Wanted Benchtop Mortiser

[Yelverton]

I'm looking for a benchtop Mortiser, not particular about the brand. There are a few very nice Powermatic mortisers for sale now, but they're out of my price range with a new baby coming in April.

I've been using a delta drill press mortising attachment and while it's serviceable, the setup time and slop make it a chore to use. With my shop time soon to be greatly reduced (2 boys under 3 years old), I'm hoping to find something that will let me keep making efficient forward progress on projects when time allows.

Moral of the story is that I should have bought FredP's when I was at his shop the last time.

 

[Wilsoncb]

Take a look at this thread. In my post there is a video for a DIY jig for making mortises. If you have a router, it’s an inexpensive way to do it.

Palm router mortise jig

I saw this on a Temu ad and then went searching for reviews that led me to eBay. Anyone happen to use this jig yet? https://www.ebay.com/itm/355712920726?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=3m7bdnkjqti&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=t9M3PFspSc6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY I’d like a...

ncwoodworker.net

 

[Yelverton]

Take a look at this thread. In my post there is a video for a DIY jig for making mortises. If you have a router, it’s an inexpensive way to do it.

Palm router mortise jig

I saw this on a Temu ad and then went searching for reviews that led me to eBay. Anyone happen to use this jig yet? https://www.ebay.com/itm/355712920726?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=3m7bdnkjqti&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=t9M3PFspSc6&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY I’d like a...

ncwoodworker.net

Thanks, yep I've used one of those jigs before and have a pile of routers. The shortcoming I found with the simpler one I built once upon a time is that flexibility was a challenge - cutting mortises near the end of pieces was difficult and switching "plates" to get different widths was a hassle. The less time I can spend on setup the better. Really the cost of a used benchtop mortiser is similar to buying a few more upcut spiral router bits, the dovetail clamps, etc to build one of those. There's a big jump from there to the cost of a floor standing mortiser, as much as I'd like to have one.