Jessem Pocket Mill Pro - Loose Tenon System - Thoughts?

[John TenEyck]

No idea what that is but it looks cool.

It's a horizontal router mortiser, similar to a Multirouter, but simpler, easier to build, and a whole lot less expensive. You can learn more about it, and even build one yourself from my original, free design, here: https://sites.google.com/view/jteney...ser?authuser=1

John

[glenn bradley]

Interesting that The Mortise Pal went out of production but,

MP-Knob-Fix.jpg . MP-Stop.jpg

more involved and more costly alternatives continue to market. Apparently I should have held my version 1 more dear. I would look to see if there is anyone as careless as I was who wants to sell their version 1 after buying a version 2.

[Jared Sankovich]

Seems pricey, and rather inconvenient for what it is/does.

[Jim Dwight]

It is interesting and this brand seems to make good products so it probably works. But drill speeds are a lot less than a router which is effectively what my Domino XL uses. So I would expect mortise finish to be at least a little worse. Domino bits are kind of pricey but CMT and Amana offer them for about half as much.

[John Kananis]

for folks just getting into woodworking.

Seems about right.

[Patrick Varley]

Just caught a decent review of this:

https://youtu.be/eK0C95NkeyY

I have to say, it's intriguing. Pretty clear that it's not a good alternative to the Domino for anyone trying to use it for commercial/production work. But it may be a reasonable option for a hobbyist. Still a bit expensive, but not extraordinarily more than people might spend on a Dowelmax or Jessem dowel jig (with some added benefit as it relates to speed/utility).

[John TenEyck]

No idea what that is but it looks cool.

This will explain what it is: https://sites.google.com/view/jteney...ser?authuser=1

John

[Charlie Jones]

I built and used Matthias Wendell’s horizontal mortise machine. His machine works like Johns except the table is stationary and the router moves in the XYZ axis. It worked great but I parked it after purchasing the Domino. It is portable and much more versatile.

[John TenEyck]

I built and used Matthias Wendell’s horizontal mortise machine. His machine works like Johns except the table is stationary and the router moves in the XYZ axis. It worked great but I parked it after purchasing the Domino. It is portable and much more versatile.

Yes, if I were a pro, I would have bought a Domino years ago. On the other hand, the Domino can't cut integral tenons, sliding dovetails, drill dowel holes (at least I don't think it can), or make raised panels, but my Horizontal Router Mortiser can. The Domino doesn't work too well on the ends of narrow parts, either, and it's even more difficult when the ends are cut at a compound angle. Those are easily done on my machine, easily, quickly, repeatably, and safely. You also can make any size mortise needed using low-cost spiral upcut router bits.

Every tool has its advantages and disadvantages but it's hard to beat my HRT on cost vs. capability.

John

[Charlie Jones]

Yes, if I were a pro, I would have bought a Domino years ago. On the other hand, the Domino can't cut integral tenons, sliding dovetails, drill dowel holes (at least I don't think it can), or make raised panels, but my Horizontal Router Mortiser can. The Domino doesn't work too well on the ends of narrow parts, either, and it's even more difficult when the ends are cut at a compound angle. Those are easily done on my machine, easily, quickly, repeatably, and safely. You also can make any size mortise needed using low-cost spiral upcut router bits.

Every tool has its advantages and disadvantages but it's hard to beat my HRT on cost vs. capability.

John

I agree with all of that. If I make anything requiring really big mortises I will get it back out. It looks like your machine could be built even cheaper than Matthias’s.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Any thoughts?

The term, kludge - comes to mind.

Sort of a bad way of using a tool to do something it was never intended to be used for and will probably shorten its life.

Sort of like the time my wife grabbed one of my wood chisels and used it to scrape some old ceramic tile cement off a wall. I yelled at her to stop and she refused to, saying how great it was working.

[John TenEyck]

I agree with all of that. If I make anything requiring really big mortises I will get it back out. It looks like your machine could be built even cheaper than Matthias’s.

The MDF version you see on my website page cost about $50 to build as I already had the clamps. There is a SketchUp model at the bottom of that page which you can download for FREE to make your own. No strings attached. If you don't use SketchUp I'm happy to email PDF files of all the key parts.

Or did you already build one of my HRM's?

John

[Will Blick]

John, your creations are always impressive, wow, kudos to your ingenuity and craftsmanship!

Good Youtube video on the Jessem... He is a great influencer...

My two cents...Jessem really wanted a piece of the Domino market, this upgrade to their previous offering is quite the contraption. Using an endmill is brilliant, as it is designed to cut sideways, same as a domino. The stress is now off the Chuck, and taken on by the tool. Like all Jessem products, seems well engineered, well built. I agree with others, for non production, it will prob. suffice as good as a Domino, justified by the $avings.

I also thought the same as a previous poster. I always wondered why the Rockler Beadlock system did not become more popular, as it seems like a superb very low cost loose tenon alternative, which is prob. every bit as strong (or stronger) than other loose tenon options. Maybe a bit slower than Jessem or Festool, but for occasional use, who cares. Simple to use as well, and love the way you can make long tenons on your router table and then cut to the size you want. I did buy one awhile ago, but never tried it yet as I got a domino shortly thereafter.