Nate Perkins wrote:
"TBone" wrote in
m:

Does anyone know who sells the 75-050 T. I was it in the wood
review
but I can't find anyone who sells it. Even Generals web site
doesn't
list it.


The list of distributors can be found at the General website.

Most of the distributors I talked to were aware of the T model, but
everyone I contacted was out of stock until January.

Good luck,
Nate


Hey folks,

I picked up my new General 75-050T mortiser last night. Nice machine!
A few observations:

- It's pretty heavy for a benchtop (about 90 lbs or so). Seems a lot
beefier than most of the benchtops.

- The tilt head model is more pricey than the average benchtop at $379.
But then again it's a step up in terms of mass, appearance, and
features compared to most of the benchtops. The non-tilt was $319.

- High fence with a good clamping front hold down, as well as a topside
hold down. I love the frontside clamp and handwheel. The only
drawback I saw was that the frontside holddown and the topside holddown
cannot both be used simulaneously if the wood you are using is less
than about 2.5" tall. Could be fixed if General made the frontside
clamp attach a little lower to the table. Frankly the frontside hold
down is good enough that I don't see much need for the topside second
clamp.

- The horizontal and vertical stops as well as the frontside clamp are
all done with hand knobs (no tools). Nice. The only tool required is
a chuck key, which has a holder on the back of the unit.

- The four supplied chisels are pretty sharp out of the box ... they
work well once the auger to chisel depth is set correctly according to
the manual (like all mortisers, they'll clog if the auger is set too
shallow). I'm still going to polish the sides and get the Lee Valley
cones.

- The long hand crank is very comfortable, and the top end of range
travel adjustment is nice.

- Only did about two dozen holes (mostly in poplar). No binding, etc,
with clean holes. Seemed to take very little effort and the chips were
coming out pretty cleanly. I need to test it out on hard maple to see
if it's as smooth.

- The manual is a little skimpy but a mortiser isn't that complicated.
There are a minimum number of parts to assemble and with common sense
it's no sweat. A better manual would be nice but most woodworkers will
have no problems figuring it out.

- I have yet to try the head tilt or head extension. Maybe tonight.

I bought this unit in Denver at a place called Tool Zone. Cool place
if you are in the area. They have lots of tools ... Jet, General,
Powermatic, etc sitting on the floor. Prices are reasonable and they
seemed to want to spend a lot of time cultivating repeat customers.

Cheers,
Nate

p.s. Usual disclaimer: no relation to General or Tool Zone other than
as a customer.