Hollow Chisel Mortiser

[Mike Metz]

With the "Golden Black Friday " Sale going on now, im gonna pull the trigger on a floor standing mortiser. But now im stuck between the Powermatic 719t & the Shop Fox W1743. I have alot of grizzly tools and im tending to lean the way of the shop fox, because they are basically the same brand and have the same features. My problem is that there are no reviews or any type of feedback on this machine, but the Powermatic seems to be a favorite from those that posted reviews on it. So im looking for any feedback from anyone that has used either item, has either one, or is just a user of the brand and has feedback of the quality i can expect.

Thanks

[Paul McGaha]

Hi Mike,

I've had the Powermatic 719A (Non tilting table) for 6 or 7 years now. Love it. No issues, downtime, repairs with it at all. I'm glad I bought it and would recommend it highly.

Mine was the first Powermatic tool I ever bought. Bought it after reading a review of hollow chisel mortisers by American Woodworker magaizine. Based on the performance of my 719A other Powermatic tools followed.

Good luck with it.

PHM

[Stephen Cherry]

I have a non-tilting 719 also, works as advertised (pretty good). You can't argue with the griz though in terms of after sale support.

[Mike Heidrick]

I have the Jet floor mortiser with the 719 stamped into the casting.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I've had the Powermatic 719A (Non tilting table) for 12 or 13 years now. Love it. No issues, downtime, repairs with it at all. I'm glad I bought it and would recommend it highly.

Ditto, with one small modification.

[Thomas L. Miller]

Mike,
I have the 719T. It's nice. It performs "as requested" without hesitation. The key to using any HCM to its maximum potential is using well sharpened chisels.
Cheers,
Tom

[Wally Alexander]

+1 on the Powermatic. Had mine for about 10 years now, and have had no problems. Love it.

[McKay Sleight]

I personally own the 719 and when I taught I had two in the shop. Being high school student proof was proof enough for me to purchase my own. If you only plan on using the machine infrequently, then the shop fox would do. If you plan on using it often, then the PM. The castings may look alike, but they are not the same on the inside.

[Paul Cahill]

This doesn't exactly answer the original question, but I just ordered the 719t based on all the good reviews and the current sale. Time will tell..........

[Paul McGaha]

This doesn't exactly answer the original question, but I just ordered the 719t based on all the good reviews and the current sale. Time will tell..........

Hope you like it Paul. I think you will.

PHM

[rob durfos]

anyone had experience with the Grizzly model G4814 ? This same machine looks similar to renditions from Lobo and Bridgeport. At first glance , seems to be a little heavier looking than the Powermatic 719. Comments - thanks

[Paul Cahill]

anyone had experience with the Grizzly model G4814 ?

That's a beast!

[rob durfos]

Yes Paul , at first appearance the G4814 does look pretty stout. I wish someone that owns one would take a second to comment. I'm still looking at old iron as well and will make a decision soon . It's nice to buy new , plug it in and go to work, but my shop has both old iron and new and the mix has served me well. Not to stray from the post , if anyone else has had experience with a heavy duty floor-standing mortiser of any kind , your comments would be welcome . Thanks-

[Kent A Bathurst]

FWIW.......

One thing about my 719 that, on occasion, has been annoying - the way the material clamp works. This style is a face clamp. Other machines have a vertical hold-down clamp. The face clamp is very fast and very easy to use. But - there can be a downside. On deep plunges, I have sometimes had trouble with the workpiece riding up, rather than the chisel cleanly pulling out. I know my chisels are sharp, and I generally put a bit of camellia oil on the chisel for lube. Maybe its the friction inherent in QSWO, or maybe just the depth.

In any event....I had to make a dozen 2" x 2" mortises in 4" tall material [breadboard ends for a dining table]. So, yesterday, I - finally - stopped and took 15 minutes to deal with the issue. Which means - no trips to the hardware, and blocks came out of the scrap pile and through the CMS only. If I had spent more time, and gotten different length bolts, it would not look so cobbled together But - everything came from on-hand inventory.


First - I pulled the MDF base board from the mortiser table, and drilled and inserted 4 x 5/16" tee-nuts up through the bottom, then put the base back on the mortiser.

Then, I took two blocks ~ 2" x 2" x 4" long. Each got a deep [on-hand bolt length required this] countersunk through-hole for a 5/16" machine screw to mate with the tee-nuts. Each got a 5/16" tee-nut of its own, installed on the bottom, with a 5/16" hex-head bolt through the block into that tee-nut.


214770




Now, I had a mounting block for Jorgy 3" hold-down clamps. You can see a 1/2" shim under the clamp - again, on-hand bolt length v. scrap pile candidates. The Jorgys just slip on/off over the hex head, and will rotate around the bolt. 1/4" bolts would probably work, but 5/16" is exactly right. The machine screw into the base's tee nut is snug, not heroically tight, so the block will rotate. The block's rotation plus the clamp's rotation let's me move closer to or away from the back of the table. I can rotate the block 90* so that I get ~ 4" clearance. If I have to remove them entirely, its just 2 machine screws. I put 4 tee-nuts into the MDF base for....well....not sure......I guess in case I had very short parts. But I had the tee-nuts, and I had the base off, so what the heck.

10 years late on this one. Works great.


214769

[Paul Cahill]

10 years late on this one. Works great.


That's a great idea. I had wondered if holding the board down might be an issue, but as I hadn't seen any mention of it, I had assumed it was not a problem. One thought that had run through my mind was to try putting something with a little grip such as leather on the face of the clamp.

Thanks,
Paul

[Stephen Cherry]

anyone had experience with the Grizzly model G4814 ? This same machine looks similar to renditions from Lobo and Bridgeport. At first glance , seems to be a little heavier looking than the Powermatic 719. Comments - thanks

I've got the bridgewood version of the big griz, and it is just much bigger and better than the 719.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?152312-Hollow-Chisel-Gloat&

It is very much easier to produce square holes than the pm 719. I got it cheap on fleabay, and really only bought it because it was such a good deal. That said, 719 would is an OK machine, and functionally makes about the same hole. In my opinion, a hollow chisel mortiser becomes a good tool when it has a good clamp and xy table to keep the reference surface of the wood against the fence. The 719 does this just fine. The difference is the range of adjustability, and how hard it is to pull the lever. I have my 719 out on a long term loan, but if I ever choose to downsize, it will be out with the bridgewood, and back with the 719.

Also, as for tilting, I'd rather use blocks to tilt, rather than the machine.

[David Kumm]

Old mortisers seem to hold some value. Oliver, Greenlee, Northfield, Wysong, General are all big powerful units. The Yates, Oliver 194, and Wallace were a little smaller. I run a Fay and Egan 509 from the late 1920s. With a 3hp motor it is considered small by those standards. Most were foot operated or automatic. Seems like $1000 to $2500 for a big old one in good condition with all the parts. They were direct drive so running them with a vfd works well. I've found that 50 hz seems to be the sweet spot for the F and E. I paid $400 and had to put about $200-300 into it to replicate the bushings for the chisel and hold downs. I'm a sucker for anything with oil bath bearings and frankly use my Felder slot mortiser 90% of the time. If you find a reasonable slot mortiser, that is the way to go. Dave

[Paul McGaha]

FWIW.......

One thing about my 719 that, on occasion, has been annoying - the way the material clamp works. This style is a face clamp. Other machines have a vertical hold-down clamp. The face clamp is very fast and very easy to use. But - there can be a downside. On deep plunges, I have sometimes had trouble with the workpiece riding up, rather than the chisel cleanly pulling out. I know my chisels are sharp, and I generally put a bit of camellia oil on the chisel for lube. Maybe its the friction inherent in QSWO, or maybe just the depth.

In any event....I had to make a dozen 2" x 2" mortises in 4" tall material [breadboard ends for a dining table]. So, yesterday, I - finally - stopped and took 15 minutes to deal with the issue. Which means - no trips to the hardware, and blocks came out of the scrap pile and through the CMS only. If I had spent more time, and gotten different length bolts, it would not look so cobbled together But - everything came from on-hand inventory.


First - I pulled the MDF base board from the mortiser table, and drilled and inserted 4 x 5/16" tee-nuts up through the bottom, then put the base back on the mortiser.

Then, I took two blocks ~ 2" x 2" x 4" long. Each got a deep [on-hand bolt length required this] countersunk through-hole for a 5/16" machine screw to mate with the tee-nuts. Each got a 5/16" tee-nut of its own, installed on the bottom, with a 5/16" hex-head bolt through the block into that tee-nut.


214770




Now, I had a mounting block for Jorgy 3" hold-down clamps. You can see a 1/2" shim under the clamp - again, on-hand bolt length v. scrap pile candidates. The Jorgys just slip on/off over the hex head, and will rotate around the bolt. 1/4" bolts would probably work, but 5/16" is exactly right. The machine screw into the base's tee nut is snug, not heroically tight, so the block will rotate. The block's rotation plus the clamp's rotation let's me move closer to or away from the back of the table. I can rotate the block 90* so that I get ~ 4" clearance. If I have to remove them entirely, its just 2 machine screws. I put 4 tee-nuts into the MDF base for....well....not sure......I guess in case I had very short parts. But I had the tee-nuts, and I had the base off, so what the heck.

10 years late on this one. Works great.


214769

That's a good idea you had Kent.

PHM

[Van Huskey]

At the 1,000 to 1,200 range the PM is pretty much the gold (or mustard) standard. Not a whole lot out there (new) I would bother with over 1K until you get up to near 3K. PM seems to do mortisers really well as I consider the 401 the best of breed in the bench top arena as well.