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I’d like some recommendations on which power mortice tool is the best. I’m making garden benches and need one for several cuts. any information is helpful!
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I have a Delta, and it works great. For an extra $80, but the extender, which allows you to mortise stock up to 6" thick, I think.
It takes about a day to set it up (hard mount it to a dedicated bench, like a workmate or a portion of your tool bench), and add a couple extra lights over the unit for layout.
I also made set depth stops for fairly standard mortise depths, like 1" and 1 and 1/2". These are simply pieces of wood whose thickness is the thickness of your mortise and sits on the depth stop. You simply drop your adjustable stop on top of it, remove it, and bingo, all your mortises will be that thickness. Bear in mind that because it sits on top of a pod type stop, the actual thickness of the wood stop is not exactly the thickness of the mortise, so, experiment, and make some stops that go with your work.
I would also make a removable auxilary table to raise up narrower stock (now that you bought your extend kit), and an auxilary fence as well.
*I've got the Jet, and it works fine. Scooter, nice tip about the depth stops, thanks!John
*b TVMDCI have a Ryobi WDP-1850 drill press which is specifically designed for woodworking. Has a 1/2" chuck, built-in depth stop, crank on the top of the motor housing for variable speed adjustment and a table that pivots forward or backward under the quill. The set of mortise chisels was an extra but it is a sweet little bench-top rig. Paid about $450.
*Thanks for the info, I'd heard the Delta was good.
*I don't know about the Jet, but I'll give it a look. Thanks.
*This tool sounds nice as well. Any difference in hard or soft woods?
*b TVMDCYes! You need really sharp bits for hard wood and I use a slower speed than for pine, fir, etc. But I've used it on both both oak and cocobolo with beautiful results. If you're cutting plugs in hard wood, place your work on a piece of scrap and drill all the way through since breaking out hardwood plugs is tough to do cleanly. When glueing the plugs proud, put your chisel abot 1/8" above the hole for the 1st cut then trim it flush: only 2 cuts with a sharp chisel.Just found a new use for it: repairing wooden shutters with broken pins. I drilled out broken pins in the vanes (impossible to try by hand) and am countersinking a screw through the stile into the new holes.
*Thanks for the additional informaton!
*b TVMDCTom, I just remebered a nifty way to make mortise and tenon joints: Drill your mortise with a normal wood bit. Mark and drill the outer limits using stops on the drill press table, make a few more plunge cuts then just slide the work piece left and right to clean it up. This will give you a mortise with oval ends.For the tenons, rip hardwood stock to the size required and use a round-over bit in a router. Then you can cut your tenons any length you need on a chop saw.