Powermatic 719T...Leigh FMT

[Phil Winn]

I am thinking about buying either the Powermatic 719T or the Leigh FMT.
Any thoughts comparing the two? Also, the Powermatic information
states that the 719T weighs in at 280 lbs or so. Does it really?
Also, how easy is it to take it apart into a couple of smaller and lighter pieces? Does this make sense? Does it come shipped in one piece?
Thanks all,
Phil

[Jesse Cloud]

I have the benchtop powermatic and the FMT. I'm thinking a lot these days about whether to pare down to one of the two. Here's my two cents.

The powermatic does everything I need to do for mortises. Its very reliable and precise. Clamping is much superior to the FMT and dust is basically no problem. It doesn't do tenons though, so I use a tenon jig for that. I find the tenon jig (Delta) a lot less precise and most of the slop that I get is in the tenons, not the mortise. I usually follow up the tenon jig work with a few swipes from a shoulder plane.

The FMT, on the other hand, does both tenons and mortises, and can be extremely precise. It is, however, finicky. The clamps are awkward and never seem to be where you need them. There are lots of things you can do wrong, so you have to stay very focussed. But if you do all these things, you can make some darn near perfect work. Its also very easy to make angled tenons or double tenons on the FMT.

Two things bug me about the FMT - there is next to no dust control (yeah it has a port for a shop vac, but its next to useless, and its router based. This means lots of setup, lots of noise, and IMHO more than a little danger from being so close to something so sharp and fast. I have never hurt myself on the FMT, but have had a couple of near misses. If you get the FMT, you will probably want to dedicate a router to it - not absolutely neccessary, but the process of installing the router on the fmt, finding the right collet, finding the right spiral bit, calibrating the jig to your stock, making a few test cuts and fine tuning the adjustments until they come out right takes a while.

So I guess the bottom line is that I enjoy the powermatic/delta process a lot more, but I probably produce better work from the FMT.

I'm just a hobbyist, and I don't push either of these machines very hard. My guess would be that the FMT probably isn't designed for heavy duty production work. I have had to buy a few replacement parts already (3 years) - but they are reasonably priced and the customer service from Leigh is top notch.

I guess I will keep both around for a year or so and then sell whichever one seems to have collected the most dust.:)

Feel free to PM me if I can answer any questions.

[Eric Commarato]

I have owned a Powermatic 719 which is the non-tilt table version that preceeded the 719T. Mine came in 2 boxes, the machine itself and the base. Coming from Powermatic's plant overseas, I must say the fit and finish of the machine was outstanding. I'm sure the 719T is the same. The one problem I had with mine was the gas charged lift that assists pushing the mortising head up sprung a leak. Powermatic replaced it even after it was out of warranty free of charge.