Popular Woodworking 2001-08 № 123, страница 27
Multico PM12 Multico invented the benchtop mortiser, and in our opinion the company still does some things better than any of its imitators. For starters, the hold-down is the best of all the mortisers. It will always stay put.The fast-speed motor grinds through everything you throw at it,and it was the only mortiser that needed no shimming to bring the table and chisel into alignment.The machine does have some peculiarities,however.The base is quite small, so you must bolt it to a board that you clamp to your bench.You must keep the post well-oiled, or the head will become difficult to move.The handle is no fun to adjust and has only four positions.And make sure you always tighten the depth stop securely. If you don't, it can slip. In all, this European machine is a beauty to use. It should be. It costs $449 plus shipping. Contact Garrett Wade at 800-221-2942. more for your chisels or replacing them if you own a fast-speed machine. If you do buy a fast-speed machine, we recommend you use a 1/s" clearance between the auger bit and the chisel. This clearance produced the least amount of smoking in fast-speed machines and kept us from cooking the bit. For slow-speed machines, we actually found there was less stalling when there was less clearance, more like 1/16". • Working time: Fast-speed machines will make your work considerably faster. It took us about a minute and 15 seconds to cut a 10"-long mortise using a fast-speed machine. When using the slow-speed Jet, the beefiest slow-speed machine, that same mortise took 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Other slow speed-machines that would occasionally stall in a cut took more than 3 minutes to complete the cut. Shop Fox W1671 At first glance, this machine looks a lot like the Fisch, but it's different in several ways.The base is larger and heavier, the depth stop is a rod that you lock down instead of a collar on one post, and the table and fence are longer.And unlike any other mortiser, the Shop Fox comes wth three different hold-down posts you can swap out when dealing wth really thick stock.You can easily reconfigure this machine to mortise a board as thick as — more than any other benchtop mortiser on the market.The chisel and table were almost perfectly square out of the box. However, like the Fisch, the Shop Fox uses a slow-speed motor, and it will stall occasionally under heavy use.This machine would be a big winner if it were available with a different motor.The manufacturer indicates some changes are forthcoming, so stay tuned. Contact Shop Fox at 800-840-8420. Woodtek 876-775 Like its other high-speed brothers,the Woodtek 876-775 mortiser plowed through the ash,oak and maple without a complaint.And while it also suffers from some of the same limitations (an arm that's difficult to adjust; a chuck that's inconvenient to get to), the Woodtek also has a couple other issues.The paint job on the model we examined was a little less than perfect.And the price is higher than the identical mortisers sold by Grizzly and Bridgewood that have better paint jobs.Woodtek officials say they will be switching to a slow-speed mortiser soon, so watch the Woodworker's Supply catalog, which is where they are sold. If the fast-speed model goes on sale,you could pick up a good machine at a good price. ContactWoodworker's Supply at 800-645-9292. mortisers is the way the hold-down works. Alter you plunge the bit into your board, the hold-down is supposed to keep the work in place as you pull the chisel and bit out of So which is better? We prefer the fast machines. The slow machines run cooler and generally have more features than the fast-speed mortisers. But the fast-speed machines are simply less frustrating to use. You spend a lot less time babying the machine and more time working wood. Hold-downs With a Weak Grip One of the biggest gripes with benchtop TOO NEW TO TEST As we went to press we learned about a new mortiser that will hit the U.S. market in June.The Record RPM75 is manufactured in Sheffield, England,and has many interesting features, including a large hold-down that rides on the main post.The motor spins at 3,400 rpm, the machine will mortise to the center of a -wide board and it has an impressive 5-year warranty. Expect the machine to retail for $289. Contact PromaxTool Corp. at 800-933-1562 for more information. Or try the company's website at www.recordpower-usa.com. |
