Mortiser: shop fox or steel city?

[Brad Ridgway]

I found some past reviews / comparisons and have limited my choices to these two based on those posts...


shopfox: 3/4HP / 3450 rpm, 3/4" chisel max 8-3/4" stroke, 2 included $230

steelcity: 1/2HP / 1725 rpm, 1/2" chisel max, 5" stroke, 4 included $239 after rebate and the 5 year warranty


Woodstock no longer lists the benchtop on their website, so i assume the first is discontinued... (can't find the manual on website either? parts?)

Based on all this and primarily on the slow is better commentary in past posts, i'm leaning towards the steel city with the only three things i keep second guessing myself are:

1) the 1/4 additional HP
2) larger stroke
3) 3/4 capability...


what would you do?

FYI: my first slated project is a copy of Jim's cantilevered miter station - that thing is so cool! Unfortunately my slider is deep, so its' going to protrude a bit, i can't give up 40" of depth on the wall.



thx in advance
-brad


p.s. frankly i'm not how to deal with 1" mortises i need here (or any case where the mortise is wider then the bit). do i just allow one or two sides of the bit to cut into nothing? Or do i slightly oversize and chisel out the slivers in between? i.e. i saw this post where it deals with the length issue, but not the width? Or maybe i apply same theory and for a 1" wide, use 3/8" chisel three times across the width?

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=72919&highlight=mortiser

[Ben Cadotte]

I just ordered the Delta 14-651 Deluxe model with the cast iron base. My only other consideration was the Powermatic. And that was mainly due to the 3/4 hp motor on it. Really didn't consider the Shop Fox. I Did look at the Steel City and liked the small hold downs in the base (Powermatic too). Bit changes on the SC look to be the easiest though. Nice large openings.

Of the two you listed for your choice, I would go with the Steel City.

The Shop Fox is 3450 RPM (Powermatic 3/4 hp but only 1720) and I have read a couple of reviews that this is too fast and the bit gets hot. One person said in cutting white oak it got hot enough for the bit to turn blue. This could be from impropper use. But most of the others use 1750 for RPM. For even a 1/2" bit I would think 3450 is too fast. Let alone trying to use a 3/4" bit.

After ordering the Delta I did get a little buyers remorse and felt I should have ordered the Powermatic for $150 more. But for the price I am sure the Delta will suit my needs. One thing the Delta does and the others don't (Powermatic does), is you can adjust the fence to the cutter!! If you don't perfectily align the cutter to the fence you can adjust the fence to the cutter and lock it down. The others you have to make sure the cutter is propperly aligned to the fence.

[Brian Dormer]

I got a Delta for Christmas. If the budget had been there - would have asked for a Steel City - mainly for the base (Steel City has stock guide rollers and the extension arms). As it turned out - I built the same type of thing from melamine anyway.

[Ben Cadotte]

After replying above I realized I really wanted the Powermatic. I called up and have a return label now(even before the Delta has been delivered). Got it from Amazon, and they were nice to deal with. Told them I really want the other one and they said no problem. We will email you a return shipping label.

So now I have 2 on order, the Powermatic and the Delta. But sorry to Delta, its going back.

[Scott Rollins]

I have the steel city. The included chisels are quite good. I sharpened them per the instructions I received here and elsewhere, but the mortises showed alot of torn grain. I am accustomed to seeing routed mortises. I purchased the Lee Valley premium chisels to see if they would be any better. I cannot say they are better, but the bits plow the material quite quickly. Anyway the Steel city seems very solid and has no play in the dovetail ways on the column. BTW the true capacity under the bit is only 5". I had to make some riser blocks from some aluminum extrusion to fit some 6" tall stock. I think the delta comes with a 2" riser, but the SC is optional.

You also mentioned that you needed to cut some 1" mortises. I simply placed a 1/2" spacer behind the stock and plunged two square holes 1/2"X1/2" to make a mortice 1/2"X1. I then removed the board and repeated the cuts to a finished size of 1X1. I used a spacer so I did not have to reset the fence as it was not a centered mortise.

Good luck and don't spend the extra on "premium" chisels if you buy the SC.

[Thomas Williams]

I have the Shop Fox and have no complaints with it. Proper set up and sharp bits have prevented problems with over heating. I bought mine a few years ago and it is the only mortising machine I have used other than a drill press attachment. However, if I were buying today I would still by the Shop Fox, unless I found a great deal on the PM.

[Brandon Shew]

Between the two that you are looking at, the Steel City would be my choice, however when the time comes for me to buy a mortiser, the General will be my choice. It is one of the few tabletops that can cut angled mortices.

[Ryan Bess]

Add another vote for the SC. My first project with their mortiser was a QSWO mission-style library desk with 64 mortise & tenon joints. The stock bits performed very well on that project and required no additional sharpening. Power is acceptable and comparable to its competitors. I have not used a General - but I tried Delta, Powermatic, and Shop Fox before buying the SC. No regrets.

[Jim Davenport]

Also you might want to look at The "Craftsman mortiser". I have one, and I'm very pleased with it. It's made by "Orion", the same manufacturer as Steel city. It looks like the steel city has a better base, but I like the longer arm on the Craftsman for better leverage. I had to sharpen all the bits and chisels, but I suspect that any of them would need the same. I've had it a for a while now and it has held up to a lot of mortises:)
Here's photo's of the Steel city, and my Craftsman

[Sean Kinn]

All of the mortisers are very similar, and mostly have subtle differences that you might not notice from a picture. My recommendation is to check out any of the prospects in person if at all possible. Check out the location of any adjustment knobs, alignment mechanisms, types and materials used in fasteners/knob/levers, smoothness of head movement, and overall "fit and finish."

I just purchased one of the mortisers that are well spoken of here, and I was a little surprised about the placement and quality of some of the components. I am a bit more fussy than some folks, but there are some things that you just don't notice in a picture. Until you actually try to adjust the fence, or depth stops, chisel position, etc. you might not notice the subtle differences between machines. This holds true with all machinery.

[Brad Ridgway]

fyi - i just scored (well i hope people deem it as such) a craftsman for 85 and change + shipping...

I really wanted the steel city, but just didn't want to lay out the dough...

I'm hoping for a hobbiest, this will do...

thx for the recommendations (Jim esp)
-brad

[glenn bradley]

Probably a good bet. When I was looking, I didn't find anything interesting until I got to the almost $500 General as far as benchtop machines go. This led me away from that line of thinking. I went with a Mortise Pal and it has met all my needs so far. If your C-man works out, you will have a winner without spending a bunch-o-dough. Congrats.

[Loren Blount]

Jut a thought, but for not much more $ you can get a steelex ($400) floor model 1Hp from grizzly with X/Y tables. Thats what I did:)
http://www.grizzly.com/outlet/Heavy-Duty-Mortising-Machine-with-Stand/T20836
Loren

[Curt Harms]

fyi - i just scored (well i hope people deem it as such) a craftsman for 85 and change + shipping...

I really wanted the steel city, but just didn't want to lay out the dough...

I'm hoping for a hobbiest, this will do...

thx for the recommendations (Jim esp)
-brad

What kind of hold down mechanism does the Craftsman use? A fair number of people including me mounted modified XY vises to hold and move stock. They work out pretty well. Here is one article about how to do it: www(dot)woodcentral(dot)com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=shop&file=articles_414.shtml