On Wed, 14 Jun 2006 02:26:40 GMT, Lew Hodgett
wrote:

Am building a table that utilizes 3/8"w x 4-1/2"lg x 3/4"dp mortises
in the legs to receive tenons from the side rails.

Don't have a dedicated mortise machine and drill press attachments
don't thrill me.

Do have a good 3/8" carbide forstner bit and a decent drill press, so
that is the way it will be done.

Clamped a couple of rails to trap the work piece allowing it to slide
parallel to the mortise centerline and went to work.

Completed the bulk of the stock removal with the forstner bit and
faced the clean up of the side walls.

Someone skilled with a chisel would probably have used that technique,
but chisel work, especially the amount involved, didn't thrill me.

Soooo.... enter the end mill.

Chucked up a 3/8", 4 flute, flat bottom end mill in the drill press,
dropped it into the mortise at the correct depth, and pulled the work
piece so the end mill cleaned up the sides of the mortise.

20 minutes later, the job was done.

As the saying goes, "different horses for different courses".

Lew

Years ago one could buy a secondary spindle with bearings
that was mounted on the drill press table and driven by the
drill press chuck. Then an X-Y sliding table was mounted on the
base and you had a small cheap milling machine. My Father in Law told
me about them. They were used mainly in WW2 when it was almost
impossible to buy a machine in a small shop. It worked best with a
bench drill press. BTW, a reader tip in FWW a few months back
showed an XY table mounted in a mortising machine.