Mortise Press Question

John McCoy, , do you have a URL or summary of instructions for Jet
recommendation on setting bit properly? Also thanks for the Lee Valley lead
on cone sharpeners.....Fred

Fred D Grosse
[email protected]
Chantilly, VA
"John McCoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "George" <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> > I would, however recommend carefully deburring your chisels prior to
> > your first cut. Have resharpened one already with the cone sharpeners
> > from Lee Valley. (77J81.20), and it worked as advertised.
> >
> > Oh yes, setting the bit properly is a _big_ part of success. I do it
> > the way Jet recommends.
>
> A couple of other points - I've found that the chisel tends to bind
> in the hole when making a deep mortice, making it difficult to
> withdraw (I suspect shavings being ejected are the problem). I
> have had better success by running the first cut half way down,
> cutting the adjacent spot half way, then returning to make the
> first cut all the way down.
>
> I've also found, again on deep mortices, that the chisel can
> deflect into the mortice on the last (end) cut, making the bottom
> of the mortice narrower than intended. I resolve this by cutting
> both ends first, then working thru the middle.
>
> John
>
>

You want to push your luck with your wife?
Two machines that have most of the bells and whistles-
XY table, good hold in, more than adequate HP for
doing 3/4 and 1 inch mortises are the PowerMatic 719A
and the General International 75-075 M1

Here's a page I put up about the General
www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/Mortiser.html

And here's a side by side of the two units

www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/MortisersComparison.html

The General has a feature that the PM 719A doesn't - a
tilting head so you can do chairs and other pieces that
require non-square to the face mortises.

charlie b

I got this bit/chisel setting method from the Fisch rep - their
mortising chisel/bit sets are pretty good - and pricey

www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/MChiselBitSettingTrick.html

charlie b

Doug Miller wrote:
>
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] wrote:
> >The General has a feature that the PM 719A doesn't - a
> >tilting head so you can do chairs and other pieces that
> >require non-square to the face mortises.
> >
> I've been wondering about that... The head tilts in a plane parallel to the
> long axis of the mortise. How does that help with construction of a chair? It
> seems to me that you'd want a head that tilts in a plane *perpendicular* to
> the long axis of the mortise if you're making a chair.
>
> --
> Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
>
> How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America

Actually, on some chair backs you want to tilt back and to the side.
So the
General tilting head takes care of one angle and the jig shown at this
URL takes
care of the other. The jig as shown is for use with a horizontal
mortiser but
the idea, with minor modifications, would work on a Vertical mortising
machine

www.wood-workers.com/users/charlieb/!RaysMortiser1/RaysJig3.html

charlie b

Opposite experience. Got the Jet, it works great, and I've used it for
angles with wedges, at all three chisel sizes, and several varieties of
domestic wood, not including white oak.

I would, however recommend carefully deburring your chisels prior to your
first cut. Have resharpened one already with the cone sharpeners from Lee
Valley. (77J81.20), and it worked as advertised.

Oh yes, setting the bit properly is a _big_ part of success. I do it the
way Jet recommends.

"Richards" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Heidinger wrote:
> > Do many woodworkers use a mortise press? I am interested in building
some
> > mission style furniture and was thinking this could be a great tool to
add
> > to my quiver. (Especially since my wife will be footing the bill. I have
a
> > birthday coming up.)
> >
> >
> I've had better luck with a router than I have had with my Jet benchtop
> mortiser. Cutting white oak with a 1/4" chisel was frustrating, but
> better than hand cutting the mortises.
>
> A router with an upcut bit and template worked very well.
>
> The new Leigh FMT jig is exceptional for cutting mortises and tenons
> quickly and accruratly. The Leigh FMT cost about twice as much as the
> Jet mortiser with a Delta tenoning jig for the table saw.
>

IMO, it's a relatively cheap investment for the return in time saved,
particularly with Mission style furniture. Many brands to choose from. I own
a Delta, but would advise finding a place you can do hands on comparison and
decide for yourself. Jet, ShopFox, and Delta seem to be the contenders you
hear most about in the lower price ranges. Of those, I was impressed most
with the dovetail gib construction of the Delta, but haven't seen any of the
newer versions and don't know whether quality is still up to par.

Good, sharp, properly installed chisels and drills are a must for the
benchtop models to perform well, so spend some money on those for best
performance, regardless of which brand you choose.

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 9/21/03


"Heidinger" wrote in message
> Do many woodworkers use a mortise press? I am interested in building some
> mission style furniture and was thinking this could be a great tool to add
> to my quiver. (Especially since my wife will be footing the bill. I have a
> birthday coming up.)
>
> I am not really looking for the challenge of chiseling all the mortises by
> hand. In fact, I doubt if I would attempt it if I had do it by hand.
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.

"George" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> I would, however recommend carefully deburring your chisels prior to
> your first cut. Have resharpened one already with the cone sharpeners
> from Lee Valley. (77J81.20), and it worked as advertised.
>
> Oh yes, setting the bit properly is a _big_ part of success. I do it
> the way Jet recommends.

A couple of other points - I've found that the chisel tends to bind
in the hole when making a deep mortice, making it difficult to
withdraw (I suspect shavings being ejected are the problem). I
have had better success by running the first cut half way down,
cutting the adjacent spot half way, then returning to make the
first cut all the way down.

I've also found, again on deep mortices, that the chisel can
deflect into the mortice on the last (end) cut, making the bottom
of the mortice narrower than intended. I resolve this by cutting
both ends first, then working thru the middle.

John

Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated. I will look hard at the Delta. It
got good reviews.
"Swingman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> IMO, it's a relatively cheap investment for the return in time saved,
> particularly with Mission style furniture. Many brands to choose from. I
own
> a Delta, but would advise finding a place you can do hands on comparison
and
> decide for yourself. Jet, ShopFox, and Delta seem to be the contenders you
> hear most about in the lower price ranges. Of those, I was impressed most
> with the dovetail gib construction of the Delta, but haven't seen any of
the
> newer versions and don't know whether quality is still up to par.
>
> Good, sharp, properly installed chisels and drills are a must for the
> benchtop models to perform well, so spend some money on those for best
> performance, regardless of which brand you choose.
>
> --
> www.e-woodshop.net
> Last update: 9/21/03
>
>
> "Heidinger" wrote in message
> > Do many woodworkers use a mortise press? I am interested in building
some
> > mission style furniture and was thinking this could be a great tool to
add
> > to my quiver. (Especially since my wife will be footing the bill. I have
a
> > birthday coming up.)
> >
> > I am not really looking for the challenge of chiseling all the mortises
by
> > hand. In fact, I doubt if I would attempt it if I had do it by hand.
> >
> > Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
>

Heidinger wrote:
> Do many woodworkers use a mortise press? I am interested in building some
> mission style furniture and was thinking this could be a great tool to add
> to my quiver. (Especially since my wife will be footing the bill. I have a
> birthday coming up.)
>
> I am not really looking for the challenge of chiseling all the mortises by
> hand. In fact, I doubt if I would attempt it if I had do it by hand.
>
> Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
> So Long,
> Brad
>
>
I've had better luck with a router than I have had with my Jet benchtop
mortiser. Cutting white oak with a 1/4" chisel was frustrating, but
better than hand cutting the mortises.

A router with an upcut bit and template worked very well.

The new Leigh FMT jig is exceptional for cutting mortises and tenons
quickly and accruratly. The Leigh FMT cost about twice as much as the
Jet mortiser with a Delta tenoning jig for the table saw.

On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 02:31:59 GMT, "Heidinger"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Do many woodworkers use a mortise press?

A morticing machine ?

I have one of the cheapest out there.
http://www.axminster.co.uk/default.asp?part=CCM
It's a piece of junk, but I use it a lot. A good morticer is still
quite expensive (more than I an afford) and I don't think those
costing slightly more than the one I have are a worthwhile
improverment.

A morticer depends on the quality of the chisels you use. The problem
I have is that teh cheap machine uses a small size chisel shank that
isn't made by the good quality chisel makers (like Multico) and I
simple can't buy a really good chisel that fits.

--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

In article <[email protected]>, "Heidinger" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Do many woodworkers use a mortise press? I am interested in building some
>mission style furniture and was thinking this could be a great tool to add
>to my quiver. (Especially since my wife will be footing the bill. I have a
>birthday coming up.)
>
>I am not really looking for the challenge of chiseling all the mortises by
>hand. In fact, I doubt if I would attempt it if I had do it by hand.
>
>Any thoughts would be appreciated.
>
I use a JET benchtop mortiser. It's not perfect, but it's a *lot* less
expensive than the free-standing Powermatic, General Int'l, or Fisch
mortisers. And it beats the daylights out of doing them by hand IMO.

I've been generally happy with it, but with some reservations:

a) You still need to use chisels for hand clean-up of the mortises. Doesn't
take long, and not a big deal. Just be aware that the results are not quite
ready for glue-up. This problem is, I believe, Common To All Benchtop
Mortisers In This Price Range (CTABTMITPR).

b) Shimming is necessary in various spots to get the table square to the
fence, and to eliminate play in the fence adjustment. Again, I believe this to
be CTABTMITPR.

c) As it came from the factory, there was more side-to-side play in the
mechanism than I'm happy with. It can be adjusted out, but at the cost of
increasing the effort required to operate the machine. Again, I believe this
to be CTABTMITPR in varying degrees. The play is noticeably less in the (much
more expensive) free-standing mortisers.

d) The hold-down mechanism sucks big-time. Definitely CTABTMITPR. There are
ways of dealing with this, though. Do a Google search on this group; there
were suggestions posted (IIRC) about 6 months ago. The October '03 issue of
Popular Woodworking has a one-page article on tuning the JET, and the
suggestions appear applicable to other brands as well.

e) It's necessary to unclamp, move, and reclamp the wood multiple times to cut
a mortise. Definitely CTABTMITPR, and something of a PITA. It would be much
faster to cut mortises with one of the free-standing machines, which all have
movable tables so that you clamp the wood once, and turn a crank to move wood,
table, and clamp together. OTOH, those machines cost around US$700, versus
$200 or so for most of the benchtop units.

f) The fence is adjusted by sliding it in or out; this is difficult to do with
precision, and a handwheel adjustment would make it much easier. This is
CTABTM, though. The handwheel adjustments are available only on the
free-standing machines with movable tables. Did I mention that those cost a
lot more than the benchtop units?

I'll give you the same advice my SWMBO gave me, when I was trying to decide
between spending $200 on the JET benchtop unit vs. $700 on the obviously
better Powermatic free-standing one:

You've never used one of these before, so you don't know exactly what you
need.

If you buy the JET, and later on you're not satisfied with it, go buy the
Powermatic, then put an ad in the paper (or on ebay) and sell the JET. It'll
probably bring around $125, and you've wasted $75.

On the other hand, if you buy the Powermatic first, and it's more machine than
you need, you've wasted $500.

--
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?

On Fri, 07 Nov 2003 14:21:10 +0100, Juergen Hannappel
<[email protected]> wrote:

>the mortising machines which work like a chainsaw seem to be not very
>popular?

They're wonderful, but _very_ expensive and a bit large for
cabinetmaking !
--
Die Gotterspammerung - Junkmail of the Gods

Andy Dingley <[email protected]> writes:

> On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 02:31:59 GMT, "Heidinger"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Do many woodworkers use a mortise press?

[...]

> A morticer depends on the quality of the chisels you use. The problem

the mortising machines which work like a chainsaw seem to be not very
popular?

--
Dr. Juergen Hannappel http://lisa2.physik.uni-bonn.de/~hannappe
mailto:[email protected] Phone: +49 228 73 2447 FAX ... 7869
Physikalisches Institut der Uni Bonn Nussallee 12, D-53115 Bonn, Germany
CERN: Phone: +412276 76461 Fax: ..77930 Bat. 892-R-A13 CH-1211 Geneve 23

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] wrote:
>The General has a feature that the PM 719A doesn't - a
>tilting head so you can do chairs and other pieces that
>require non-square to the face mortises.
>
I've been wondering about that... The head tilts in a plane parallel to the
long axis of the mortise. How does that help with construction of a chair? It
seems to me that you'd want a head that tilts in a plane *perpendicular* to
the long axis of the mortise if you're making a chair.

--
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?