Thread: Drill Press Mortise Attachment

Sorry haven't used one, but about 10 years ago my dad bought one of those attachments, tried using it a few times and them went out and bought a dedicated morticer
If it helps, Chris Schwarz implies in some of his writing that forstner bits and the right technique is as good as a dedicated morticer -- just takes longer -- the key is to avoid using a chisel on the long edge of the mortice

I have used one they are very weak and break easily, also your drill press will not like strain on it.
I have a morticing machine and the difference is chalk and cheese

Ya' know, I was 2 seconds from buying one of those last Friday at C'Tec and decided against it pending asking this exact same question.

Thanks for the Q & A, I dare say China's answer has made up my mind.

Thanks China. It looks like I will give it a wide berth. I have found another option that I will post in a seperate thread for further opinions.

Hi,

I have a Carbatec unit which I bought about five years ago, and it works fine, ...but.

There are a few design weaknesses, th main one being that mine had nothing to stop the main frame from slipping upwards on the drill press quill outer, when the chisel is depressed into the wood material.
This means that people will over-tighten the main clamp, and being cast iron, it will break.
I just drilled out the main clamp and used two small 1/4 in bolts to stop the 'slide'.

The drill and chisel need to be very sharp.
I found a small conical abrasive mount in Trade Tools ($2) had the same grind angle as the chisel internal angle.
I used a small piece of plastic tubing to act as a universal joint, and chuck the mount in a battery drill at low speed to sharpen the internals.
I also hone the four external faces of the chisels.

I think I had to cut a small amount off the shank of one drill, so as to make it chuck correctly.

Just make sure that the kit will fit your particular drill press.

The unit works quite well if set up correctly, and used for small jobs.

cheerio, mike

You could try this chisel morticer attachment...

You could try this chisel morticer attachment...

Yehnah....I heard they give the drill-press a real hammering.

Having owned one, every time you use it will remind you why you should have chosen another method! I ended up buying a Powermatic PM701.

Don't waste your money. Save it until you can afford something better.

I used the one that came with my Jet drill press, ONCE.

Performance was underwhelming.

Installation was too much effort.

Restoring the drill press to its normal working condition was again too much effort.

After that I used the drill press with a Forstner bit and a chisel. The result was satisfying and usable mortises resulted but it was slow.

Then I bought a Shop Fox dedicated mortiser. The Shop Fox does a decent job.

Finally I am using a horizontal drill with a spiral router bit. This set up gives me GREAT mortises. The tenons are cut on the table saw within 1/64". I built a chair and during the dry fit process one could almost sit in the chair.

I am seriously considering selling the Shop Fox dedicated mortiser.

Hi again

following on from my original post.

There are a few design weaknesses, the main one being that mine had nothing to stop the main frame from slipping upwards on the drill press quill outer, when the chisel is depressed into the wood material.
This means that people will over-tighten the main clamp, and being cast iron, it will break.
I just drilled out the main clamp and used two small 1/4 in bolts to stop the 'slide'.

Just thought I should follow this up with a photo to explain my words (should have done it with original post).
When attaching the main body, and before tightening the clamping bolt, the new bolt heads have to contact the underside rim of the quill bottom bearing holder "end', so as to stop the mortice attachment from sliding up the quill end when the drill is depressed.

The unit works quite well if set up correctly, and used for small jobs.

Small jobs.


cheerio, Mike