Mortising: drill press jig or dedicated benchtop mortiser?

[Kent A Bathurst]

......... i would also argue that any mortiser without a front clamp is inherently very limited, especially with longer/heavier boards...... PM719s are pretty cheap when they come up, since they lack a sliding table.........

Ummmmmmm.....Maybe confusion as to PM model numbers, or maybe just part of the "everything PM makes is overpriced and overrated" school of thought.

My PM719 has (a) front clamp and (b) worm-and-gear-driven table movement Front-to Back (c) rack-and pinion left-to-right

First purchase was Delta benchtop mortiser. Alignment, clamping, and overall "beefiness" wasn't what I wanted - but I'd guess it was in-range for the price class I chose. My replacement PM719 was pricey, but a terriffic piece of equipment and worth every penny - for me - Stickley repros with lots of thru tenons, etc. Completely different class of product. It came with a floor stand/cabinet that I have never used.

Without the thru-tenons, I'd think that a router and cut tenons, or (based on what I've read) router + loose tenons would be a good choice. Also, as I've gained experience and confidence, the DP plus a good set of mortise chisels is frequently the way I go.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

Scott - if you decide on a DP system or a dedicated machine, be sure to take the time to "tune" the chisels before using. This means getting a sharpening system (should include some sort of cone) to sharpen the insides of the chisels, and also hone the outside edges till they're perfectly flat. There has been a lot of feedback about chisels and mortisers performing poorly before, but very well after preparing the chisels.

[Joe Mioux]

Two weeks ago, I pulled out my drill press mortising jig.

I set it up, used it. Worked great. The key was keeping the chisel square to the fence. I think if someone had to make a lot mortises, that making a jigs with certain depths of cut, and setbacks would make the dp mortise jig more efficient when you had to switch back to drilling needs.

joe

[Don Jeansonne]

I have a Delta mortiser. The machine is very good and am please with the performance. I did have a lot of trouble getting an undamaged machine -- had to return two deliveries from Amazon. But Amazon took care of the problem.
I would not go the drill press route.
I also think that the router option does have its' place and benefits but the dedicated mortiser is very easy to use, convienent, and quiter.

[Ben Martin]

Hopefully the Steel City is as good as you guys have been saying I am heading out in a bit to pick one up! I tried setting up my plunge router earlier to make mortises for an ottoman and what a pain; I intend on building mostly A&C and Mission style furniture so it will definitely get a workout.

[Jim Tincher]

Generally speaking there are two problems with the DP setup.... the first is the time it takes to switch between the two functions. If you do this often it becomes tedious. Secondly not all DP's have a "robust" quill assembly for the additional torque that mortising requires. If the mfr of your DP offers one then the quill is probably good enough.

As for mortisers most people will recommend what they own. I happen to own the Steel City. Up until I bought mine the Delta cast iron bedded mortiser had been the best value in benchtops but when Steel City came out that changed. The table is larger than most, it has an excellent stock support system along with convenient bit and tool storage.

[Steve Rowe]

Scott, having owned and used both, definitely go for the dedicated mortising machine. Whatever brand you choose will be much superior to a drill press attachment. The reason drill presses are not very good for this is the length of the quill handle. Look at your drill press quill and then at a hollow chisel mortising machine - you wll see that the quill handle is much longer allowing you to apply more force to the chisel. Additionally, a lot of drill presses have weak tables (typically the flat square tables with very little support webbing underneath). These will flex and possibly break under hollow chisel mortiser loads. You will also see a difference in the columns between the machines. Drill press columns are tubes whereas most all hollow chisel mortising machines have gone to an I-beam type design. The reason for this is they are much more rigid. Hopefully this helps.
Steve

My first woodworking project will be Shaker style kitchen cabinets, followed by Mission sytyle bedroom furniture. I'm debating whether to buy a drill press mortising jig, or lay out a few more dollars and get a benchtop mortising machine (Grizzly or Shop Fox?). I've heard it's a PITA to set up the DP jig, and difficult to get repeatable mortising. Does anyone agree with this? I plan to continue woodworking for many years and want to get a good setup now rather than having to upgrade later. The dedicated benchtop appeals to me but is it overkill for the projects I have planned? If I go the benchtop route, are Grizzly or Shop Fox good quality machines? I looked at a Powermatic but it's $449 which is more than I want to spend (unless of course the Griz and Shop Fox are garbage).

Thanks very much for your help!

[george wilson]

I'm not familiar with the hold downs on the GI machine. The English made unit I was thinking of wasn't a Delta. Wish I could think of it,but just can't.

P.S.: I just Googled the GI mortiser. Yes,it is better than the run of the mill bench top mortisers. More like a floor model in the hold down method. I cannot pull up anything on the elusive English mortiser I am trying to recall.

I just use my milling machine to cut mortises,and quickly square off the corners with a chisel. At work we had an old Yates American floor model. Before that,a borrowed old Monarch. Those were real machines,with foot pedals to stomp on.

I have bad shoulders,and wish someone made a mortiser that didn't use pull down levers. Till I find an old floor model for myself,I'll just keep milling them out.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I have the delta mortiser and I'm very happy with it. Looks like it's going for $290 on Amazon.

[Mark Drayton]

George - was it Multico you're thinking of?

Mark

[Brian W Evans]

Several people have suggested routers with edge guide and/or mortisepal. I own a mortisepal and would buy one again in a heartbeat. However, the OP said that he wants to make mission furniture. Often, that requires numerous square slats(correct term?). I know this can be done by either squaring the mortise or rounding the end of the slats, but if he's not invested in a tool yet, it makes sense to go with the one that will get the job done without a lot of added steps. If I made mission furniture or some other style with similar design elements, I wouldn't hesitate to buy a dedicated mortiser.

I will agree with the numerous other posters who say stay away from the DP attachments. I'll also add that I'm a fan of General tools and would either go with them or PM, money permitting.

Best of luck.

[george wilson]

Yes,it was Multico. I don't know if they are still made,but easy to Google.

[Mark Drayton]

Yes, the Multico's are still made although they were unavailable for a time and I know production transferred to a different part of the country so perhaps the design and company name were bought out. I don't have one myself. I used to have the Record bench-top mortiser - also UK made at the time - but didn't like the combined fence and hold-down system which was difficult to adjust accurately and firmly. I now use a heavy bronze shop-built hollow chisel adapter for my RF45 mill drill. The mill drill is much more substantially made than a DP and (so far!) stands up well to the forces of mortising. Fitting or removing the chisel holder is very quick. I have an auxiliary table with vice clamping/hold down and fence working in conjunction with the XY table and used with the Digital Read Out it provides a very high level of accuracy. Of course if or when I'm happy with round ended mortices of modest depth, I can just use an end mill directly in the mill drill.

As others have said, part of the secret to successful hollow chisel mortising seems to be in the chisel itself and in its honing. I have better success with Sheffield Clico chisels than with the far eastern offerings.

Mark

[Neal Clayton]

Ummmmmmm.....Maybe confusion as to PM model numbers, or maybe just part of the "everything PM makes is overpriced and overrated" school of thought.

My PM719 has (a) front clamp and (b) worm-and-gear-driven table movement Front-to Back (c) rack-and pinion left-to-right

First purchase was Delta benchtop mortiser. Alignment, clamping, and overall "beefiness" wasn't what I wanted - but I'd guess it was in-range for the price class I chose. My replacement PM719 was pricey, but a terriffic piece of equipment and worth every penny - for me - Stickley repros with lots of thru tenons, etc. Completely different class of product. It came with a floor stand/cabinet that I have never used.

Without the thru-tenons, I'd think that a router and cut tenons, or (based on what I've read) router + loose tenons would be a good choice. Also, as I've gained experience and confidence, the DP plus a good set of mortise chisels is frequently the way I go.

i may be mistaken on the number, maybe it was a 719A? i know there's a non tilt PM model that was made for a while without a sliding table, that was priced a few hundred less than the standard model.

either way, when searching for the older model, i came across this, which is a pretty slick solution to making a lesser mortiser alot better ...

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/10684

[Jeff Sudmeier]

I love my benchtop mortiser, I tend to do more mortise and tenon joinery now that I have it...