delta mortising machine - my experience (not particularly exciting)

[David Zaret]

hopefully this post will prove useful to somebody.

about 6 months ago i bought a delta 14-651 - read a review on benchtop machines, it was highly rated, on sale, so i did it.

anyway, when i first turned it on it sounded odd. a bit of metal-on-metal grinding noise, which i quickly determined was in the bit. of course, given the nature of such machines, i immediately assumed that i set up the bit incorrectly, so was careful to make sure i used proper spacing, etc. still sounded bad. bought a new bit - still bad.

used it for one project, blue-tipped the auger in one job. wasn't pretty. a month ago i decided to find out what was wrong with it, and my dial indicator told me that the motor shaft was wobbling by 10 thou. took it in today to local delta dealer, they agreed with my assessment that the motor shaft was shot, and they are getting me a new machine.

this was my first real out-of-the-box dud. hopefully others have had/will have better experiences with this machine.

--- dz

[David]

Wow! If that was your FIRST "out of the box dud" then you haven't been buying enough tools! :) I've either had to replace tools immediately, or in some cases switched to a different brand, such as in the case of going from DeWalt to Makita power tools. About 6 years ago I bought a cordless

14.4 or 18V Dewalt drill and saw combo. The saw made an UNGODLY noise upon startup and the drill's chuck had so much run-out you could spot it from 6' away. I returned them to HD and picked up Makita versions of each. The first Makita cordless saw leaked oil, so it too, had to be replaced, but after 6 years I'm happy to report the second Makita saw doesn't leak oil and the cordless drill is a pleasure to use. I've continued to patronize Makita and ignore DeWalt tools, except I've had my eye on their newer surface planer.

I won't EVEN get on the subject of Delta problems...

No matter whether or not a tool is made in the good ole US of A or not, quality control is an endemic problem these days. Sigh...

David

David Zaret wrote:

[David Zaret]

yeah i've been pretty lucky. but then again, i've also purchased really good tools - canadian-made general 650 table saw, minimax bandsaw, woodmaster planer, etc. most of my hand tools are bosch, which at least seem acceptable. i cannot believe that my dewalt ROS is still running, given how hard i push it.

what this demonstrated to me was that delta did zero quality control before boxing the mortising machines. i'm not terribly surprised. as you said, it seems hit-and-miss nowadays. frankly what's more surprising is that it took me six months to deal with it!

see ya,

--- dz

David wrote:

[Swingman]

For a benchtop, its a pretty good work horse ... don't let your "dud" experience sour you on it.

Keep your chisels sharp, your feed rate nice and even, the opening in the chisel in the same axis as your mortise length, pull out often to clear the mortise of chips, and it will do the job nicely in the toughest of woods.

[David Zaret]

yep - i haven't lost faith. looking forward to getting the machine back in the shop.

take care,

--- dz

Sw>

[Charles Callaghan]

I also bought one about 6 months ago. The only problem I have had was in the set-up. The gear was so stiff I couldn't move the handle up or down. Finally after some grease on the ratchet gear, it has loosened up. Works great and no problems with motor wobbling. You must have gotten a bad one. At least you are having no problem replacing it. Says something about the Company.

[George]

I think you just got unlucky. SWMBO bought me one last xmas and I absolutely love it. Works flawlessly.