Catch-up pictures

[John Miliunas]

No, not pics of a Heinz bottle of the red stuff. Been a bit negligent in taking pics lately and, as the rules clearly state (that's what I've been told by Tyler, anyway!), if there ain't a pic, it ain't real! :rolleyes:

This is primarily for you electron burners who have lately thought I was hanging the power company out to dry. Fear not! Power cords and batteries are still a great part of my shop and will continue to be so wherever appropriate, which is still most of the time!:D After my workbench project, I decided that enough was enough and asking that rather in-acurate C-man drill press to continue duty as a mortiser, just wasn't going to cut it. After confering with someone much wiser and more experienced than myself (thanks Mark S.!), I decided that the Delta 14-651 should fit the bill nicely. So, last week, I had Brown deliver the nice Delta benchtop mortiser!:) I had read some horror stories at Amazon about damaged units and such, but decided to take a chance, as they still had the best price around. Mine came delivered unscathed! Setup was relatively easy, though I did run into a slight issue with one of the slots under the table, where the slide bolt runs the length to tighten down the fence. It would not move past a certain point. Closer examination revealed that there was a slight protrusion, thus narrowing the slot. A couple minutes with the Dremel and all was good. I haven't had an opportunity to run it through the paces yet, but once I do, I'll try to have a more indepth report posted.:)

Also, in the process of building the bench, I found that my tolerance for the POS C-man 18v cordless I have, had come to a very frustrating and final end! As luck would have it, Unca Bob had given me a heads up on a great closeout price for the Festool 12V TDD drill. I already have one and already know of its performance. So, I dedicated the C-man to go on to the garage sale this Spring and ordered up the Festool! Between it, the other Fes drill and my Ridgid 12V, I'm set for bear! Thanks for taking a peek and allowing me to gloat a little!:) :cool:

[Tim Morton]

Nice score Sir John!! A little retail therapy to get over the end of football season? I've got 2 more games to go with the pats...I'm feeling pretty confident, but one game at a time. I have had my eye on the Mortiser, can't wait to hear how you like it.

[John Miliunas]

Nice score Sir John!! A little retail therapy to get over the end of football season? I've got 2 more games to go with the pats...I'm feeling pretty confident, but one game at a time. I have had my eye on the Mortiser, can't wait to hear how you like it.
LOL!:D Nice try, Tim, but both pieces were ordered *before* the end of "my" season! But yeah, the therapy is still nice, regardless! I did feel just a bit better after yesterday's performance by the Eagles, though.:) :cool:

[Mark Singer]

John,

Great stuff! The mortiser saves a lot of time... that is a beauty!!! I can see they improved the fence and hold down which will really help.

[Keith Christopher]

John,


I have the same mortiser and you will love it ! I used it on the maple headboard I made and man, it saved me HOURS of mortising !!


Keith

[Doug Shepard]

Congratulations on the new baby. I've got the older version of the Delta mortiser. It looks like they've done a few improvements since mine. As well as the better fence & holddown scheme, on my version I got really frustrated with the allen set screws for the collet and the depth stop rod being too soft and rounding out. After a while it was tough to get the allen wrench to bite. I ended up getting a couple of those metric ratcheting handles from Grizly (think they were 8 mm) and substituting them for the set screws and converted it to totally tooless adjustment. From what I can see on Delta's website it looks like they at least went to that type handle for the depth stop rod.

[Glenn Clabo]

John,
I've had mine for a while and love it. Very solid and heavy (notice the big table vs others) enough to plop it on the bench, pull up a chair, and just go to work. Did 50 square holes a couple of weeks ago...no sweat and even listened to all of my David Wilcox collection without ear plugs.

When I got mine these guys gave me a tip or two that helped...here's the link.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=4919&highlight=Delta+14-651

[John Miliunas]

John,
I've had mine for a while and love it. Very solid and heavy (notice the big table vs others) enough to plop it on the bench, pull up a chair, and just go to work. Did 50 square holes a couple of weeks ago...no sweat and even listened to all of my David Wilcox collection without ear plugs.

When I got mine these guys gave me a tip or two that helped...here's the link.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=4919&highlight=Delta+14-651
Thanks for the nice comments, gentlemen! :) BTW, if *anyone* out there has this or any other mortiser, you *have* to check out this article by our own Tom Hintz: http://www.newwoodworker.com/setupmort.html . Wonderfully done and gives a fantastic "guided tour" to tweaking and properly setting up a mortiser. GREAT job, Tom!:) :cool:

[Don Selke]

It must be contagious John I have to mount mine also. Different color and different brand but they are both good machines. By the way John, do not put that shovel away yet!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[Dale Thompson]

Hey Spring,
What are you doing down there in "Madtown Heaven"? Are you starting a tool museum or what? :confused: :confused:

Why don't you show some pics of the stuff that you are MAKING? I can get tool pics in a catalog. :rolleyes:

When I got my DW788 for $xxx, I at least made a puzzle for the grandson. I know that I could have gotten a better puzzle at Wal-Mart for a buck two fifty but that ain't the point. ;) :o :)

Is your daughter the ONLY one in your house who can actually USE all those neat tools? I guess that we will have to wait until summer vacation to get the REAL facts! :confused: :confused: :eek: :)

Dale T.

[John Miliunas]

Hey Spring,
What are you doing down there in "Madtown Heaven"? Are you starting a tool museum or what?

Why don't you show some pics of the stuff that you are MAKING? I can get tool pics in a catalog.

When I got my DW788 for $xxx, I at least made a puzzle for the grandson. I know that I could have gotten a better puzzle at Wal-Mart for a buck two fifty but that ain't the point.

Is your daughter the ONLY one in your house who can actually USE all those neat tools? I guess that we will have to wait until summer vacation to get the REAL facts! :confused: :confused: :eek: :)

Dale T.
You just wait there, Pesh! She'll.....errrrrr....I mean, *I'll* show you what can be done with some of those tools! (Whew...Almost messed up there!:eek: ):) :cool:

Hey Don, I *almost* went with the Jet, but the Delta had a better price at the time, so there you have it. Yeah, they're both nice machines! Have fun with yours, as well!:) :cool:

[Jerry Olexa]

Looks good John...Should be a big time saver for you. I'm still doing mortising with a plunge router and a jig. Someday...Good move!

[Jim Becker]

Handy tool to have...I used mine (the Jet) first when I was building my miter station a number of years ago, although I cut the first two mortises by hand just for the experience. The rest of them turned out better/faster with the nice machine!! :D I now just keep the 1/4" chisel in the mortiser as that's the size I use the most for the Shaker style tables that most often use M&T in my shop.

Don't forget to get the honing stones for the chisels from Lee Valley if you have not done so already...makes a huge difference, especially when the wood is softer. You really want those things as sharp as possible to avoid crushing.

[John Miliunas]

Thanks guys! I'll be sure to get those stones from LV and maybe even check out the X-Y vise that David uses. Spent all evening working on a school project with my daughter, so no time for "shop nonsense", but I'll get there!:) :cool:

[Steve Clardy]

So----Wheres the projects John?? All I see is tools.???? Lol

[John Miliunas]

So----Wheres the projects John?? All I see is tools.???? Lol
Well now, my last major project was the workbench http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=15416&highlight=learning+bench , though much of the other stuff between then and now has just been minor "quickies" for around the house or shop. Not worth the time or effort to post, as they're nothing of real interest. I did start working on LOML's sewing workstation, but that's just mainly been milling a bunch of rough lumber and gluing it together, thus far. When it gets along farther, I'll put something out here. OK?:) :cool:

[craig carlson]

Hi,

I also have been thinking about getting one of these but I'd like to know If they are that much better than the drill press attachment that is available. Aside from the set up time required for the drill press attachment what's the difference? Speed of cut? Accuracy? etc.

Craig
Sebastopol, Ca.