Floor mortise mach

[Rick Samuel]

Any opinions on the Steelex/Woodstock mortiser? Griz has it labeled T20836, $400 plus shipping.. plus..plus.

Thanks

[SonomaProducts.com]

[charlieb]

Just looking at features - dovetail ways (sp?) on both X and Y axis. Might check to make sure the have replaceable/adjustable brass shims - two set screws per

- two cam operated hold downs - good

- rapid adjust "hold in" - not clear if it's threaded or the lever is a cam that tightens it up to the stock as it is locked down If threaded, the handle for tightening it looks pretty small for really torqueing it tight

- rack and pinion on the vertical movement is good. Rides in dovetail ways which hopefully have shims

- left/right stops for the mortise that are easy to set and stay where you put them make life a lot easier. Without them you you have to have layout lines and have to keep aligning the chisel to the lines for each mortise

On the General 75-750 the L/R stops slide on a rod under the table and are held there with small handled knobs - that are hard to get to, tricky to position and can slip unless you're gentle

- don't see any kiind of stop to slide the stock up against

- don't see the plunge stop for depth of cut. You want that to be easy to set and then stay there when you really pull down on the handle

- speaking of the handle - this one looks long enough - if the pinion gear is big enough to produce full travel - with only about 120 degrees of travel , that's good. But if it hits the mortising table before the mortise is at full depth . . .

- mortising chisel and bit sets come in at least two diameters. Having a collet adapter so you can use either or both sizes is nice to have since the chisel and bit sets that come with mortiser aren't always the best quality Figure on adding in the price of better sets in two of the mortise sizes you plan on using And figure on sharpening, honing and polishing so check Lee Valley for the cone diamond sharpeners and some sharpening stones or diamond plates

Unless that metal cabinet has at least one drawer, plan on adding one for the chisels and bits not in use, chuck key, cone sharpener etc. If they're kept with the unit you'll save a lot of time not hunting for them