First attempt to use my new Powermatic Benchtop mortiser (model 701)/

[Joe Cowan]

I reread the instructions and installed the chisel and auger. The top spacer was used as I was installing the 1/2 chisel. When I removed the spacer and slid the chisel up, it seems to be an extreme distance between the bottom of the auger and the bottom of the chisel. I was using soft cypress, so I did not hone the chisel, as it seemed extremely sharp and should be sharp enough to drill cypress. It took way too much effort to drill any square mortise, and a squeal develops when I really put some pressure on the handle. Also it get hot very fast. The bottom of the auger hole is about 1/4" below the square mortise sides. This is a start, but something is not right with my setup. I guess I may need to hone the chisel, but the distance between the auger and chisel is not right as well. I tried to split the distance between what the Powermatic spacer allowed for by about half and tried again. Not much luck. I have stopped for now as I was just practicing, and will probably hone the chisel and try again. Any advise will help.

[glenn bradley]

It is a common mistake to think that softer woods machine easier than hardwoods. Ever try to hand cut dovetails on a piece of pine? Soft wood fibers bend as opposed to shear. The number one cure for most mortiser problems is very sharp chisels and augers. Most reviews (and new owner posts) I read have trouble with the supplied chisels. Lee Valley makes a nice set but, so do the other usual cutter makers. I use mortise chisels by hand for G&G style furniture details and even then, I hone before each use and consider a set of cone shaped stones a necessity. Sharpen up and grab a hardwood scrap to test on and see if that doesn't work out better. Enjoy!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Joe,

I don't have your brand but rather a General International.

I had similar issues until I perfected 2 things:

1.The distance between leading cutting edge of the auger bit and to the cutting edge of the chisel is very critical.

2. Both the chisel and the cutting edge of the auger bit must be sharp, sharp, sharp. I use both a reamer and a diamond hone on the chisel. The reamer sharpens and insures a uniform angle and the diamond hone fine hones the cutting edge. I use a jeweler's file to sharpen the flat cutting edges on the auger bit.

Once I got those two things down, the ease of making mortises was remarkable! I built a porch swing from white oak for my wife last summer. It had somewhere between 40-50 mortises. The only structural joinery was mortise-n-tenon joints. I did stop to rehone the chisel and resharpen the bit once in the process.

[Joe Cowan]

I have the Lee Valley chisel and was surprised to cut myself getting it out of the box. It seems extremely sharp, but I will try again after honing the chisel. I have a set of Garden chairs (from Norm's plans) to build and they will be out of cypress.

[Mel Fulks]

Joe, I once had that problem with a mortiser I had successfully used many times before. Turned out that the electricians had recently wired up a new machine in the shop .....and inadvertantly made the mortiser run backwards.

[Von Bickley]

Joe,
I recently watched a video of Scott Phillips on the American Woodshop. He was building a Mission Table using white oak. When he bored his mortises with his bench-top mortiser, he used a Teflon spray on his chisel bit to keep it cool and to help it cut better. I have never done this, but it might help you.

[Joe Cowan]

Joe,
I recently watched a video of Scott Phillips on the American Woodshop. He was building a Mission Table using white oak. When he bored his mortises with his bench-top mortiser, he used a Teflon spray on his chisel bit to keep it cool and to help it cut better. I have never done this, but it might help you.


Thanks, I was going to do something like that once I got the chisels honed. It looks like this is harder than it appears watching Norm bang them out on his show.

[Mike Schuch]

It looks like this is harder than it appears watching Norm bang them out on his show.

It always is!!!!

[Michael Heffernan]

Definitely hone the Lee Valley chisels and try again. I have the same mortiser and the Lee Valley chisel set. I used honing cones (from Lee Valley) to sharpen the inside of the chisels and then flattened the burrs on the outer four faces with 220 grit. Sharpen the inside again with the fine grit cone, then flatten outer faces again, moving up to 1000 grit. Make sure you use a hard, very flat surface to flatten the outer faces. I use the CI base of the mortiser, put my sandpaper on it and rub out the burrs. They cut so much better than out of the box. I make a point to sharpen them often, if I am cutting a lot of mortises (every 20 or so mortises). Use your drill press on the lowest speed to sharpen with the cones. Make sure your table is square to the cone, make a block to hold the chisel shank square to the table and hone with the cones. Only takes a minute.
Here is an article from Popular Woodworking about honing the chisels.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/tools/hollow-mortise-chisel-tune-up

As for the distance between the chisel and bit ends, I don't use the spacer provided on the PM701. I mostly use a nickel as the spacer. Softer woods produce larger chips, so I use a quarter as the spacer, but I mostly mortise hardwoods. The sharper the chisels, the finer the chips will be, allowing proper ejection through the chisel slot.
Here is an article on setting up your mortiser.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/setupmort.html

Hope this helps.

[HANK METZ]

I used a Jet mortiser for my Bahamas shutter project made of Cypress too. No matter what I tried I had a miserable time trying to machine that stuff, it simply refused to flow out the chisel properly. I finally ended up using the "peck" method and a continuous stream of the air hose to cool and clear the chips- onerous, but it worked when all the other tips failed to improve it, honing, exposed setting, etc. I agree about the softwoods just yielding too easily to be cut effectively by this method, as with the same setup Maple and other hardwoods cut like a dream.

[Joe Cowan]

Definitely hone the Lee Valley chisels and try again. I have the same mortiser and the Lee Valley chisel set. I used honing cones (from Lee Valley) to sharpen the inside of the chisels and then flattened the burrs on the outer four faces with 220 grit. Sharpen the inside again with the fine grit cone, then flatten outer faces again, moving up to 1000 grit. Make sure you use a hard, very flat surface to flatten the outer faces. I use the CI base of the mortiser, put my sandpaper on it and rub out the burrs. They cut so much better than out of the box. I make a point to sharpen them often, if I am cutting a lot of mortises (every 20 or so mortises). Use your drill press on the lowest speed to sharpen with the cones. Make sure your table is square to the cone, make a block to hold the chisel shank square to the table and hone with the cones. Only takes a minute.
Here is an article from Popular Woodworking about honing the chisels.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/tools/hollow-mortise-chisel-tune-up

As for the distance between the chisel and bit ends, I don't use the spacer provided on the PM701. I mostly use a nickel as the spacer. Softer woods produce larger chips, so I use a quarter as the spacer, but I mostly mortise hardwoods. The sharper the chisels, the finer the chips will be, allowing proper ejection through the chisel slot.
Here is an article on setting up your mortiser.
http://www.newwoodworker.com/setupmort.html

Hope this helps.


The instructions with the Powermatic mortiser suggest doing the honing of the inside of the chisel by hand using the cone provided on the machine. This in only one grit, so will that work?? I am not sure of what grit size this sharpening cone is.

[Ole Anderson]

Quarter, nickel? I split the monetary difference and use a dime, just enough difference to keep them from rubbing together. 5/8" set from Woodcraft if I can remember (which is a pretty honkin big chisel set), no additional sharpening in my drill press with the Delta mortise attachment worked well in white oak considering it is not a dedicated mortiser. I would guess it is something other than the sharpness of your chisel set, although the sharper the better.

[Joe Cowan]

With a better set-up this time, I had good luck with Mahogany and did not hone. I lowered the auger correctly this time and it made all the difference. I will hone the chisel next and try again with the cypress. I may have to end up cutting the mortises with the router on this project, but that is a shame as I used this project as a excuse to buy the new toy.

[Mike Leung]

In addition to honing my chisels and auger tips, I bought some chainsaw files in appropriate diameters to smooth out the interior walls of the chisels. This eliminated the annoying squealing and heat in my setup.

[Larry Edgerton]

Joe,
I recently watched a video of Scott Phillips on the American Woodshop. He was building a Mission Table using white oak. When he bored his mortises with his bench-top mortiser, he used a Teflon spray on his chisel bit to keep it cool and to help it cut better. I have never done this, but it might help you.

I use Top-Cote as well. I also made a modification to my bit holder bushing. I drilled a hole through it that is big enough for a small brake line to slip through, routed it to come through the side of the machine and runs down to a foot pedal on the floor connected to the shop air. As I start my plunge I step on the foot pedal, the air blows into the slot side of the chisel, blows the chips away and cools the chisel/bit. I get better mortices and bits last much longer.

Larry

[Joe Cowan]

I thought I would provide an update now that I have finished these chairs and my results with the mortiser. After honing the 1/2" bit, the drilling was easy in the Cypress, once I figured out that I still have to put some downward pressure to get it started. It worked like a charm and is now firmly in my thoughts going forward with mortises. I was previously using a router, but with the angled mortise that was required with these chairs, opted to buy the mortiser (I used a matching wedge under the workpiece to achieve the angled mortise). I love the square edges and the lack of having to square up the mortise, as well as the ease of alignment.

[Shawn Pixley]

I have the same mortiser. I polished the outside of the chisel as well (just like flattening the back of bench chisels). Then you only need to touch up the edge with the diamond cone. I wish there were finer versions of the diamond cone to get a better edge.

[Joe Cowan]

I have the same mortiser. I polished the outside of the chisel as well (just like flattening the back of bench chisels). Then you only need to touch up the edge with the diamond cone. I wish there were finer versions of the diamond cone to get a better edge.


I am thinking of buying the two set diamond cones from Lee Valley, the finer one is 350 grit.

[Shawn Pixley]

I have the LV cones. They are nice. I am thinking I'd sharpen like my chisels up to 8000. Admittedly, I haven't had a problem yet. But it stands to reason, sharper is better. I might try to make a brass cone and use diamond paste.

[Denny Rice]

The Wood Whisperer also has a very good online video on setting up and using a mortising machine. His machine is made by Powermatic but I believe this video is very straight forward as he details in great length the do's and don'ts on setting the bit to chisel distance and an easy way to set it every time. I believe the video is called "Mortiser, I barely knew her." or something like that. Hope it helps!