The bit tends to SQUEEEEEEEEELLLLL does it? ;~) Normal. Mine does it,
a
Delta and so does Norms. However if you spray a bit of TopCote or a
similar dry lubricant on the spinning bit it will quiet things down for a
short period.

Yeah, that's the noise. Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

That does not sound right. Did you loosen all the adjustment screws?
Mine will push up with my finger pushing up on the pointey end.

Well, once the bushing is out of the machine, there are no remaining screws
to loosen. I either have too narrow of a bushing or the chisel is too
thick.


I do not know of any chisel that does not need to be sharpened, when new,
for optimum performance. LeeValley sells a sharpening cone to take any
burs out of the end of the chisel and then you should polish the 4 bottom
sides near the point to a mirror finish and your effory should deminish
greatly.

The Powermatic actually comes with a sharpening cone. After the first try
in rock maple was defeated, I dressed it up a little on there and was able
to make a hole, albeit with one hell of a lot of force. I was nervous about
doing anything to the outside of the chisel lest I change the diameter. Can
you tell me more about how you polish the bottom sides?



I personally try to take as much as possible on the remaining plunges
taking care to not leave any small partitions behind. Once the first one
is cut the remainder tend to go easily as long as only 3 sides are cutting
into the wood.

Perfect, thanks.

It is easy to break the 1/4" bits so I try to work with 3/8" exclusively.
The smaller the bite, the less stress on you and the machine.


Funny, my F-I-L suggested 3/8", and he's never used a mortiser. I had to go
for the big bad 1/2". Good thing he wasn't stocking any 3/4" or I might
have gone that route.


I am still on my original Delta set.

Do you know if they are Taiwanese or Austrian. I think Delta distributes
both. If they are Taiwanese and working well for you I won't bother
spending the extra dough.