Folks -

Okay, my home built router mortising jig is okay, as far as it goes, but I
need to cut more than a few mortises in some 5" wide stock. Any
recommendations for a good mortising machine?

I know delta has one that swings 180 degrees off the table for vertical
work, and I kinda see how PM's machine with the x-y axis carriage would
speed things up, but if'n y'all have any pointers - things to look for,
things to avoid (especially) I'd appreciate it.

No, I won't buy HF's 99$$ wonder....

TIA

John Moorhead

John,

Several years ago I made a horizontal mortising machine that works great.
Since you are talking about 5" stock it sounds like we had a similar goal in
mind. Now I have discovered Shopnotes has plans similar to the one I built
but superior in many ways. The Shopnotes issue is #68 vol 11. Took me a
weekend to build and was worth the delay in the project. If you go to
Shopnotes.com and search on horizontal mortiser you will find a small photo.
Good Luck!

EJ

"John Moorhead" wrote in message
m...
Folks -

Okay, my home built router mortising jig is okay, as far as it goes, but I
need to cut more than a few mortises in some 5" wide stock. Any
recommendations for a good mortising machine?

I know delta has one that swings 180 degrees off the table for vertical
work, and I kinda see how PM's machine with the x-y axis carriage would
speed things up, but if'n y'all have any pointers - things to look for,
things to avoid (especially) I'd appreciate it.

No, I won't buy HF's 99$$ wonder....

TIA

John Moorhead

"John Moorhead" wrote in message
m...
Folks -

Okay, my home built router mortising jig is okay, as far as it goes, but I
need to cut more than a few mortises in some 5" wide stock. Any
recommendations for a good mortising machine?

I know delta has one that swings 180 degrees off the table for vertical
work, and I kinda see how PM's machine with the x-y axis carriage would
speed things up, but if'n y'all have any pointers - things to look for,
things to avoid (especially) I'd appreciate it.

The Delta will handle 5" stock only with the riser installed, but you then
lose the built-in fence and hold down.

That is a PITA, but can be overcome by putting the machine on wooden
strips/runners so that you can actually clamp a makeshift fence to the table
once a riser is installed. Using this machine without a fence, and to a
lesser extent the hold down, would be like needing Viagra to get the job
done and being fresh out.

For someone who mortises wider/thicker stock frequently, it would not be too
difficult to make a fence and hold down, or even possibly a dedicated
table/workstation a la "the ultimate router table" for the benchtop
machine... but this is not an out-of-the-box solution.

Also, the unit does not "swing" 180 degrees, at least not in the sense that
it is an easy thing to do to turn the head assembly 180 degrees ... there is
more take-apart-put-back-together than "swing", as the term implies,
involved.

That said, I use a Delta 14-651 on a regular basis and would hate to be
without it.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/13/04

A couple of years ago, I got the urge to build a new dining room set,
including 8 chairs. So, I went out and bought a Powermatic 719, along with a
good set of chisels. The machine worked vwell but, I found that I needed to
spend time cleaning up each mortise by hand. Not a big deal for a few joints
but, 8 chairs equals 176 mortises! Being a weekend woodworker, I don't have
the time to "tinker" with that many joints. So I started looking for a new
tool :-).

I would highly recommend the Leigh FMT. It's a plunge router jig that is
absolutely unbelievable in it'e ease of use, short set up time and accuracy.
In one afternoon, I cut 96 mortise and tenon joints for the chair back
slats; half of them were angled tenons. They all fit perfectly!

I have never before, been so impressed with a tool, that I felt compelled to
contact the manufacturer to praise their tool. It's a little pricey for a
jig, about $800, but even my wife thought it was worth it!

Good luck,

Dale
"John Moorhead" wrote in message
m...
Folks -

Okay, my home built router mortising jig is okay, as far as it goes, but I
need to cut more than a few mortises in some 5" wide stock. Any
recommendations for a good mortising machine?

I know delta has one that swings 180 degrees off the table for vertical
work, and I kinda see how PM's machine with the x-y axis carriage would
speed things up, but if'n y'all have any pointers - things to look for,
things to avoid (especially) I'd appreciate it.

No, I won't buy HF's 99$$ wonder....

TIA

John Moorhead

I've got a Delta Mortiser now - a small unit and I forget the number - it's
fairly common. It has some real limitations though - foremost being the
small work surface - easily fixed via a larger wooden table.

Anyhow, I'm looking at a Delta Mortiser 14-661C. This is a much bigger unit
with a sliding table with moveable clamps. It also has a much bigger motor
and a larger, adjustable arm for more torque and to allow for a much greater
capacity. This unit has a 1" capacity and a full cabinet underneath.

My buddy who runs Tegs Tools in Hamilton got several units in and he's
selling them for $549 Canadian. A great price since the unit usually sells
for around $1000.

Here's what I see as the down sides:

1) Still no chuck-lock mechanism. It would be great if these things had
some kind of locking devise so that the chuck would not spin around when you
try to tighten the bit up.

2) Sliding table is a little clunky - a smoother working cog / gear would
have been nice

3) The top hold-down won't engage anything that is less that 3.5" high
unless you either put an accessory board under your work piece to raise it
up, or you replace the crappy plastic work protector on the hold-down with
some 2" wooden ones (my plan).

4) Table / head doesn't tilt. That said, I've yet to actually need that
feature.

All in all, a good deal for the money $549 Canadian I think. I just have to
find someone to buy my smaller unit.


Brian




"John Moorhead" wrote in message
m...
Folks -

Okay, my home built router mortising jig is okay, as far as it goes, but I
need to cut more than a few mortises in some 5" wide stock. Any
recommendations for a good mortising machine?

I know delta has one that swings 180 degrees off the table for vertical
work, and I kinda see how PM's machine with the x-y axis carriage would
speed things up, but if'n y'all have any pointers - things to look for,
things to avoid (especially) I'd appreciate it.

No, I won't buy HF's 99$$ wonder....

TIA

John Moorhead

I tend to mortise a lot for table legs - how would the Leigh FMT be with say
3.5" x 3.5" x 32" table lets - you know, the country style where the lower
7/8s are turned and just the top piece is square??

I've thought about the Leigh (I have their D24 jig) and wondered about it.

It would be great if you could download a video or get a DVD through the
mail or something.


Brian


"Dale Krech" wrote in message
nk.net...
A couple of years ago, I got the urge to build a new dining room set,
including 8 chairs. So, I went out and bought a Powermatic 719, along with
a
good set of chisels. The machine worked vwell but, I found that I needed
to
spend time cleaning up each mortise by hand. Not a big deal for a few
joints
but, 8 chairs equals 176 mortises! Being a weekend woodworker, I don't
have
the time to "tinker" with that many joints. So I started looking for a new
tool :-).

I would highly recommend the Leigh FMT. It's a plunge router jig that is
absolutely unbelievable in it'e ease of use, short set up time and
accuracy.
In one afternoon, I cut 96 mortise and tenon joints for the chair back
slats; half of them were angled tenons. They all fit perfectly!

I have never before, been so impressed with a tool, that I felt compelled
to
contact the manufacturer to praise their tool. It's a little pricey for a
jig, about $800, but even my wife thought it was worth it!

Good luck,

Dale
"John Moorhead" wrote in message
m...
Folks -

Okay, my home built router mortising jig is okay, as far as it goes, but
I
need to cut more than a few mortises in some 5" wide stock. Any
recommendations for a good mortising machine?

I know delta has one that swings 180 degrees off the table for vertical
work, and I kinda see how PM's machine with the x-y axis carriage would
speed things up, but if'n y'all have any pointers - things to look for,
things to avoid (especially) I'd appreciate it.

No, I won't buy HF's 99$$ wonder....

TIA

John Moorhead