mortiser or drill press mortise attachment

[kiwigeo]

The consensus on most of the woodworking forums seems to be that most of the mortising add ons for drill presses arent worth it and a dedicated mortiser is the go.

Any comments would be appreciated.

[Trevor Gore]

The add-on works fine for me. Gerard has a dedicated machine. I've used both. Apart from the set-up time (~2minutes with a bit of practice) that's all the difference there is for guitar work. The accuracy is down to how well you do the set up, but there's no great difficulty there. If you were doing bulk mortising on furniture, it could well be a different story and you'd maybe want a dedicated, more rugged machine, but you'd have to find the bench space for it.

[kiwigeo]

Thanks Trev.

[Steve]

The consensus on most of the woodworking forums seems to be that most of the mortising add ons for drill presses arent worth it and a dedicated mortiser is the go.
Any comments would be appreciated.

Sorry, this isn't going to help you Martin, but this guy's passionate review is pretty amusing:

youtu.be/
If you do get one, please don't go postal on us.

[Trevor Gore]

I guess all mortising attachments aren't created equal!

I got mine from Carbatec maybe 10-12 years ago; could be longer. It came with all sorts of hold-downs, fences and stuff, none of which I use for mortising, but all of which has been re-purposed for other tools/uses. I have a dummy neck and a plank with a spline on it which engages with the truss rod slot. The dummy neck goes on the spline, the mortiser is wound down to engage the mortise in the dummy neck and then I clamp the plank with the spline to the drill table. Swap the dummy neck for a real one, and off you go.

[kiwigeo]

Stuff it....think Ill buy a mortiser....the wife has just bought a couple more kitchen appliances so Im lagging behind her in the power tool stakes anyway.

[P Bill]

A lot depends on the quality of the drill press as well. I have a slot mortiser, much more versatile than the hollow chisel.

[charangohabsburg]

A lot depends on the quality of the drill press as well. [...]

Will this one be OK?

[kiwigeo]

Yeah that'd be fine....for working on watches.

[charangohabsburg]

Glad you did not say "Swiss watches".

[auscab]

Like Bill says, a quality drill press helps but I threw the drill press attachment a long time ago and have two dedicated working ones on the go at the moment , one from Carbatec and a Woodman . good clamping ability and good leverage I think is what helps and makes them better for the legs I do.
A very good tip I was shown was to sand on the linisher [ or file it / grind it ] the chisel on its four sides about 8 to 10mm back from it's cutting edge . So the start of the chisel is slightly wider than the rest of it, Im talking about .03 to .05 of a mm.
Much nicer to use with no jamming or getting the chisel stuck as much , specially on the first pass.

[Nick]

A very good tip I was shown was to sand on the linisher [ or file it / grind it ] the chisel on its four sides about 8 to 10mm back from it's cutting edge . So the start of the chisel is slightly wider than the rest of it, Im talking about .03 to .05 of a mm.
Much nicer to use with no jamming or getting the chisel stuck as much , specially on the first pass.

One of those "Gawd, that's so simple I'm surprised I've not thought of it before!" tips Rob, thanks for that.

[auscab]

One of those "Gawd, that's so simple I'm surprised I've not thought of it before!" tips Rob, thanks for that.

No Worries Nick. It was the same for me when I was shown.
That was about after ten years of using the chisel mortiser .

[kiwigeo]

Like Bill says, a quality drill press helps but I threw the drill press attachment a long time ago and have two dedicated working ones on the go at the moment , one from Carbatec and a Woodman . good clamping ability and good leverage I think is what helps and makes them better for the legs I do.
A very good tip I was shown was to sand on the linisher [ or file it / grind it ] the chisel on its four sides about 8 to 10mm back from it's cutting edge . So the start of the chisel is slightly wider than the rest of it, Im talking about .03 to .05 of a mm.
Much nicer to use with no jamming or getting the chisel stuck as much , specially on the first pass.

Rob, what model Carbatec mortiser do you have and are you happy with it?

[auscab]

Rob, what model Carbatec mortiser do you have and are you happy with it?

The smallest machine I have is one that came from Carbatec about 18 years ago , they don't sell this same type now Martin .
I found a picture of the same make

http://www.finewoodworking.com/tool-gui ... isers.aspx

It was the biggest they sold back then and it was about $1400 . I saw one go on eBay a few weeks back in QLD for $360 roughly.

Yes I'm happy with it ,though it has broken down a few times and I've patched it back together. They do have their weak points which I would go into further if any one wanted to know. It was my first machine purchase, every thing I had bought before that was hand held or belonged to somebody else if it was big

You are possibly thinking of one of their smaller models if you are just doing Trevor's bolt bar . One square hole per guitar? is that right ? I can see how you could well get by with a drill press and a neat set up.
The bigger the better if you can fit it in though .

[kiwigeo]

Thanks Rob. I'm looking at Carbatecs smallest benchtop mortiser at around $300 or Jet's larger model that goes for around $1400. Unless I get into some serious furniture making I think the smaller Carbatec machne will suit my purposes.

[colin north]

I must be the odd man out. Admittedly I only use it for neck mortice/tenons a la "Book" but have found this works fine.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-mo ... attachment
using these, which have a stepped clearance behind the sharp end.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-ti ... rod826165/

[kiwigeo]

10am...dropped the boss off at the airport.
11am..."accidentally" drove home via Carbatec and picked up a benchtop mortiser.

[Kim Strode]

Hi Martin,

Please post pictures of mortiser in use, as I've never seen one working.

[kiwigeo]

Hi Martin,

Please post pictures of mortiser in use, as I've never seen one working.

Its still in the box Kim but once Ive got the thing assembled I'll give it whirl and supply some pics.

[kiwigeo]

Assembly of the mortiser has been delayed.......its The English Ale today here in the Adelaide Hills. Trying to assemble machinery after an afternoon on the pale ales and scrumpy is not a good idea.

[kiwigeo]

Ok I started assembling the machine this morning. The handbook is for an Axminster machine...they obviously come out of the same factory as the Carbatec machines.

I haven't test run the machine yet but initial assessment of build quality....pretty average (paint job especially is not good....flaking off in many places, vertical stop mechanism is flimsy and dorky looking). It's definitely a hobbiest machine rather than a rugged proffesionals machine. More comments after I give it a test run.

[kiwigeo]

Ok the machine got a test run......but of course the 3/8" chisel bit that came with the machine and the better quality bit I bought are both blunt. Waiting now for some conical sharpening stones to arrive from Lee Valley. Have also ordered some CMT bits from the US.

[Kamusur]

10am...dropped the boss off at the airport.
11am..."accidentally" drove home via Carbatec and picked up a benchtop mortiser.

Steve