mortiser steel city

[ROCKY D PATTON]

looking for some input on a mortiser good investment or a wastes of money there got sale price of 269.00 sc have alway have good input

[Dewey Torres]

Rocky,
I am building the Morris chair and up until I took on a serious Arts and Crafts project I didn't need one.

I had the Delta mortising attachment for my drill press and it worked just fine. I cut many a mortise with it until I bought a new drill press and it did not fit.

I ordered the Grizzly mortiser and have not tried it out yet because the freight company damaged it but if you care to hear feed-back I can provide it once I get the replacement.

If you are going to do lots of mortises, these are far from a "waste".

Also the Griz is a LOT cheaper than the steel city (even with discounts) and from what I can tell, there is not much difference. See for yourself:

http://www.grizzly.com/products/1-2-HP-Bench-Top-Mortising-Machine/G0645

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Rocky, if you're going to build projects with mortices and tenons, the morticer is a good investment.

I've had the General International unit about 7 years, and it works very well.

Regardless of which brand you purchase, the chisels and bits will need some honing and sharpening.

A cone sharpener and an auger bit file would be a good purchase along with the machine.

Regards, Rod.

[glenn bradley]

I spent a lot of time researching these for the same reasons Dewey did and ended up spending $200 on the Mortise Pal. I have been very happy with this decision.

The thing that pushed me to the jig was the recurring complaint about the chisel sets. The only benchtop machines that got consistent positive reviews were the PM701 or the General 75-050T - if - you used high quality after market chisels. These chisel sets ran around $75 to $100 per chisel size.

I decided that I would work around any material wider than 2" that needed a mortise if and when the time came as this is the limit of the M.P. I spent the money I saved on Whiteside spiral bits and am doing fine so far. My .02.

[Casey Gooding]

I use both the Steel City and a Jet Mortiser. The Steel City is a nice tool except for what I see as one MAJOR flaw. The hydraulic arm that helps lift the "drill" section interferes with the downward motion. It will only allow the bit to reach about three inches above the table. If you want to go any lower than that, you have to remove the hydraulic arm. It's easy to remove, but a huge pain to put back in place.
I don't really have anything bad to say for the Jet, other than I wish it had a bigger table.

[Jay Jolliffe]

Glen....With the Mortis Pal what is the largest mortise you can do. If you were to make doors could you do one that was 1/2" x 6" long with out moving the jig. Should of went to the site before I asked the question. looks like 3/8 is the largest router bit it will take....

[ROCKY D PATTON]

thanks for all the great infor i found a used general 75-050 tm for 380.00 i think it is a good price?:)

[Neal Clayton]

very good price. the PM costs more new than that and it doesn't have a front clamp.

the primary problem with bench mortisers is their lack of a front clamp and a sliding table. the sliding table is convenience, a clamp is necessary for larger things (like door stiles).

[Bob Parker]

I use a steel city mortiser and have no problems with it when using it to cut mortises in table legs but have had accuracy problems on taller pieces, overall, it does the job