the extra heft--wouldn't consider anything except the model(s) w/ the metal table--not the slightly cheaper one w/ the MDF table. Essentially the same otherwise, but the heft is significant.
Only complaint other than that mentioned by others already is that the added column height block w/ the Delta (and I assume the others are similar) is very poorly designed w/ the fence positioning mechanisim. If you can see the Jet somewhere to compare, I'd look at it from that standpoint if you foresee any need at all for the extra capacity...
I wish there were something between the small guys and the $800-range Powermatic....I just couldn't justify the $$ and couldn't find a used in time to meet production demands....
BTW, you'll have to have a solid bench to mount it to, also, for anything except the smallest of work...
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19 years ago
"Max" wrote in news:qAbTd.56978$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com:
I've got the Jet, works well...I don't think there's much between them tho. Neither comes with great chisels, and the holddowns on both pretty much suck.
There's an interesting tip in the current FWW for adapting a sliding drill-table vise for use on a mortiser. It looks like a real good idea, and I'm going to try it sometime soon.
John
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- posted
19 years ago
Agreed. The fence and hold down were the difference. However, I ended up modifying the Delta to be more secure and accurate anyway.
Dave
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19 years ago
I suggest you get a cross-slide vise immediately, if not sooner :) It's so easy to set up and use now, its ridiculous. I can crank out precise, repeatable mortises now, it's actually fun! Since it's a Jet, if you want any instructions or a picture of it, let me know.
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- posted
19 years ago
Mark Howell wrote: ...
How do you avoid losing most of the height clearance?
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19 years ago
...
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What mod's did you make?
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- posted
19 years ago
By attaching the mortiser and vise, independantly, to a stepped base.
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19 years ago
See my website on the jigs page for implementation details.
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19 years ago
Replaced the table with a larger table that I put T-slots in for other guides and holdowns - replaced the U shaped holddown with larger one (custom made from alunimum). And I have used my cros-slide vice on occasion for smaller pieces.
Dave
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- posted
19 years ago
In other words, you took the column off the original base?
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19 years ago
Ahh, I see the confusion. The base gets bolted 180 to the column, so the unused table part is in the back. Jet kindly drilled 3 extra holes in the base to do this.
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- posted
19 years ago
Yes the Jet is adjustable, 2 set screws on the side.
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- posted
19 years ago
OK, I see...I've done the same and mounted it at the edge of the bench in order to get heighth to mortise ends of longer pieces where (owing to being a retrofit to existing pieces) I had to use loose tenons on both pieces instead of making the tenon into the end of the crosspiece.
Built a set of blocks w/ slides to capture the lockbolt heads to position the fence a the higher elevation from the bench surface.