Hey group,
I am looking to purchase either a drill press and mortising kit or a dedicated mortiser to help me out with my furniture-making ambitions. I initially thought that the drill press and mortising kit would be the way to go because it would be more versatile. Since I have a limited tool-buying budget (If I still hope to buy lumber anyways), I thought it would be a nice, cost-effective compromise. However, I have heard that the mortising kit/drill press combo isn't entirely satisfactory for cutting mortises on a regular basis. I've heard that the dedicated mortiser (as one might guess) is more user-friendly and does a better job overall. That said, I have a couple questions for the group:
1) What do you use your drill presses for in your shop? My reason for initially leaning towards the drill press/mortise kit combination is, as I mentioned, because of the ability to also use the drill press as a drill press. However, the only uses I can come up with are to cut plugs and possibly for spinning sanding drums (which, I'm told, is another job they're not ideally suited for). I don't think I'd do either on a regular basis.2) If you've used a mortising kit, what were your impressions of the quality of the job it did and its usability?
3) Considering the price of a delta bench-top drill press plus mortising kit is about equal to the delta bench-top dedicated mortiser (including 4 bits and a few other handy gewgaws), which would you go for in my position? Keep in mind that I already have a good hand-held drill that's worked just fine for making holes up to this point. (I can even make the holes end up passably straight most of the time!)I guess the main thing I'm trying to assess is the real utility of having a drill press, and whether it outweighs the advantages of going for the dedicated mortiser. At this point I am leaning towards the mortiser unless I hear some great reason to have a drill press instead. Thank you all for your help!
Regards, Adam Diehl