Stan Smith
03-15-2003, 9:47 PM
I got my new shopfox mortiser yesterday and finally got it running today. It was an another adventure in assembly. The manual instructions were for an older model so some of the pictures and parts didn't match up. I did get it figured out with some help from pictures on C.John Herbert's site. The main problem was getting the gas cylinder in the right place for the size wood. There are 3 different configurations depending upon the width of your stock. Unfortunately, I have a mechanical apptitude of -15 so it took me somewhat longer than for most. However, the very first mortise was a keeper so I didn't feel that the added time was a waste. I pre-drilled the first hole with the dp to aid in chip clearance. There was no burning and it wasn't had to push the bit into the stock. I did take time to hone the chisel and bit. This was my very first time using a mortising machine and I'm glad that I bought it.