simple slot mortiser with Grizzly GO540?

[Virgil Johnson]

I am needing a very simple slot mortiser for occasional use in carpentry projects.

I had the Inca saw with the mortising attachment it it worked well for my uses for nearly 30 years - but the saw is gone.

Since the simple Laguna machine does not seem to have such good reviews I wondered about gettng the simple horizontal boring machine from Grizzy and swaping out the motor and chuck and mounting a router.


http://www.grizzly.com/products/Sing...-Machine/G0540

I guess it comes down to how well the table mechanism works.
I imagine I would have to come up with a way to keep the machine stable.

Just toying with the idea.

Anyone have experience with this machine?

Virgil

[Frank Drew]

Virgil,

I don't know a thing about this Grizzly machine, but why would you want to replace their motor and chuck with a router?

FWIW, if you're just interested in cutting the occasional mortise, a plunge router with a jig to hold the wood can do exactly what you want. I used one for several years before I got a horizontal slot mortiser, and got great results.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/i...n=Custom&ID=29

[Virgil Johnson]

Virgil,

I don't know a thing about this Grizzly machine, but why would you want to replace their motor and chuck with a router?

FWIW, if you're just interested in cutting the occasional mortise, a plunge router with a jig to hold the wood can do exactly what you want. I used one for several years before I got a horizontal slot mortiser, and got great results.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/i...n=Custom&ID=29

Frank

This is a horizontal boring machine and not capable of cutting slots.
I was thinking of mounting a heavy duty router that can take the horizontal stress.

A typical job for me would be porch railings where the posts and rail ends would get slots as well as the balusters.

Dowels would not do for this. (balusters have a knack for spinning on dowels)

With so many slots to cut a plunge router set up would not be practical.

And since these slots really are for helping with alignment in field carpentry they don't have to be dead on.
(With lumber being what it is you would not want a dead on mortise. Much too fussy and "tight" to be practical.

Hence a simple slot mortiser would do the job.

Table size is not an issue for me.

Virgil

[Rick Lizek]

http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/...cles_729.shtml

You have the right idea but are trying to make something simple into something complicated. It's ready to go as is. I would say it's on the same level as the Rojek mortiser which is around $1700. You can't do any better for the money than the G0540. Low speed is more versatile and inline with commercial mortisers. Double duty of mortising and dowel drilling. Recommend HSS endmills for mortising. Have personally used all types of slot mortise bits over 25 years and endmills are the best option by far.

[Virgil Johnson]

http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/...cles_729.shtml

You have the right idea but are trying to make something simple into something complicated. It's ready to go as is. I would say it's on the same level as the Rojek mortiser which is around $1700. You can't do any better for the money than the G0540. Low speed is more versatile and inline with commercial mortisers. Double duty of mortising and dowel drilling. Recommend HSS endmills for mortising. Have personally used all types of slot mortise bits over 25 years and endmills are the best option by far.

Rick,

I also use HSS endmills. I find them easy to sharpen and cut well.
But I have never used them with a router - I wonder what the speed limit is.

I just thought I could get a faster cut with a router than a "drill" and since I have all the stuff I need I am no money out.
I have pretty big router that I can take away from my router table.

But then again maybe I swap out the 3/4 hp Grizzy motor with something stronger - I have extra motors laying around here as well.

It was the table's ability that most interested me.


With the Grizzy I thought I could get the best of both worlds - dowels and slots.

(A multirouter setup is for a different purpose than the one I intend to use a simple slot mortiser for.)

Thanks for the review - it was the type of thing I was looking for.

Virgil

[Rod Sheridan]

Hi Virgil, a 3/4 HP induction motor is capable of performing more work on a continuous basis than the largest router available.

It is more than adequate for mortising and slotting, changing to a larger motor wouldn't increase the drilling or slotting speed of the machine.

Regards, Rod.

[Virgil Johnson]

Hi Virgil, a 3/4 HP induction motor is capable of performing more work on a continuous basis than the largest router available.

It is more than adequate for mortising and slotting, changing to a larger motor wouldn't increase the drilling or slotting speed of the machine.

Regards, Rod.

I had not thought of that but you are right.

Now I wonder if the speed would be an issue.

BTW CS at Grizzly says the machine cannot be used as a slot mortiser.
It can make the holes but not a slot.
You are supposed to do that with a chisel.

But it seems to be using endmills would work just fine.
Again I am going back to my Inca saw which was the same motor setup more or less and it did a find job for the type of slot mortise I am looking to make.

Virgil

[Rod Sheridan]

BTW CS at Grizzly says the machine cannot be used as a slot mortiser.
It can make the holes but not a slot.
You are supposed to do that with a chisel.


Virgil

Virgil, I would guess that either the table doesn't move in two directions, or the machine isn't built to accept the sideways forces required for slotting.

Regards, Rod.

[Virgil Johnson]

Virgil, I would guess that either the table doesn't move in two directions, or the machine isn't built to accept the sideways forces required for slotting.

Regards, Rod.

Rod

this what the description is

Description
How many times have you wished for a simple horizontal boring machine to drill accurate holes into the edges of flat lumber for doweling, hardware alignment or basic mortising? Well, your wish has been answered with this Single Spindle Horizontal Boring Machine. 5/8" drill bit capacity. Direct drive power transfer. Approximate shipping weight of 160 lbs.

• Motor: 3/4 HP, 110V, 12 Amp, single-phase, TEFC, 3450 RPM
• Table size: 14 1/4" W x 8 1/4" D
• Table travel, side to side: 6"
• Table travel, front to back: 4 1/8"
• Table travel, vertical: 2 1/8"

so it would seem that it travels in all directions

Virgil

[Jason Hallowell]

If the only part you'll be using is the table, why not just buy a cross slide table for much cheaper? I just built a slot mortiser using an old PC 690 router and a compound cross slide vice I got on sale at HF for $50. It is similar to this one http://woodgears.ca/mortise/mortising_machine.html , only the router assembly is in the vice, and the hold down table is stationary. I have a total of about $80 in it, and it took me most of a day, and a few hours the next day to complete. Mine only has 7 3/8" travel each way, but for more travel Grizzly has a couple of nice cross slide tables for reasonable prices.

[tyler mckenzie]

i've seen one of these machines first hand. Its the table that can't handle the loads from slot mortising. Pos in my opinion, i wouldn't waste my money or time.

[Andrew Joiner]

Now I wonder if the speed would be an issue.

BTW CS at Grizzly says the machine cannot be used as a slot mortiser.
It can make the holes but not a slot.
You are supposed to do that with a chisel.



Virgil

I think Grizzly won't OK it as a slot mortiser for liability reasons. The chuck is probably on a taper mounting so side force could make it come off. I did a search and some people are having good luck using loctite to hold them. Heat unlocks loctite so heavy use could be a problem.

The RPM's are kinda low, your right on that. I would want to see one in person, but I've been thinking about this " conversion" too.

The woodcentral review says the sliding table is "tight and smooth and the hold down both versatile and very effective". That sounds good.

[Eiji Fuller]

hmmmm......Domino

[Allan Froehlich]

I think the limiting factor with the Grizzly is whether it has a drill chuck or a router chuck. The description is that it has a capacity of 5/8", which is not a standard router bit size, but a common drill chuck size.

The forces on a table during mortising are probably not that great, but any side loading on a drill chuck can have major drawbacks.

[Peter Quinn]

Virgil, I wonder about your central assumption that the Laguna Platinum mortiser is not a good machine. I have the Laguna mortiser, the first rendition based on the Rojek design, it does a fine job for the money, it beats the heck out of ANY router set up I have used in terms of speed and power, and it is fairly accurate. It has a 3HP motor, a serious iron table, and a 4 jaw chuck that is very stout. I had my doubts at first, but having logged a few jobs on it for both mortising and doweling, I am satisfied. Maybe Mike H will chime in on the newer version of the Platinum mortiser, but my impression is he likes his, so check his reviews of that.

Also, have you considered a domino? If I didn't need a greater depth than the domino could supply I probably would have gone that direction. I don't own one but use one regularly at work, and it seems ideally suited to field work. Its great for small slot mortises and alignment situations.

If great accuracy is not what you need you could make a router jig along the lines of a finger joint set up where you make the first cut, put in an indexing pin of some sort, and all following slots reference off the preceding one. That would make set up quite quick for something like porch rail balusters with regular spacing intervals.