Experience with Mini Max's FS 35 Smart

[lloyd morris]

Does anyone have any experience with Mini Max's FS 35 Smart? Thanks in advance for your thoughts, input suggestions.

lloyd

[Jim Becker]

I have and love its predicessor, the FS-350. (Review on my site) Main differences are the way the tables fold up at an angle on the new machine and the mortiser option attaches to the front on the FS-35, rather than the back as it did on the FS-350. Excellent machines. Highly recommended.

[lloyd morris]

"the mortiser option attaches to the front on the FS-35, rather than the back as it did on the FS-350. Excellent machines. Highly recommended.


Thanks for the information and great review. Do you like and recommend the mortiser option on the planer/jointer rather than as a stand alone? Is the conversation time/trouble an issue with the mortiser? Also you mentioned the weak point was dust collection, but MM was very open and responsive to suggestions. Do you think the FS-35 better addresses that problem?

Thanks again,

lloyd

[Jim Becker]

I don't have the mortiser as I cannot accomodate it's position on the machine, but if I could I would buy it. A slot mortiser is a very nice tool and much easier to use than chisel-based mortisers if you are doing a lot of them.

The dust collection "issue" I brough up was very minor and is not a problem. It was just an oversight that some screws projected into the air stream in a very narrow area of the hood. That was easily fixed with washers. Any other issues I had in that department were solved by upgrading my cyclone to a more capable system. You produce a LOT of material very quickly with a wider tool like this and you need a system that can extract it. 700-800 "real" CFM is what you want.

[Ron Kanter]

There is a very friendly and knowledgable group over here
or through the Minimax web site.

You can get good information from people who have the MiniMax tools.
I only have a MM16 bandsaw.
HTH,
Ron

[lloyd morris]

My thanks to everyone for the excellent information and advice on Mini Max and their FS 35 Smart Planer/Jointer. It makes the decision making process of tool buying much easier and actually a lot more fun knowing other woodworkers who you respect and value have personal experiences and generously give you their best thoughts and advice.

Thanks again,

lloydnc

[Paul B. Cresti]

Lloyd,
I have the MM FS41 16" j/p and it is a great machine. I highly recommend it. I also have the mortiser attachment but have not put it through its paces yet. I have done some work with it and it is a very easy a quick way to do mortises. I an now a loose M&T convert. I sold my PM mortiser to get it.
The mortising attachment is a bit heavy but since it mounts (on the FS41) to the back of the machine I leave it on all the time. The Tersa head on these machines are a "Godsend" changing knives are a breeze. If you do not require electronics these machines can not be beat. IF you can swing the 16" beleive it is worth it.

[Michael Perata]

Lloyd

I have the mortiser on my CU 300 Smart (FS30 equivalent J/P) and if the extra $900 +/- is available - buy it. Loose tenons is the fast way to do a production run of M & T joints.

[Chris Padilla]

Yeah, the FS-41 Elite is pretty darn nice!!! :)

[lloyd morris]

[QUOTE=Jim Becker] A slot mortiser is a very nice tool and much easier to use than chisel-based mortisers if you are doing a lot of them.QUOTE]

I know it is a pretty basic question, but I have not been able to find much information about it on the Mini Max website. What is a slot mortiser and how is it different than a chisel based motiser.?

Thanks,

Lloyd

[Michael Perata]

The link below is to a slot mortiser with a similar, but much better, x/y/z table to the Mini-Max.

The JDS Multi-Router is meant to be a stand alone machine and it is a great tool, but @ $2,700 might be beyond most non-production shops.

http://www.tools-for-woodworking.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1952

[Charlie Plesums]

I am starting a project which will require 262 mortises... in Ipe!. I wouldn't have even offered to do the project without my MiniMax and it's slot mortiser.

[Chris Padilla]

You doing floating tenons on that, Charlie? ;)

[Charlie Plesums]

You doing floating tenons on that, Charlie? ;)

Actually, this is a mortise and tenon job. If I change my mind and chicken out of the tenon part, it will be 524 mortises. (Over half of the boards are about 5 feet long, which would require rearranging my garage.... er ... studio, since the mortiser is less than 5 feet from the wall.)

The project is a 25 foot long planter/wall (5 five foot sections, back 5 feet tall) for a deck, with adjustable shelves inside the planter to allow various size pots to be placed on the shelves "in the planter." I am going to cut the pieces in the shop, like an erector set, then assemble on site. The ipe wood is so heavy that I can't carry it in my Odyssey in a single trip.

Pictures will follow... I promise!

[Charlie Plesums]

I know it is a pretty basic question, but I have not been able to find much information about it on the Mini Max website. What is a slot mortiser and how is it different than a chisel based motiser.?

The slot mortiser is a long horizontal bit, in my case driven by the jointer planer shaft (5 hp), just above a precision table that the work is clamped to. The table adjusts vertically and moves left/right, as you gradually push the work into the bit (a stop controls the depth). It quickly creates a precisely positioned slot (mortise) with round ends. This afternoon I did 4 mortises for a leg support in roughly 5 minutes, including machine setup. Actual cutting time for 8 mortises I did a couple days ago, 1/2 inch wide, 2 inches long, in ipe (extremely hard wood) was about 10 seconds per mortise. Since the mortises are so fast to cut, I often use floating tenons (cut to precise thickness using the digital readout of the planer). When I use real tenons, I cut them proud, then trim them on the saw by shimming with a piece of paper until the tenon fits tightly.

A chisel mortiser has the advantage of cutting a square end mortise, rather than round end, but is FAR slower to cut, far slower to set up, and in my experience far less precise. I sold my chisel mortise set after I got the slot mortiser.