Powermatic Mortiser - Yum!

[D'ohBoy]

Oh my....

Finally put it together last night.... well, the stand had to be but the mortiser was basically ready to roll outta the box.

Made some 3/8" mortises. Initially, I was cautious about applying force to the handle when the chisel made contact with the workpiece but just a bit more pressure and badabing, badaboom, square holes! Did a single pass thru 3/4" red oak and a 2" mortise in a 2x4. Oak took moderate pressure and the 2x4 was almost like buttah.

Bought the 'Powermatic' 1/4, 3/8. and 1/2 chisels from amazon. Funny, these are marked 'Jet' on the clamping end of the chisel. Now I know that wilton owns powermatic and jet, but if I bought powermatic, at least mark them as such so I don't feel like I was somehow ripped off.

Not that they don't work well, but who knows how well the same chisel with the word 'powermatic' on it would work?!

D'ohBoy

[dpb]

D'ohBoy wrote: ... Which one?

--

[D'ohBoy]

Benchtop - 701, 3/4 horse.

D'ohBoy

[Leon]

Something you will want to do. Like any chisel, the mortising chisels will need to be sharpened. From the factory they give you the results you witnessed. If you use a sharpening cone up in the center and polish the 4 out side surfaces at the cutting end you will get a dramatic improvement in cutting ease.

Actually Wlater Meier owns Wilton, Powermatic, and Jet

More and more sister products are begining to come off the same assembly line. Regularily they are the same but have different prices.

[D'ohBoy]

To which Leon responded:

To which I respond:

I forgot to put a " ;-) " after indicating that the suggestion that a different label on the *same* chisel would produce a different result

- as if by the placebo effect ;-) which was intended as a joke...

But your point is well-taken.

D'ohBoy

[Bill Waller]

I keep a block of bees wax under my mortiser, It is surprising how much easier thing go when I apply it to the chisel once it has warmed up...like one hole. :-) __________________ Bill Waller New Eagle, PA

[e-mail]

[Lew Hodgett]

Reminds me of one of my interviews after graduation with a lead acid battery mfg firm.

Was given a plant tour.

There were 6-8 different battery cases on the ass'y line.

They each got a different paint job, but the same guts.

Lew

[Leon]

I think I knew you were kidding, but I was serious about you needing to sharpen the chisels.

[dpb]

...

Oh, ok...was hoping for "hands-on" for the 719--it's on a "year-end" sale flyer price, too, that's not _too_ outrageous...

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[D'ohBoy]

Damn. Sorry for misunderestimating you.

I was hoping someone would give me a little for it I guess....

But with regard to your original comment, they seem pretty damn sharp already - seriously - like scary sharp. Are you sure?

D'ohBoy

[D'ohBoy]

Ummmm.... ~$1200.... not too outrageous if you are a professional but for a rank amateur like myself I actually was a little put off by spending $400 on a mortiser....

But it shore is nice! Makes me wonder what I am missing with my Steel City hybrid saw and Jet DP.

;)

D'ohBoy, who's actually very very happy with his saw and DP. As well as his new mortiser, which confirms his contention that one can either spend years developing hand tool skills OR drop a buncha coin on a new tool which takes no time at all (and $30 payments for the REST OF YOUR LIFE).

[dpb]

D'ohBoy wrote: ...

... I'm not professional (at least wooddorker :); actually I'm farming at the present having come back after dad passed away) but what woodworking I presently do is mostly architectural on the old barn or house-- particularly for the barn there are some sizable mortises coming up as I get to rebuilding the doors that I discovered the 1/2" benchtop wasn't really up to w/ the first two I did...

What I really, really want is a chain mortiser but haven't found anything close enough used and not ready for _that_ much of a drop of the coin... :) (or should that be :( ?)

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[Leon]

But it shore is nice! Makes me wonder what I am missing with my Steel City hybrid saw and Jet DP.

I know you are happy with your DP, but to make you happier, I have seen 2 and used 1 Powermatic DP. Both were noisey, something that a DP is usually not.

[Leon]

Damn. Sorry for misunderestimating you.

I was hoping someone would give me a little for it I guess....

But with regard to your original comment, they seem pretty damn sharp already - seriously - like scary sharp. Are you sure?

Yes. I shapen mine with a Lee Valley mortiser cone then remove the burr and polished the outer 4 cutting surfaces to a mirror finish with my Tormak for less friction.

[D'ohBoy]

Have the cone that comes with the PM mortiser - how do you use it? Freehand? Or do you have a jig? Not gonna invest in a Tormek right now - what are my alternatives for sharpening the outer cutting surfaces?

It really was pretty easy to do the 3/4" oak. If the chisels will take more honing, it'll be schweet!

Thanks!

D'ohBoy

[Leon]

I chuck it up in my cordless drill and grind at a very slow speed. You don't want to remove much material, just enough to sharpen the edges again. You probably do not need to do that this time around but later you will.

You could use the scary sharp method with finw grit sand paper to polish the chisel edges. Remember you are looking for a mirror finish on the 4 cutting sides tha make contact with the wood. Typically this is only a short way up from the bottom of the chisel.

I do it all free hand basically. It is not a science so to speak. Just remember you cut your mortises first and then cut you tenons to fit the mortises.

I thought so too but was really shocked after polishing the chisels, slightly more effort than just using a drill press. It is important to get the bit set up with the chisel correctly for maximum ease. I find that "slightly" deeper than recomended is much much better than slighter shallower than recomended.

Becareful with the smaller bits as they will tend to break more easily if they bite of more than they can easily bring back up through the chisel.

If the chisels will

Yes! If you don't see your refelection, they can take more honing.

[Larry Jaques]

On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:42:08 -0600, the infamous "Leon" scrawled the following:

Yeah, all you want to do on the outside of the chisel is remove the burr (and get/keep it polished.)

(You don't. See above.)

Yes, interference fits (when the tenon is longer than the mortise) are to be avoided, both in fine furniture and in whatever it is that _we_ all make.

What, you trying to scare D'boy?

-- You know, in about 40 years, we'll have literally thousands of OLD LADIES running around with TATTOOS, and Rap Music will be the Golden Oldies. Now that's SCARY! --Maxine

[D'ohBoy]

On Nov 12, 10:13 pm, Larry Jaques wrote some countering stuff to what On Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:42:08

-0600, the infamous "Leon" scrawled, to which I responded with the following informational update:

Used my diamond hones (fine/800 grit and extra fine/1200 grit) to put a mirror polish (or reasonable approximation) on the 3/8 chisel. The improvement (reduction in required force at the handle to mortise in

3/4" red oak) was only incremental but still significant. I will polish my 1/2" and 1/4" chisels too.

Thanks for the input!

D'ohBoy, who has long since lost all fear of the furry face in the mirror ;)

[Leon]

It will be more significant when you get into cutting mortises that are deeper, 2"-3". One other thing, location of the exit hole side of the chisel is important. You really dont want the waste falling back down in the previous hole and being recycled so to speak.

[D'ohBoy]

Huh? IIRC, according to the lit that came with the tool, the 'exit hole' as you call it - IMO a rather unfortunate usage, BTW ;-) - is supposed to be aligned with the prior hole.

Oh yeah, two negatives have arisen now that the honeymoon glow of new tool ownership has faded: both the chuck key and the fitting that attaches the arm to the axle driving the rack and pinion fit *very* poorly with a level of slop that is annoying on the arm and downright marginal on the chuck key.

And that damn spring loaded ejector piston at the end of the chuck key is going to have a very limited continuing life span. I have *never* left a chuck key in the chuck and fired up a tool...

Full review, pix of my minor mods to the stand to come at lumberjocks.com under my moniker (sans the apostrophe as they don't accept special characters).

D'ohBoy