Phillip Ngan
10-19-2010, 1:33 AM
I bought a Jessem Zip Slot Mill when they were discounted at Woodcraft a few weeks backs. My experience with it was favourable.
I mounted the mill on a jig which helped to hold the work piece:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oSBhT9FI/AAAAAAAAAhk/EoKyD2vjdWs/s512/IMG_3898.JPG
I'm making a Mission style bed, and here are the rails and stiles of the bed head
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oRUXrBHI/AAAAAAAAAhY/XzHILhr-UR0/s512/IMG_3894.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oRt4nkVI/AAAAAAAAAhc/VPugvvxgRSQ/IMG_3895.JPG
I made my own loose tenons out of maple. they are 1/4" thick and 1" wide. I used a bullnose router bit for the sides, and 90 deg bit for the glue reliefs.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oR_vCXLI/AAAAAAAAAhg/4dKl5dd99vg/IMG_3896.JPG
Here are my impressions of this system.
Pros:
The slots were cut efficiently
There was no dust. The dust collection worked very well with my shop vac.
The end results are clean and consistent
Easy to cut slots in the stiles
The stop that controls the length of the slot was rock solid. I was fearing that with constant knocking of the mill against the stop it would travel. It did not.
Cons:
In general it is tricky to position the rail in the correct position under the cutter. The main "cross-hairs" used to register the work piece isn't actual able to be seen when the slot length is short (in my case 1"). Fortunately in my case, the spacing between the stiles is 3", which enabled me to use another set of "cross-hairs" which coincidently happened to be 3" apart from the other set of cross hairs.
The 3/8" mill bit didn't not fit into its sleeve. Woodcraft sent me a replacement bit, but the issues was with the sleeve. A replacement for that is enroute to be now.
Jury is out
The use of specialized bits. In 20 years time, will the system be moth balled because I can't get replacement bits. This is were a system like mortise pal is superiort. However, I've bought a Kreg pocket hole system and never had misgivings about the specialized bit, so perhaps I'm over thinking this.
The 1/2" bit requires a 1/2 chuck. My drill only has a 3/8 chuck. A drill with a 1/2 chuck might be a bit top heavy.
The Jessem sample loose tenons fit nicely into the slots. With the 1/4 bit, the slots are a consistent 0.252"-0.253" range. I made my own tenons, and it required patience to get the tenons to that thickness. A tenon that was 0.250" is clearly undersized and rattles in the slot. I bought a Lee Valley loose tenons just out of interest. These are 0.248" in width and clearly rattles around in the slot. So making your own tenons is the way to go.
Overall I'm pretty pleased with the mill in terms of how it performed and ease of use. It was a lot less expensive than the mortise pal. However, the simplicity of the mortise pal is appealing.
I mounted the mill on a jig which helped to hold the work piece:
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oSBhT9FI/AAAAAAAAAhk/EoKyD2vjdWs/s512/IMG_3898.JPG
I'm making a Mission style bed, and here are the rails and stiles of the bed head
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oRUXrBHI/AAAAAAAAAhY/XzHILhr-UR0/s512/IMG_3894.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oRt4nkVI/AAAAAAAAAhc/VPugvvxgRSQ/IMG_3895.JPG
I made my own loose tenons out of maple. they are 1/4" thick and 1" wide. I used a bullnose router bit for the sides, and 90 deg bit for the glue reliefs.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_hh0uhac1VlQ/TL0oR_vCXLI/AAAAAAAAAhg/4dKl5dd99vg/IMG_3896.JPG
Here are my impressions of this system.
Pros:
The slots were cut efficiently
There was no dust. The dust collection worked very well with my shop vac.
The end results are clean and consistent
Easy to cut slots in the stiles
The stop that controls the length of the slot was rock solid. I was fearing that with constant knocking of the mill against the stop it would travel. It did not.
Cons:
In general it is tricky to position the rail in the correct position under the cutter. The main "cross-hairs" used to register the work piece isn't actual able to be seen when the slot length is short (in my case 1"). Fortunately in my case, the spacing between the stiles is 3", which enabled me to use another set of "cross-hairs" which coincidently happened to be 3" apart from the other set of cross hairs.
The 3/8" mill bit didn't not fit into its sleeve. Woodcraft sent me a replacement bit, but the issues was with the sleeve. A replacement for that is enroute to be now.
Jury is out
The use of specialized bits. In 20 years time, will the system be moth balled because I can't get replacement bits. This is were a system like mortise pal is superiort. However, I've bought a Kreg pocket hole system and never had misgivings about the specialized bit, so perhaps I'm over thinking this.
The 1/2" bit requires a 1/2 chuck. My drill only has a 3/8 chuck. A drill with a 1/2 chuck might be a bit top heavy.
The Jessem sample loose tenons fit nicely into the slots. With the 1/4 bit, the slots are a consistent 0.252"-0.253" range. I made my own tenons, and it required patience to get the tenons to that thickness. A tenon that was 0.250" is clearly undersized and rattles in the slot. I bought a Lee Valley loose tenons just out of interest. These are 0.248" in width and clearly rattles around in the slot. So making your own tenons is the way to go.
Overall I'm pretty pleased with the mill in terms of how it performed and ease of use. It was a lot less expensive than the mortise pal. However, the simplicity of the mortise pal is appealing.