Dedicated Mortise Machine

[John Brennaman]

I'm looking to purchase a dedicated mortise machine. I don't really want a bechtop machine unless the free-staniding ones are cost prohibitive. Anybody out there have one that they love or hate?

Thanks, John

[John Thompson]

Oh yeah.. would be reluctant to trade my floor model for a winnning lotto ticket. It gets used about every week as I am retired and get to spend 6-8 hrs. a day in the shop. Love the speed.. clamping.. long travel right-left-front-back and up and down on mine. Mine will also do 5" deep mortices and handle 1" hollow mortise chisel bits.

Did I mention I love my floor mortiser. Link below...

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=1339183&postcount=1

[Neil Brooks]

I'm looking to purchase a dedicated mortise machine. I don't really want a bechtop machine unless the free-staniding ones are cost prohibitive. Anybody out there have one that they love or hate?



"One" .... meaning ... free-standing, benchtop, or either ??

A test of a few of the benchtop models is ... here (http://americanwoodworker.com/userdocs/articles/200008/tooltest/page5.html).

Mine's the Grizzly G0645.

AFTER ... a rather ridiculous, and showstopping QC issue (*reasonably* well handled, by Grizzly), I DO love the machine. Accurate, powerful, fairly quiet.

I spent a fair bit of time sharpening and polishing the chisels. Made a HUGE difference.

[Troy Turner]

I have the steel city one. First one I've owned, but did a lot of research before I bought it...plus it was onsale with $20 shipping so that helped out too :) Fence is true to the table, has rollers guides to keep work flush against the fence, micro adjust, and alot of power. It's a bench top so to speak, but once you mount it on the bench, you don't move it. Guess depending on what you were going to use it for would determine if you need to spend the extra money on a free-standing one.

[Rod Sheridan]

I've owned the General International benchtop machine for 8 or 9 years.

It's the consistently ranked top machine for the bench top models.

Mine does an excellent job, I mainly use it in white oak.

Regards, Rod.

[Paul McGaha]

Hi John,

I have a Powermatic 719. It's floor standing. It's maybe 6 or 7 years old. Been great to use and own.

Good luck with your purchase.

PHM

[george wilson]

I used to have first an old Monarch floor model at work with a foot pedal. Then a Yates American with foot pedal also. I'm waiting for an old foot pedal model to turn up for my home shop. I don't care for the lever operated ones with my old shoulders. We used to have to tromp up and down on the pedal to drive a 1" chisel into maple.

For now,I mill out mortises with my milling machine,and quickly square up the corners by hand.

[Ted Wong]

So far all of the comments mention only Hollow chisel type machines. These are generally more affordable and will work well for making square or rectangular cutouts.
Slot mortisers which are more popular in Europe and available in the U.S. are not as popular in smaller shops. Probably because of price (typically +$3500.00). Nonetheless I find them to be a lot nicer to use, they leave a cleaner hole and are the "go to" machine when doing through mortising.

[Mike Reinholtz]

I just got rid of a Delta Benchtop model and have to say after owning it for over a year I found it nearly useless. I'm not a pro woodworker (I'd say more of a hobbyist), so some of it may have been operator error but I found it to be extremely limited. If I get another mortiser I think I will look more to the General International machines. They have a 1" model that is very powerful and has a wide range of adjustments for different angles. It's pricey but a huge step up from the Delta model.

On a side note, I replaced it with a Domino and couldn't be happier!

[John Brennaman]

Thanks guys. Lots of good info all of whcih will be a great help.

John

[John Fabre]

I had a Powermatic 719A for 8 years, never used it so I sold it. I think it was the best looking one out there, I really prefer cutting them by hand.

[Paul Murphy]

So far all of the comments mention only Hollow chisel type machines. These are generally more affordable and will work well for making square or rectangular cutouts.
Slot mortisers which are more popular in Europe and available in the U.S. are not as popular in smaller shops. Probably because of price (typically +$3500.00). Nonetheless I find them to be a lot nicer to use, they leave a cleaner hole and are the "go to" machine when doing through mortising.
Ted (and others with slot mortisers), I and probably others would like to hear what machines and bits you favor. As you mention there is not a lot of exposure to them in the US.

[Gary Herrmann]

The Jet JFM-5 is the PM 719a painted white. The PM markings are still visible in the cast iron on mine.

[John Ferandin]

The Domino is the go to tool for mortising in my shop unless I need something more substantial.
Then I go to the Felder FD-250. Yes, it wasn't cheap but it really is the go to tool for slot mortises and boring. It is also heavy and stable enough to cantilever an 8' door stile of white oak off of without support. I recently modified the eccentric clamps to pneumatic hold downs for under $150 (ebay parts). It lives on Zambus casters and is very easy to move around the shop as needed.

[Dave Cav]

I have a 60s vintage Newman floor (foot pedal) model. I wouldn't trade it for anything except a similar vintage Powermatic, General or Oliver.

[Rick Lizek]

http://www.lagunatools.com/mortiser-platinumhs
Over 40 years in commercial shops I've used chisel, chainsaw, and slot mortisers and the Domino. The horizontal slot mortiser is the most versatile and quickest. So easy a 5 year old could do it.

[Neal Clayton]

i have a general 75-075. build doors and windows with it, had it about a year or two now? don't remember exactly. no complaints either way.

[John Brennaman]

During my investigation I came across this slot mortiser.

http://www.lagunatools.com/mortiser-platinumhs

Don't know much about this type of mortiser. REALLLLLLLLLY stretches the budget however, if it would meet all my mortise cutting needs I could make it work. What do you experts think of this?

[Rod Sheridan]

John, as others have indicated slot mortisers can be an excellent choice in machine.

Euro combination and jointer/planer machines often have the option of adding a slot mortiser to the jointer/planer. (The end of the jointer head has a chuck to hold the mortising bit, and the 3 axis table holds the wood.

Considering that the mortising attachment costs more than the complete machine you're indicating, I would check it out very carefully.

Regards, Rod.

[Rick Fisher]

I have a floor model of generic name.. Its basically a copy of all the other copies.. lol.

What makes a big mortiser awesome is the clamping, and the built in X-Y vice. Those features are irreplaceable.. when you have them, you will not go back.

Mine has a 1hp motor.. Its more than adequate.. It however takes 3/4" shank chisels instead of the normal 5/8" Chisels.. which is okay, but they are expensive and harder to find..

I have a bunch of 5/8" chisels which I put collars over.. its goofy, but it works..

[Bill ThompsonNM]

The slot mortising discussion is interesting so I did a bit of googling.. There's plans for a nice looking multislot mortiser on Woodgears.ca (long winters I suppose lend themselves to building machines....)
I don't have time to start one now.. but hmm, I think it's going to make my list... :D

On the other hand.. I see some folks are using Grizzly's horizontal boring machine.. it seems like for about $500 that's not too bad an entry price!

[Brian Jarnell]

Ted (and others with slot mortisers), I and probably others would like to hear what machines and bits you favor. As you mention there is not a lot of exposure to them in the US.


Just sold my slot morticer and have a Domino coming on wednesday.

[Frank Drew]

The slot horizontal slot mortiser is the most versatile and quickest. That's been my experience, too, after having made mortises by most other methods. The versatility is something you have to experience and using one is so effortless that it's almost like you're drawing with it.

I had an Italian CM-72-TG (Costruzzione Mecchaniche), and I used mostly two-flute spiral upcut endmills.

I think hollow-chisel mortisers have an advantage against slot mortisers in depth of cut, so might be a good choice for a door shop; for most kinds of furniture, though, I'd much prefer a slot mortiser.

I'd love to take a Maka for a test drive one day.

[Kent A Bathurst]

.....I have a Powermatic 719. It's floor standing. It's maybe 6 or 7 years old..........

My 719A is 10 or 12 years old. But - it's never been on the base (which I still have somewhere). I have it on a long bench - works better there for me. Love it. Very heavy-duty (in this class of machine), solid, precise controls for table movement, weighs a lot - never even bolted it down. Started with the Delta benchtop - gave it away 6 months later and bought this one. HP and the table controls and accuracy is why. They don't make it anymore (AFAIK) - now it is the 719T with tilt table.

Even though this is, technically, a "floor standing" model, when someone says "floor standing" I think of one with foot-operated plunge, which the PM 719x ain't.

[Kirk Poore]

I've had nothing but great performance from my Greenlee 227. And with the autofeed you can stand there all day without wearing your foot out. Make sure you get one with the compound table, and don't forget the table clamp. At about 1300 lbs it's rock solid.

Oh, they are a wee bit scarce. Mine was built in 1928, and I had to drive to Barberton OH to pick it up. But they're out there if you look!:)

Kirk

[Thomas L. Miller]

I have the Powermatic 719T. It's great! It is a beast to get mounted onto it's stand, since it weighs in at ~200 lbs, :D but the 1hp motor makes up for that.

[Ted Wong]

Paul,
I don't have a slot mortiser at present time but have worked with one in the past if I had the money now I'd buy the Felder. But being the budget type that I am I will settle for a Rojek that retails for around $2500.00 (a lot less that a Felder at around $3800.00). Typically a slot mortiser will use a double fluted endmill type bit specially made for slot mortisers. I've used metal cutting endmill bits before in a horizontal boring machine but this tends to be slow going compared to the ones designed for munching through wood.

[Brian Jarnell]

Took mine off a Robland combi and mounted it on a RSJ.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y79/cicero1520/Mortiser1.jpg

[Jeff Duncan]

I like my Bini slot mortisers and they get used quite a bit. Having said that I'm selling one as I need the room. Much cheaper than a new one and a heck of a lot beefier than those toys selling for $1k for not much more $:D
If anyone's interested let me know.

I'm sure the Domino is handy and I almost picked one of those up too. But kinda like comparing a benchtop saw to a cabinet saw....not really the same thing.
good luck,
JeffD

[Callan Campbell]

I really like my floor model Powermatic, but I hated the benchtop Shop Fox model I got rid of. My two cents is to read a few reviews to get an idea about the differences between benchtop and the larger floor models, then try and scout them out at local stores or shops. Have someone RUN the tool with a chisel and bit mounted correctly so you can really understand how the machine is going to work, and the noise level from it. Some of the models, in either size, run much faster with the 3450RPM motors, and I think they're much noisier as a result. My vote's for a standard 1750 RPM machine, I also think it's easier on the chisels and bits to go slow, esp. if you plan on mortising lots of hardwood. Good luck with finding the demo models in a store, if there are any, it's almost always the benchtop models due to the size and weight of the floor models being more a bear to setup for display. Plus, there are probably way more benchtop models sold, so the store owners go with what sells.