Horizontal mortiser craigslist score

[david brum]

I figured this was worth the morning to retrieve. I'd been thinking how nice a horizontal mortiser would be, especially after building full size doors with loose tenon construction using a router and template. I'd been reading various plans for how to build a shop made one. The shop time and complexity seemed daunting for what I wanted, so it moved way down the list.

Then I saw this on last night's Seattle craigslist. A ferry ride and a trip up the freeway later, and it was in my car. Oh, $160 and brand new (just had shop dust on it). :D
If you can't tell, it's a Grizzly 0540 horizontal boring machine, i.e. entry level horizontal mortiser.

[Neil Brooks]

Uh ... NEAT !

Great buy.

This would be on the list of tools that I'd buy "once I got all the tools that I really need."

In other words ... for many of us ... probably a pure luxury.

But ... isn't it nice to BUY a pure luxury tool ??

Congrats !

[Peter Quinn]

I figured this was worth the morning to retrieve. I'd been thinking how nice a horizontal mortiser would be, especially after building full size doors with loose tenon construction using a router and template....

Funny how hogging out deep slot mortises with a router will do that too you. I made a series of windows a while back that way, then decided I would rather avoid that sort of thing in the future and went slot mortiser my self. Looks like a nice score. You may find dowel doors work pretty well too for interior work with cope and stick or stub tenons, and horizontal machines excel at that too. Enjoy that tool!

[david brum]

Will do Peter! I'm hoping to take it for a test ride this weekend.

[John TenEyck]

Nice score. There's nothing like a slot mortiser for big door parts. Enjoy.

[david brum]

Thanks John! I'm also planning to do some chairs in the near future. This should help a bunch.

[Frank Drew]

This would be on the list of tools that I'd buy "once I got all the tools that I really need."

In other words ... for many of us ... probably a pure luxury.



I'd argue that if you do any amount of mortise and tenon work a slot mortiser would quickly prove its usefulness, much more so than a hollow chisel mortiser, IMO.

[David Kumm]

I have both, mainly because the vertical mortiser is an old Fay and Egan I can't part with bu75 I use the slot mortiser 75% of the time. If you are doing door work you have to go at it gently. A 5/8 slot in hard wood will beat you to death if you get too aggressive. The table and motor setup needs to be pretty rigid to cope with the stress related to the cutting. The dynamics of slotting endgrain vs with the grain are different enough that you will see a difference in the slots if the setup isn't secure so take it easy. Dave

[Chris Fournier]

I wouldn't part with my slot mortiser! I think that you'll really enjoy using yours!

[Jim Rimmer]

All the others passed up the opportunity so let me just say YOU SUCK!

[Jeff Duncan]

OK so I'm sometimes a little slow, maybe this has been discussed before and I missed it, but that looks to be a horizontal boring machine, which is a bit different than a slot mortiser. Can it actually be used for doing slots?

I agree with Dave. If your using a slot mortiser for doing passage doors it requires a fair bit of power and a stout machine....mine is probably 500 lbs or so of cast iron. If your going to try it with that I'd go at it very slowly and carefully to see how she does.

good luck,
JeffD

[Greg Portland]

David, nice score!

How does the bit enter the workpiece? I'm used to seeing a big lever on these kinds of machines for moving the workbed toward/away and left/right relative to the motor.

[david brum]

OK so I'm sometimes a little slow, maybe this has been discussed before and I missed it, but that looks to be a horizontal boring machine, which is a bit different than a slot mortiser. Can it actually be used for doing slots?


Apparently so, Jeff. There are a bunch of old threads discussing this unit and it's suitablility for mortising. The consensus was that it's fine for hobby use. I tried it this morning with a 1/2" birdsmouth mortising bit. Worked like a charm, although there is some slop in the table movement which I have to correct. I'll probably get some HSS end mill bits to try next.

Worst case, it would be very easy to mount a router in place of the motor. It seems to work fine for now, though.

[david brum]

How does the bit enter the workpiece? I'm used to seeing a big lever on these kinds of machines for moving the workbed toward/away and left/right relative to the motor.

It definitely does have those big levers for X and Y axis. It has a hand wheel for the Z (up and down) axis.