shop made jigs for a hollow chisel mortiser?

[Cdshakes]

So there's plenty of shop made jigs and accessories for table saws, router tables, bandsaws...etc. Has anyone made any add ons for their mortiser?
I have a Delta mortiser and it really doesn't do that great of a job (IMO). After doing layouts, setting the machine up is kind of bad-- centering the mortise with that stock fence is a bear, and the worst part is making sure the chisel is square to the fence-- seems to always be out a little bit.
Also seems the chisels flex a bit when working in hardwood (yes, they're sharp--some have never been used before).
For being a dedicated machine, it sure doesn't do its one job in life all that well.
So anyone make anything that makes this machine more useful?

Colin

[Red Sawman]

I have a cross vise mounted on my mortiser ... works much better than the stock setup ...

Red

[jteneyck]

You should get one of these. Sell that frustrating piece of 150 year old technology and enjoy accuracy, precision and speed, and no frustration, maintenance, or sharpening.

John

[MikeinKCMO]

8, or maybe 10 years ago putting X - Y vises on mortise machines was all the rage around here. Being frugal and enjoying a challenge, I bought an HF 89 dollar machine and one of their X - Y vises and had at it. Combining those two was an excellent idea, and has made cutting mortises a real pleasure.

[YSU65]

I bought the HF x-y vise too. Had to modify it by drilling another hole to turn it around but it has worked great for me. I don't know if they still have the 4" vise anymore, not at my store now. I also have the HF mortise machine, hobbyist, works very for me with new chisels.

[daddo]

I gave mine away and went back to doing it by hand when I make them.

If I made a lot of them, I'd surely make one of those "jteneyck" made.

[Cdshakes]

YSU65 said:

---

I bought the HF x-y vise too. Had to modify it by drilling another hole to turn it around but it has worked great for me. I don't know if they still have the 4" vise anymore, not at my store now. I also have the HF mortise machine, hobbyist, works very for me with new chisels.

---

Do you think the 6" would be too big?

[jteneyck]

IMO you will be throwing good money after bad. Even if you are able to get all the holes to align properly, you are still faced with having to clean up the side walls of the mortise. If you have many to make that's a lot of extra, unnecessary work. And then you have to sharpen the chisel, often.

A horizontal router mortiser eliminates every problem inherent with a chisel mortiser, and adds none other than noise. It's accurate, repeatable, and fast. The mortises require NO cleanup work and you never have to sharpen anything. And a horizontal mortiser can do so much more than a chisel mortiser, angled and compound angled mortises, integral tenons, sliding dovetails, rabbets, raised panels, molding, dowel holes, and more.

Just as an example, I made this small frame yesterday. I cut the 8 mortises in less than 5 minutes, including setting up the mortiser. Imaging even trying to do this with a chisel mortiser, or by hand, or even on a router table.



Or how about an angled mortise, like you might have in a chair. How would you do that with a chisel mortiser? Fast and simple with a horizontal mortiser.



You can buy one of my units or build one from plans I've made available for free. In either case, you will wonder why you waited so long to do it - and that chisel mortiser will sit collecting dust.

Wood working is supposed to be pleasurable.

John

[Joe Connors]

How much do you charge for one?

[YSU65]

A tool to connect picture frames or other angled joints:

"What is a biscuit joiner?