Mortising: drill press jig or dedicated benchtop mortiser?

[scott vroom]

My first woodworking project will be Shaker style kitchen cabinets, followed by Mission sytyle bedroom furniture. I'm debating whether to buy a drill press mortising jig, or lay out a few more dollars and get a benchtop mortising machine (Grizzly or Shop Fox?). I've heard it's a PITA to set up the DP jig, and difficult to get repeatable mortising. Does anyone agree with this? I plan to continue woodworking for many years and want to get a good setup now rather than having to upgrade later. The dedicated benchtop appeals to me but is it overkill for the projects I have planned? If I go the benchtop route, are Grizzly or Shop Fox good quality machines? I looked at a Powermatic but it's $449 which is more than I want to spend (unless of course the Griz and Shop Fox are garbage).

Thanks very much for your help!

[Mike Heidrick]

Have you checked out the Steel City benchtop mortiser? If not a PM or General - the Steel City would be my third choice in benchtop mortisers.

If you are going to make bedroom furniture invest in a mortiser. In fact I would be trying to find a used floor mortiser maybe with the X/Y table.

[jim sauterer]

i had the steel city and was very happy with it.i got in on the jet floor model last year.i sold the steel city to a creeker.but i was satisfied with the steel city.just my 2 cents.

[scott vroom]

Mike, I would love to find a good used mortiser but none are available in my area and I'm already building kit cab carcasses. Do you know anything about the Griz or Shop Fox bench mortisers? They're much less expensive than the PM and appear to be well built.

[Paul Ryan]

Scott,

I went through that same delema last winter. The jet floor standing machine came up for sale at $350. But I was in need of a drill press as well. The mortiser was the way to go. A deticated mortiser almost makes it a pleasure to cut mortises. I have used that machine for all sorts of projects since. I would go that rount again in a second. I have always gotten by with out a drill press. Now that I have one, well you know my feelings of the machine I have.

[Rick Dennington]

I 've had a Delta benchtop mortiser for years. I've also got the mortiser for the d.p. The d.p.m. ties up your drill press, is a pain to set up and tear down if/ when you need the d.p. Buy the b.t.m. leave the d.p. open for other operations.

[Ryan Baker]

The drill press jig is definitely a major PITA. And it happens every time that as soon as you get it set up you need to drill something. Get the dedicated mortiser. You'll never look back.

[Michael O'Sullivan]

The drill press jig is definitely a major PITA. And it happens every time that as soon as you get it set up you need to drill something. Get the dedicated mortiser. You'll never look back.


On top of that, mine (a Grizzly) really never worked. I was more likely to pull the chuck out of the press trying to extract the morticer from the wood than I was to cut a decent mortice.

I got the SC benchtop morticer, and it works much better.

[Alan Schwabacher]

You say you are starting out, so I will respond to that. You do know that you can make good mortises by lots of other methods, right? An efficient power tool-only method is to use a handheld router, preferably with two edge guides or a template. Mortises cut this way are cleaner than those cut with a hollow-chisel mortiser, but have rounded edges and more limited depth. A drill press works well for removing most of the waste if you then clean up the mortise with a regular chisel. Both these methods are very effective, and use tools with many other uses. That's the feature I consider most important for starting out, though you may not.

If you are getting a mortiser now because you don't want to upgrade, I don't think it's a good idea to get one designed for a drill press. That is a compromise tool that can work, but will always involve tying up your drillpress when you want to mortise, take time to switch back and forth between applications, and a drillpress is not really designed for the force needed. A good stand-alone mortiser would make more sense. Make sure it has a good stock hold-down, as shifting stock can cause big problems, including destruction of your hollow chisel.

[Neal Clayton]

the powermatic bench top is more simply because of the name. i would also argue that any mortiser without a front clamp is inherently very limited, especially with longer/heavier boards.

the sliding table you can do without, but most benchtop models also suffer from poor clamps.

before i bought a new small one, i'd check around ebay and craigslist for an old larger one. PM719s are pretty cheap when they come up, since they lack a sliding table, but are otherwise very rigid and perfectly capable of anything you might do.

[John Morrison60]

Scott

I would think about how much mortising you intend to do and then buy accordingly.

I bought the Steel City kit for the drill press, and it worked fine for me. I was building
my first chair and it called for mortise/tenon.

Using the drill press does tie it up for other tasks. That was not a problem.
If you are going to do a lot of mortises, you might want a dedicated mortiser, or you
might want to investigate the Leigh mortise/tenon jig. The Leigh jig works great,
I just saw a demo on it, and it was easy to set up, and the routed mortises were very nice.

Take care
John

[Frank Martin]

I think loose tenon joinery is a lot simpler than traditional M&T jointery. You can use a router and either a home made jig or Mortise Pal to rout the mortises and make your own tenon stock. Alternatively, you can get a Festool Domino, but that costs more than your stated budget.

I would say, at least think about this other method before you commit your money to a mortiser....

[Keith Christopher]

I have the delta benchtop mortiser, it works great certainly can't complain about having a dedicated direct drive machine. One of the things I think would be a drawback to have a DP mortiser. Sometimes the need for the direct drive torque is important.

[Chip Lindley]

I've heard it's a PITA to set up the DP jig, and difficult to get repeatable mortising.

Scott, its NOT that hard to set up. There is NO problem with repeatabilty with proper hold-downs. It IS hard to do without your DP until all mortising is finished. I have a very old Craftsman DP with mortising attachment which works fine. The chuck has a threaded collar in addition to the #33 Jacobs taper to keep it ON the spindle. No pulling off the chuck while mortising.

1/2" mortises are pretty hefty in dense hard wood! A sharp chisel and auger bit are essential for success. A dedicated mortise machine (even an economy benchtop model) should have a heftier rack/pinion with more leverage than a DP! The average DP is just not designed to *force* a square chisel bit down into hardwood! They are designed to feed a drill bit gradually into wood or metal. IF you have much mortising to do in your future, a dedicated machine would serve you well instead of tying up your DP!

[rob mclaughlin]

I have to chime in in favor of the PM benchtop mortiser. I too am fairly new to this (expensive) hobby but had prior experience with the DP option. I swore that if i ever did another project calling for M/T joinery i would buy the right tool. Well, my next project called for 14 such joints, so I went shopping. I compared the Jet, PM, shopfox, and grizzly. I was most impressed with the motor size and overall heft of the PM. It also had the largest table and best hold down. I have been very happy with my choice.

[Norman Pyles]

Since I got my Mortice Pal, my bench top mortiser is gathering dust.

[Cary Falk]

I have the Steel City mortiser. It works very well. Sharp chisels are a must whether you go with the DP or the or a bench top. You can get a cone sharpener from Rockler or Lee Valley. I am not a fan of tools sharing jobs so it had to be a separate machine for me. I have plans for a jig for a router but I haven't had the time to build it and try it out. The only thing I don't like about the router jig is the mess and the noise.

[george wilson]

I would not want to break the teeth off of the cast iron drill press spindle trying to shove mortising bits into wood with it. I saw an OLD,and formerly good,heavy duty Delta industrial quality 20" drill press from the 50's that had the teeth broken from its spindle from use as a mortiser.

Your new,cheap Chinese,or other smaller drill press of any make isn't going to fare too well,especially with cast iron of unknown quality on the Asian stuff.

[Paul Ryan]

I forgot to add, if I wouldn't have got such a good deal on my jet mortiser, I think I would have bought a mortise pal also. A few months back they had a real deal on one for $100 that would do most anything you could want. I would check into that as well.

From what I have seen the new powermatic bench top mortiser is as close as you can get to a floor model. The hold downs and Y axis adjustment is real nice. If you plan to do alot of mortises through out the next 20 years I would buy a nice mortiser. You will use it alot more if it is what you want. That is why I would recomend the powermatic. It will cost close to double what the others do but will be a lot easier and enjoyable to use. The jet I have is real simple to do mortises. The hardes thing is setting the bit and that only takes seconds.

[Glen Butler]

Thought I would chime in with my two bits.

Name brands become that way for a reason, and typically you get what you pay for.

I have a benchtop delta and it sounds like you do a lot more mortising than I. I wouldn't consider getting a DP jig. The brand you choose can be reflective of the machine's intended use. When I want a machine that I know will stay true, function well, and run day in and day out I buy powermatic. When I need a machine just to get the occasional odd job tackled I buy inexpensive. Cheaper machines to me, usually means more setup time before the run to make sure everything is dialed in. And sometimes it means stopping mid run to fix something that came loose.

So decide how much you intend to use it, how well you want it to function, and how much money you have, then buy accordingly.

[Mike Heidrick]

For a coupl emore days the Steel city is $259.99 and free shipping from woodcrafts and comes with four chisels!! That would be my selection for a benchtop!! That is a great deal IMO.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2020302/21201/Steel-City-Bench-Mortiser-wChisels.aspx

http://www.woodcraft.com/Images/products/835218.jpg

For the comments on the $400 plus PM701....

The powermatic 701 has
simple bit/chisel setting bars built in.
Adjustable Y fence
Rollers for X movement
great hold down capacity due to split fence design
up to 3/4" bushing capability
Sharpening cone built in
Storage for chisels, bushings, and chuk key
3/4 hp motor
Riser block that can be added to raise capacity
nice long handle
large table area with T slots that the rollers use
base option to make it more floor like
weighs double the 44lb smaller benchtops

It is easily as nice as any benchtop mortisers out there except the $550 tilting general benchtop.

I owned the PM701 before I bought the Jet floor model.

The PM719 was the same as the Jet JFM-5 (floor model jet we all bought for $350) and was replaced by the PM719T which has a tilting head design.

The Grizzly, Jet, Delta all have 1/2hp motors.

Shop fox has one similar to the delta type for $249 and it is 3/4hp.

[glenn bradley]

I did a lot of research and asked a lot of owners and read all the reviews. The General was the only BT model that got consistently good reviews and only then with good chisels in use. The Mortise Pal made sense for me and I am quite happy with it. Quick, repeatable and takes up very little room when not in use.

[Todd Hoppe]

+1 on the Steel City. I bought it for a mission style crib project I just (nearly) finished. There are about 88 mortise and tenon joints on it. The Steel City worked like a champ, although I destroyed (mostly user error, part using a small bit on ) one hollow chisel and two bits.

Holbren had a reasonably priced replacement though.

[Mike Wilkins]

My vote is for a seperate unit for mortising only. The one time you have your drill press set up for mortising, you will have a need to drill into a project. This means taking down the mortising attachment to drill. There are some really good benchtop mortisers on the market these days that will serve you well. I have the Powermatic benchtop model(forgot the model #) and it is a fine piece of machinery.
Good luck with your decision.

[Paul Johnstone]

I think loose tenon joinery is a lot simpler than traditional M&T jointery. ....

Here's one of the many jigs that you can use to cut loose tenon joinery with a router.. http://www.patwarner.com/mortiser.html
There's other similiar plans all over the net.

Another thing you might want to consider. Leigh has a new FMT out that is made from steel instead of aluminum and is much less expensive. It can cut both tennons and mortises. The price is kind of close to what a benchtop mortiser + a table saw tenoning jig would cost.. However, you also need a router for it and spiral upcut bits. It's a really nice jig though. Worth looking into.

[Jamie Buxton]

I cut most mortises with a plunge router eqipped with an edge guide. That's it. Compared to a dedicated mortiser, the plunge router: is useful for many other things; is less expensive; takes less space; and is generally easier to set up.

[Rod Sheridan]

I have the General International non tilt head bench top mortiser.

It works well, and costs more than the other bench top models. No surprise, you get what you pay for.

As others have mentioned there are other methods of making mortises, however a hollow chisel mortiser is fast, accurate, and not noisy.

I have thought about purchasing the Hammer slot mortiser option for my planer, and if I was going to use loose tenons I would go that way.

Regards, Rod.

[george wilson]

There is (was) an English made unit that was reviewed in FWW years ago. I can't recall the name.It was much better than all the others,but also cost a lot more. None of the current crop of small mortisers have adequate hold downs,it seems.

[Rod Sheridan]

There is (was) an English made unit that was reviewed in FWW years ago. I can't recall the name.It was much better than all the others,but also cost a lot more. None of the current crop of small mortisers have adequate hold downs,it seems.

George, I'd disagree on the GI machine, nice front vise, nice double hold down.

Regards, Rod.

[Ben Martin]

There is (was) an English made unit that was reviewed in FWW years ago. I can't recall the name.It was much better than all the others,but also cost a lot more. None of the current crop of small mortisers have adequate hold downs,it seems.

You are refering to the Delta 14-600. I have been looking for one for a while now with no luck...

[Kent A Bathurst]

......... i would also argue that any mortiser without a front clamp is inherently very limited, especially with longer/heavier boards...... PM719s are pretty cheap when they come up, since they lack a sliding table.........

Ummmmmmm.....Maybe confusion as to PM model numbers, or maybe just part of the "everything PM makes is overpriced and overrated" school of thought.

My PM719 has (a) front clamp and (b) worm-and-gear-driven table movement Front-to Back (c) rack-and pinion left-to-right

First purchase was Delta benchtop mortiser. Alignment, clamping, and overall "beefiness" wasn't what I wanted - but I'd guess it was in-range for the price class I chose. My replacement PM719 was pricey, but a terriffic piece of equipment and worth every penny - for me - Stickley repros with lots of thru tenons, etc. Completely different class of product. It came with a floor stand/cabinet that I have never used.

Without the thru-tenons, I'd think that a router and cut tenons, or (based on what I've read) router + loose tenons would be a good choice. Also, as I've gained experience and confidence, the DP plus a good set of mortise chisels is frequently the way I go.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Scott - if you decide on a DP system or a dedicated machine, be sure to take the time to "tune" the chisels before using. This means getting a sharpening system (should include some sort of cone) to sharpen the insides of the chisels, and also hone the outside edges till they're perfectly flat. There has been a lot of feedback about chisels and mortisers performing poorly before, but very well after preparing the chisels.

[Joe Mioux]

Two weeks ago, I pulled out my drill press mortising jig.

I set it up, used it. Worked great. The key was keeping the chisel square to the fence. I think if someone had to make a lot mortises, that making a jigs with certain depths of cut, and setbacks would make the dp mortise jig more efficient when you had to switch back to drilling needs.

joe

[Don Jeansonne]

I have a Delta mortiser. The machine is very good and am please with the performance. I did have a lot of trouble getting an undamaged machine -- had to return two deliveries from Amazon. But Amazon took care of the problem.
I would not go the drill press route.
I also think that the router option does have its' place and benefits but the dedicated mortiser is very easy to use, convienent, and quiter.

[Ben Martin]

Hopefully the Steel City is as good as you guys have been saying I am heading out in a bit to pick one up! I tried setting up my plunge router earlier to make mortises for an ottoman and what a pain; I intend on building mostly A&C and Mission style furniture so it will definitely get a workout.

[Jim Tincher]

Generally speaking there are two problems with the DP setup.... the first is the time it takes to switch between the two functions. If you do this often it becomes tedious. Secondly not all DP's have a "robust" quill assembly for the additional torque that mortising requires. If the mfr of your DP offers one then the quill is probably good enough.

As for mortisers most people will recommend what they own. I happen to own the Steel City. Up until I bought mine the Delta cast iron bedded mortiser had been the best value in benchtops but when Steel City came out that changed. The table is larger than most, it has an excellent stock support system along with convenient bit and tool storage.

[Steve Rowe]

Scott, having owned and used both, definitely go for the dedicated mortising machine. Whatever brand you choose will be much superior to a drill press attachment. The reason drill presses are not very good for this is the length of the quill handle. Look at your drill press quill and then at a hollow chisel mortising machine - you wll see that the quill handle is much longer allowing you to apply more force to the chisel. Additionally, a lot of drill presses have weak tables (typically the flat square tables with very little support webbing underneath). These will flex and possibly break under hollow chisel mortiser loads. You will also see a difference in the columns between the machines. Drill press columns are tubes whereas most all hollow chisel mortising machines have gone to an I-beam type design. The reason for this is they are much more rigid. Hopefully this helps.
Steve


My first woodworking project will be Shaker style kitchen cabinets, followed by Mission sytyle bedroom furniture. I'm debating whether to buy a drill press mortising jig, or lay out a few more dollars and get a benchtop mortising machine (Grizzly or Shop Fox?). I've heard it's a PITA to set up the DP jig, and difficult to get repeatable mortising. Does anyone agree with this? I plan to continue woodworking for many years and want to get a good setup now rather than having to upgrade later. The dedicated benchtop appeals to me but is it overkill for the projects I have planned? If I go the benchtop route, are Grizzly or Shop Fox good quality machines? I looked at a Powermatic but it's $449 which is more than I want to spend (unless of course the Griz and Shop Fox are garbage).

Thanks very much for your help!

[george wilson]

I'm not familiar with the hold downs on the GI machine. The English made unit I was thinking of wasn't a Delta. Wish I could think of it,but just can't.

P.S.: I just Googled the GI mortiser. Yes,it is better than the run of the mill bench top mortisers. More like a floor model in the hold down method. I cannot pull up anything on the elusive English mortiser I am trying to recall.

I just use my milling machine to cut mortises,and quickly square off the corners with a chisel. At work we had an old Yates American floor model. Before that,a borrowed old Monarch. Those were real machines,with foot pedals to stomp on.

I have bad shoulders,and wish someone made a mortiser that didn't use pull down levers. Till I find an old floor model for myself,I'll just keep milling them out.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I have the delta mortiser and I'm very happy with it. Looks like it's going for $290 on Amazon.

[Mark Drayton]

George - was it Multico you're thinking of?

Mark

[Brian W Evans]

Several people have suggested routers with edge guide and/or mortisepal. I own a mortisepal and would buy one again in a heartbeat. However, the OP said that he wants to make mission furniture. Often, that requires numerous square slats(correct term?). I know this can be done by either squaring the mortise or rounding the end of the slats, but if he's not invested in a tool yet, it makes sense to go with the one that will get the job done without a lot of added steps. If I made mission furniture or some other style with similar design elements, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a dedicated mortiser.

I will agree with the numerous other posters who say stay away from the DP attachments. I'll also add that I'm a fan of General tools and would either go with them or PM, money permitting.

Best of luck.

[george wilson]

Yes,it was Multico. I don't know if they are still made,but easy to Google.

[Mark Drayton]

Yes, the Multico's are still made although they were unavailable for a time and I know production transferred to a different part of the country so perhaps the design and company name were bought out. I don't have one myself. I used to have the Record bench-top mortiser - also UK made at the time - but didn't like the combined fence and hold-down system which was difficult to adjust accurately and firmly. I now use a heavy bronze shop-built hollow chisel adapter for my RF45 mill drill. The mill drill is much more substantially made than a DP and (so far!) stands up well to the forces of mortising. Fitting or removing the chisel holder is very quick. I have an auxiliary table with vice clamping/hold down and fence working in conjunction with the XY table and used with the Digital Read Out it provides a very high level of accuracy. Of course if or when I'm happy with round ended mortices of modest depth, I can just use an end mill directly in the mill drill.

As others have said, part of the secret to successful hollow chisel mortising seems to be in the chisel itself and in its honing. I have better success with Sheffield Clico chisels than with the far eastern offerings.

Mark

[Neal Clayton]

Ummmmmmm.....Maybe confusion as to PM model numbers, or maybe just part of the "everything PM makes is overpriced and overrated" school of thought.

My PM719 has (a) front clamp and (b) worm-and-gear-driven table movement Front-to Back (c) rack-and pinion left-to-right

First purchase was Delta benchtop mortiser. Alignment, clamping, and overall "beefiness" wasn't what I wanted - but I'd guess it was in-range for the price class I chose. My replacement PM719 was pricey, but a terriffic piece of equipment and worth every penny - for me - Stickley repros with lots of thru tenons, etc. Completely different class of product. It came with a floor stand/cabinet that I have never used.

Without the thru-tenons, I'd think that a router and cut tenons, or (based on what I've read) router + loose tenons would be a good choice. Also, as I've gained experience and confidence, the DP plus a good set of mortise chisels is frequently the way I go.

i may be mistaken on the number, maybe it was a 719A? i know there's a non tilt PM model that was made for a while without a sliding table, that was priced a few hundred less than the standard model.

either way, when searching for the older model, i came across this, which is a pretty slick solution to making a lesser mortiser alot better ;)...

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/10684

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I love my benchtop mortiser, I tend to do more mortise and tenon joinery now that I have it...

[Kent A Bathurst]

i may be mistaken on the number, maybe it was a 719A? i know there's a non tilt PM model that was made for a while without a sliding table, that was priced a few hundred less than the standard model.

either way, when searching for the older model, i came across this, which is a pretty slick solution to making a lesser mortiser alot better ;)...

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/10684

Nah - they make a 701 - prolly someting comparable before with a different #. My 719A is the (discontinued) non-tilt predecessor to the 791T - still has the table as I described. That link is a pretty doggone cool, though!!

[Brian William]

Well I thought the same thing on BTM. Hard to or a pita to set up and the results were so so. I did a lot of research and decided to jump. So I bought a Steel City unit. Spent the afternoon setting and getting it dialed in. It comes with four chisels and initially though I would need to up grade to better quality chisels. I polished the outside to a mirror finish, honed the inside. Then relived the inside corners with a very small diamond rotary file. Sharpened the auger bit. This thing goes through white oak like it's cheese. I first cut 4 mortises 3/8x 11/2 x 5". I also had the auger bit extended out past the chisel a good 1/8 of an inch. The bit was just warm when they cuts were done. An old ship wright told me that the majority of issues are associated with the bits not sharp enough or not extended enough through the chise. The machine is 1/2 HP and seem to be more then adequate. All in all I couldn't not be happier with my new toy.