Popular Woodworking 2001-10 № 124, страница 45

dovetailed ways that the motor moves up and down on. You tighten a lever or screw to set the holddown and the thing stays put. End of story.

Other manufacturers use a hold-down that has a steel post that comes up off the back of the fence. The two-pronged holddown rides on that post and is held in place by a small screw tightened against the post. Sometimes these screws work loose after use, which will force you to stop what you are doing and tighten everything down again.

Tools to Adjust Your Tool

Some mortisers require you to use different tools to adjust different settings. Some need a hex key to tighten the holddown, set the depth stop or tighten the chisel bit in its bushing. The Multico even requires a hex key to access the chuck.

The fewer tools you need, the better. The Jet JBM-5 has only one place you need a hex key, and that's for attaching the steel holddown post to

the fence. Other Details

All of these machines are noisy, and they get noisier as they heat up. We recorded decibel levels between 70 dB and 93 dB during use. Always use hearing protection when operating a mortiser.

Check out the arm of the machine that makes the head plunge. You need to be able to adjust this arm easily for different mortising situations. On some machines, you can quickly adjust the arm without tools. Others require you to loosen a bolt or screw first.

Machines also vary in how much gap there is between the fence and the table. On the Fisch and General, the fence is flush to the table. Other machines have a gap between ^s" and ^5/16". This gap is supposed to help clear out chips that build up around your work during mortising. The gap helps, but there are so many chips that even a big ⁵/16" gap is not enough. PW

_PW

Recommends

occasional user

We don't recommend the occasional user buy a mortising machine. You can get by with an inexpensive mortising attachment to your drill press, chain drilling or using your router to cut mortises.

serious home woodworker

• Bridgewood HM-11, This tough machine is low on frills, but its motor grinds through anything you can throw at it.

• Grizzly G3183, Virtually the same machine as the Bridgewood, the G3183 is inexpensive and powerful.

• Shop Fox W1671, Shop Fox has just upgraded this machine with a ^ hp fast-speed motor. Plus this machine has the capacity of many floor-model mortisers. This machine is hard to beat.

advanced woodworker or professional user

• Multico PM-12, If you need a bench-top machine, this is the top of the line. The hold-down is the best of all the benchtops and the motor is gutsy.

• Powermatic 719A, This floor-model mortiser has sliding tables and a front-mounted clamp to hold your work securely. We use this machine in our shop, and it's now popping up in other professional shops. Also worth mentioning is Fisch's new floor-model mortiser. It has many of the same features as the Powermatic, but it is too new for us to test.

These tools have been tested or used by

the editors of Popular Woodworking

and have earned their recommendation.