Rack-and-pinion head for raising and lowering
Reviews (53)
Good Value and Good Quality
If you utilize mortise and tenon joints and have been creating them with a router or a drill press with a mortising attachment, you will really enjoy this product. There are several positive attributes about this tool and one negative.
Positive Attributes:
1) HP is quite adequate.
2) The chisels and bits I received were very sharp. They believe that they would serve the non-professional well. I usually use Clico bits, but I recommend that you at least try these before you purchase an expensive set. You might be as pleasantly suprised as I was and you could save yourself some money.
3) Fit and finish is very good.
4) The column mounts to the base structure with capscrews. The Jet engineers were thinking, because they provided two assembly hole patterns. The second hole pattern allows you to turn the head around 180 degrees. This will enable you to mortise stock one or two inches taller than normal designed capacity without a major setup changes.
5) Good quality for the price.
One Negative attribute:
If you have read any of the reviews of mortise machines, you will notice a common issue with bench top mortise machines is the hold down fixture. Jet is considered to have one of the better hold down fixtures. If you have used drill press with a mortise attachment you have lived the pain of setup and hold down. This machine is by far a huge improvement over a drill press attachment. However, this hold down fixture could also be improved. Mine is not parallel with the base surface or square with the back fence. This allows the stock to rack slightly when withdrawing the chisel from the mortise. It doesn't take much movement of the wood to bind the chisel in the mortise.
Note:
I am upgrading to the Powermatics floor model because of the improved hold down, the translating table, and the larger chisel capacity. I am very happy with my Jet mortiser and do regret purchasing it. I just want more.
Operator errors to avoid:
A) If you try force the chisel and bit, you run the risk of elevating the temperature of your cutting tools and ruining the temper. Try to keep the wood from smoking.
B) If you force the cut faster than the helix on the bit can remove the chips, you can induce too much heat into the cutting tools and could stall the motor.
C) The HP is fine. If the wood is smoking, slow down.
D) Lastly, it seems too obvious, but be prepared to mount this to a table or some other ridgid structure before use.
A good benchtop mortiser
I am a beginning woodworker, and after building two mission-style end tables from quartersawn white oak, with mortise and tenon joinery, as well as all those spindles, I knew there had to be a better way than the drill press and chisel! I did a good bit of research, and decided on the Jet as a good value for the money. Setup is quick and easy, and it will do very nice blind mortises. It does leave a small bump on one side of the cut, which I attribute to the stock Jet chisel. The first cut needs to be slow with a couple of backouts to help clear the chips. After that, it goes quite fast. I set the hold down ever so slightly loose, and can slide the workpiece from one cut to the next. I am building a mission style coffee table now, and the mortises took a couple of hours including layout and machine setup...this process took the better part of a weekend before! No, this is not a floor type production mortiser, but it doesn't cost what one does either! For the home shop, it does a great job!
looks like it was meant to do some work
I just purchased the jet mortising machine through amazon.com. I recieved pretty quick witht the free shipping. I had it set up in about 15-20 minutes and did some test holes. I was expecting to hear alot of noise but it was real quite, a big plus for me. I bought it to use in the making of my baby cradles. I think this guy will be with me along time. Just doing the test holes I could tell that I made the right choice with this one, I didn't see where I would have any problems with the hold downs like the reviews on some of the other brands were written about. I guess only time will tell. I can not complain on my purchase, the price was right and the free shipping was perfect. These reviews are great, they help me make my choice on this purchase, thanks to everyone that took the time to write them. Good luck to those that are looking for one.
A Great Bench Top Mortiser
After building two mission style end tables, I knew there had to be a better way than the drill press and chisel to make mortises. I did a bit of research and decided on the Jet...cost and reputation were factors. This is my 3rd jet tool...the JWSS-10 SuperSaw and a dovetail jig are the others. The machine is easy to set up, and does nice mortises. My 1/4" bit leaves a small hump on one side of the mortise...which I attribute to the bit. Unless it is a through mortise, you'd never know it was there on a finished piece. I set the hold down just a touch loose, and can easily slide the workpiece from one cut to the next. You'll need to go slow on the first cut, and back out the bit a couple of times to clear the chips. After that, you can move right along. Is this a production floor model machine? No. Did it cost [money]? No. Does it make good mortises? In my opinion, yes, and it is worth every penny of [money].
GREAT SPECIALTY MACHINE
This machine lives up to it's name, it does indeed make square holes in all types of wood! The machine is very well put together and as solid as any out there. The only complaint is the clamping mechanism, Delta and many others have the same type. I wish they would have just used a toggle type clamp. Other than that, I would have rated this machine a full five stars.
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