Mortising on the Drill Press

[Erik Oerter]

Anybody ever used a X-Y cross slide vise ($50 version from wherever) to cut mortises on the Drill Press, like a milling machine?

I am looking at doing some 3/8" wide mortises in African Mahogany, enough for 2 dining chairs. I'm looking for a better way than routing them with a template or buying a mortising machine.

Thanks

[Mike Henderson]

The problems I encountered are:

1. The chuck is held in the DP with a Morse taper which doesn't work well for tangential pressure - meaning the chuck comes out of the DP. You could try putting the MT in with loctite but then you might not be able to get it out.

2. The speed is too slow for most bits. If you use a spiral router bit, it just doesn't cut well at the speed you can run it at.

I find I can use the DP to drill out the mortise and then clean it up with a chisel. Not as fast as a horizontal slot mortiser but pretty quick.

Mike

[Tony Bilello]

I do it all of the time and it has always worked well for me.

Try to picture this in your mind.......

I start at the top end of the leg and work downward with my mortising cut. I use a 3/8" straight router bit or a end mill bit. Either one works well.
I do this on a cheap Ryobi bench top DP at max speed which is slightly under 3000RPM.

I pull down and make my plunge cut and release and let the cutter go back up.
I then rotate the handle on the cross slide vise 1 rotation counter-clockwise and this moves the leg away from me. Then I plunge cut again and release.
I repeat the cc rotation, the plunge cut and release until I get down to my end of mortise mark. At this stage, I will plunge cut and hold the plunger down while I now slowly rotate CLOCKWISE back into the direction I was previously cutting. This will clean up the side wall nicely.
Be careful when you get toward the beginning of the mortise. If you move your cutter into fresh wood past where you started, your drill press will shake, rattle and roll and possible move your settings.
I hope this makes sense to you.

[glenn bradley]

I can't think of a DP method that would be better than a router for this. And no, I am not one of those folks that think a router is for everything including churning butter. It's just that I think you would be happier with the high speed cutter by the time you got to mortise number 3.

[Jamie Buxton]

You probably don't need a template to rout your mortises. I make mortises all the time with a plunge router equipped with an edge guide. I use a template only for unusual circumstances -- for instance, a large square through-tenon. But for most M&T joinery, an edge-guided plunge router is a great solution.

[Dave Cav]

I normally use a drill press with a very wide table and fence, and a forstner bit. I clean up the sides, and sometimes the ends, with chisels. Sometimes I round over my tennons to match the drilled mortise, sometimes I square up the mortise. Depends on the size and application. I can see where a plunge router would be handy, but I don't own one.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,

The problems I encountered are:

1. The chuck is held in the DP with a Morse taper which doesn't work well for tangential pressure - meaning the chuck comes out of the DP. You could try putting the MT in with loctite but then you might not be able to get it out.

The one time I tried using my DP as a router, that's exactly what happened.
The thrill and excitement of having a chuck with a sharp bit in it chasing me around is something I can do without for a long time.

[Myk Rian]

If you want to use the DP for this, get the Delta mortising attachment.
I have one that does a good job.

[Bill White]

I found that the DP attachment was just a make-shift effort to mortices.
Wanna buy one?
Bill

[Pat Germain]

I have the Delta mortising attachment for my drill press. It actually works pretty well. But it's a newer model. I think it's much improved over the older examples. Also, you have to sharpen the chisels. They just aren't that sharp out of the box.