Laguna Platinum Horz Slot Mortiser:They do exist!

[Peter Quinn]

Got a call today from.........the freight company to schedule delivery of a Laguna slot mortiser. The slow boat from China has arrived on schedule as promised. Laguna said they would call before shipping but in what I understand is their usual fashion the first call I got was from the delivery agent. It is 30 miles from my house, I swear I can almost smell it!

Will send picks and a review once its in next week. I have a pile of 8/4 poplar hanging out in the shop to make some doors, planning to test out the machine on that project.

[Rob Will]

Great news Peter!
I have one of those puppies on order as well.
I think it will be a nice compliment to the Domino.
What did you do for bits?
Thanks for posting.
Rob

[Jim Becker]

'Looking forward to your review, Peter.

[Peter Quinn]

Great news Peter!
I have one of those puppies on order as well.
I think it will be a nice compliment to the Domino.
What did you do for bits?
Thanks for posting.
Rob

I ordered a few long solid carbide bits that should have shipped with the machine from Laguna for making passage doors. They have them on discount 20% for the month of April, if I understand correctly they are Leitz brand. I also ordered a few HSS bits in smaller sizes and plan to buy some end mills from ENCO in shorter sizes once I have the unit up and running. I understand from the advice of a few experienced horizontal mortiser owners here at the creek that end mills configured for milling aluminum are quite effective for shallow slots in hardwood and far cheaper than bird's mouth cutters.

I'll let you know how it works out.

[Frank Drew]

Peter,

I don't know what bird mouth cutters are but I used mostly upcut end mills with good results. I also kept an air gun at hand to blow out chips as I went along; even upcutters don't keep the mortise entirely clean and you don't want to keep recutting the same chips.

I've made mortises by hand and by all the different machine methods I can think of and horizontal slot mortising is the way to go.

[Peter Quinn]

Peter,

I don't know what bird mouth cutters are but I used mostly upcut end mills with good results. I also kept an air gun at hand to blow out chips as I went along; even upcutters don't keep the mortise entirely clean and you don't want to keep recutting the same chips.

I've made mortises by hand and by all the different machine methods I can think of and horizontal slot mortising is the way to go.

Frank, the cutters Laguna and others are selling as designed for the horizontal mortiser have tips that resemble a bird's open mouth. I understand they cannot be plunged directly into the work but must be fed side ways and forward simultaneously to begin the cut. I guess the advantage is the feed rate is quicker? Not sure, never used them before.

I've never operated a horizontal mortiser but have used a bridgeport with four flute rough end mills for M&T passage doors. The bridgeport is tough to set up for slot mortising rails for lose tenons but boy does it do mortises in styles! Power fed table and variable speed head is nice too, though I used to fall half asleep half way through a job. I don't have room for a bridgeport in my shop, but that sure would be handy. I'm considering some type of vacuum set up to extract the chips, don't know if it will work though. Blow gun is my next choice.

[Frank Drew]

Peter,

I used two flute end mills which did fine and probably cut faster than four flute.
With end mills you can plunge full depth the outside limits of your mortise then waste the rest in increments (heavier cut with bigger end mills, but usually 1/4-3/8" per pass; the bit will tell you if you're hogging too much.)

I'm not familiar with Laguna's machine -- mine was a CM -- but I think you're going to love it.