DIYbanter - View Single Post - Cross-slide Vise on Mortiser

Andy Dingley

wrote:

I'm thinking about mounting a cross-slide vice on a mortiser and
putting a riser block under the pedestal.

Nice idea, but I have my doubts about it.

Cheap morticers are great. They cost under £100 but have lousy
hold-downs with no traverse.
Good morticers have both, but cost £500.
Mid-range morticers cost £200-300 and have single-axis traverse. IMHO,
they're not enough of an improvement over a simple one to be worth it.

I'd love a morticer with full traverse. When I can afford it, and the
space to put it, I'll get one. In the meantime though, I don't think a
200 compromise is worth it and I really don't think a bolt-on compound
vice is going to help at all. I've never had a good experience with
these vices, they're just too flimsy and rattley.

My own cunning plan involves getting a pre-war non-rotating morticer
(huge, cheap and not too hard to find) and then bolting the head of my
rotating cheapie to it. I see this as a much more practical way to get
a real morticer with traverse.