Heavy Duty Mortising Machine with Stand
I just purchased the Steelex T20836 Heavy Duty Mortising Machine with Stand from Grizzly. I like the fact that the stand has a locking door but wtf, they didn’t send a key. $399.95
Dang thing is heavy and covered with that waxy, oily gunk. Took a couple hours to assemble and clean with wd40. Mostly clean. It came with a chisel and drill. I made some cuts and after some finessing it did fairly well. But the sides of the mortise are still rather rough. The drill rubs the chisel and the manual states this is normal?
The hold downs work quite well and there is no runout in the chuck. Setup is straightforward. I did however stab myself in the hand with the extremely sharp chisel points. I hit a vein and it bled like hell. Tiny hole though.
Has anyone had any experience with the Premium Hollow Mortise Chisels & Bits from Lee Valley? They are somewhat expensive compared with others but I have learned to buy quality for the most part. I got a whole box full of cheap tools I never use cause they suck.
Anyone else have this machine? I had to wait 6 weeks for a machine to be in stock. I guess they sold a lot of them.
Replies
I have the 5/16" chisel from Lee Valley, the difference is night and day when compared to the chisels that came with my Steel City bench top mortise machine. Lee Valley chisels work better!
Bob, Tupper Lake, NY
I am seriously considering buying this set:
Set of 1/4", 5/16", 3/8", and 1/2" 04J11.20 View Image View Image View Image View Image
$128.00
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&cat=1,180,42240,53317&p=53252
It's a $17 saving over indivual purchases.
I have come to the conclusion that any blade that arrives with the tool is just for practice. Or maybe the manufacturer just wants us to spend half again the price of the tool on one of their better quality blades.
I run CMT bits which are excellent but from what I have read the Lee Valley are super primo out of the box. The CMT's are also at about $5-$8 cheaper per bit but I would like to try the LV also. That set is good but as you will mainly use.. 1/4.. 3/8.. and 1/2.
I need a 3/4" and these are evasive with CMT as they don't get many calls. But the CMT is around $24 opposed to $58 for the Lee Valley and I don't need one that bad. :>)
The Taiwanese are OK if you sharpen them with the cones. The price of one makes it kind of disposable in case you lost temper on one by over-heating. Most chisels won't come "race ready" out of the box as the LV so a good deal really.
My mortiser is kind of tiny but the CMT work well and I am sure the LV's would be excellent from comments about them. Here's a pic of my little fella.
Sarge..
Has anyone tried these Japanese chisels from Grizzly?
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2009/Main/121
No.. but for that price maybe you should try a 3/8" which is my most common user. BTW.. the CMT's I use do have 3/4" shanks and I don't know if your machine has an adaptor. My little mortiser is acutally a Bridgewood Industrial mortiser that weighs around 600 pounds and will accept up to 1 1/2" chisels so it uses the 3/4" shanks which I forgot to mention.
Concerning the Japanese made.. I would guess they would be fine. I sold a LN dovetail saw to get a cheap Irwin 19 T pull saw. Nothing great about Irwin but the saw is made in Japan and I feel it is a top notch contender personally so.... I would try a 3/4" chisel from Grizzly if they made one which obviously they don't.
Sarge..
"My mortiser is kind of tiny......."
Oh, was that a pencil standing up beside your mortiser. Funny me! At first, I thought it was you.
The mortiser weigh around 650 lbs. and I weigh around 155 these days since I went veggie (B-B-Q don't count :>) so... closer than you think.
Sarge..
155 would be my wished for goal, but I'll settle for 170~!
T.Z.
From the day I got out of HS Tony.. throughout the military and after... I have never weighed more than 162 so... lucky in that respect as my body seems to burn calories at a high rate.
Sarge..
Sarge,That's amazing, I too weigh now what I weighed back freshman year in HS...290. Of course by senior year I got taller and weighed 450.
Lay off the pancaks and syrup.... :>)
Sarge..
Does BG stand for big? What football team do you play for?
Tinkerer3,The 'BG' does stand for big but, alas, life did not allow me to play football after HS....I think this is where I say "I couda been a contenda"
Aw shucks, at least I'll know enough not to pick a fight with you.
Wow, 650 lbs. And that thing will still be going strong when your great grandchildren are dead and gone. That is, if trees still produce wood. I got down to less than 160 lbs some years ago but then the scale broke and I lost track and first thing I knew, I was up to 170. Now it is almost 180. Just gotta get that back down.
great grandchildren? Don't get me started about global warming.
But I ordered 3 Japanese bits from Grizzly. Can't wait to try them.
"Global warming" Hey, don't worry about it. Just build your house fifty feet above sea level.
The "oily, waxy gunk" is Cosmoline. Most stuff that ships over the ocean is coated with it, lest you receive a Rust Red finish on your cast iron. I've had good results, and less aggravation, using kerosene to remove it. First, I use a plastic putty knife to remove as much in big glops as possible, then turn to kerosene and paper towels.
Good luck with the mortiser.
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