just got a benchtop mortiser- "Reliant"

[Lynn Kasdorf]

I picked up a Reliant mortiser at an auction this weekend for $60- brand new, but no chisels.

Fortunately, I have a set or chisels from a delta adapt-you-drill-press kit that will fit. Now I can take that thing off and free up the drill press!

Anybody seen one of these Reliant mortisers? It is made in Taiwan and looks a lot like the Deltas. Model is DD-136 (if i recall correctly).

When I build my big SCMS/RAS bench, I'll make a place in it for the mortiser as well...

[Jeff Sudmeier]

Congrats on the mortiser. I can't belive how handy it is! It makes this time consuming joint a pleasure and speedy!

[Paul Held]

Lynn,

I own a Jet mortiser, but I inherited a Reliant recently. With good chisels either will work just fine. I'm not sure if the Delta chisels are as long as standard mortiser chisels, but if they fit everything should be OK. As the the Reliant, mine is just as easy to use as the Jet. Neither has a very good fence and hold down system, compared to one of the larger 1hp setups, but they are miles ahead of using the drill press. Enjoy. Paul

[Curt Harms]

$60 is a deal! :D Check the archives and see if You can find info on attaching a sliding vise. A sliding vise fixes the mediocre hold-down problem beautifully. I have a jet that was a real pain to use without the sliding vise, works great now.

Curt

[Chris Padilla]

How's the barn coming along, Lynn!! Nice find on the mortiser! :)

[Lynn Kasdorf]

How's the barn coming along, Lynn!! Nice find on the mortiser! :)


Well, we got the 2nd monster beam and posts in place. Now I'm ready for the concrete slab work.

I uncovered part of the old sill beam (ground level on the high side). Not a pretty site. Very rotted, and the worst part is there are some big posts that rest on the sill.

So, I'm planning to clean out the rot, jack up the posts to about the right height (thats gonna be a trick) and pouring a new concrete sill. The problem there is that you don't want untreated oak in contact with concrete. My current plan is to liberally spray all that area with ethylene glycol (aka antifreeze) which is apparently a great rot preventer. Then coat everything with roofing tar. Form up and pour concrete, and let the jacked up posts come to rest on the concrete that flowed beneath them.

The, its on to the siding...

I hope to get all this wrapped up bay fall.

Thanks for asking!