Howdy!
In article , RonB wrote:
The Delta Mortisers do not fit all drill presses. I bought one a few years
ago and returned it after it would not fit my older Craftsman machine. I
subsequently used one on a friends machine. Impressions:
I made my Delta fit my Craftsman. It uses iron inserts in the chisel
holder to grip different sized quills. I just spent some quality time
with a half-round file to make it fit.
1) It is a compromise compared to a stand-alone mortiser. It will do the
job but the shorter handles on most drill presses require quite a bit of
force to achieve a mortise in hardwood.
I make a lot of 3/8" mortises in (mostly) cherry. The force doesn't
seem excessive to me. I have considered a stand-alone mortiser, but
never acted on it.
2) Attach and teardown takes time and disables the drill press as a drilling
machine during mortising. This can be overcome by planning but still a
nuisance.
Practice makes it go faster as well.
The mortiser does its work by leading in with a drill bit and squaring the
corners with the intergal square chisel. For occasional mortising you can
do the same thing in two steps. Attach a fence and carefully drill a series
of holes of the correct width; then square corners and clean excess between
holes with a sharp chisel. If you find yourself mortising more a dedicated
machine is a good investment.
By the way, Harbor Freight sells a dedicated machine for about $100. Not a
jewel but it cuts square holes and comes with decent chisels. The hold down
hardware is crappy but the machine provides a better option than the drill
press attachment (IMHO).
I don't bother trying to use the hold-down on the Delta. I just use
the Armstrong method.
One of the odd ways I use the mortiser: I'm making a 1" x 1/2" hole in some
wheels and handles. I drill two 1/2" holes with a brad point bit 1/2" apart.
I use a hand chisel (sometimes) to do a rough cleanout of the hourglass
in the middle. Then I set up the mortiser with just the chisel, and use it
to clean up the hole. I can index the first pass on the two drill holes,
and ease up on the ends to square them off. I can't just set up the whole
rig and make two holes, because I don't have a reference face on the
workpieces to square up to.
yours,
Michael
--
Michael and MJ Houghton | Herveus d'Ormonde and Megan O'Donnelly
| White Wolf and the Phoenix narrowwares
Bowie, MD, USA | http://whitewolfandphoenix.com
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