So I decided to go ahead and bite the bullet (bit of an impulse buy) and get a hollow chisel mortiser. I got the Delta benchtop.
I actually didn't realize what a workout these things can be. Out of the box, the included chisels cut decent enough mortises, but I'm sure the cut quality could be better. Also, the auger bit doesn't do a great job of clearing out debris, and I have to manually scrape out the mortise with a small chisel or a hex key. Is this par for the course?
I know I can hone and sharpen the included chisels, but was probably going to get new chisels from Lee Valley. Would these be a significant/noticeable upgrade over sharpened OEM chisels?
Any other tips for HCMs? Has anyone built their own micro-adjustable fence (the one on the Delta is rack and pinion, actually fairly decent) or added roller guides like the Powermatic has?