School me on mortise chisel bits

[Hobbywood]

Is there a reason why you can't just use a mortise chisel bit on a drill press without having to buy a special attachment or a dedicated power tool costing hundreds of dollars?

Is it stability? Is it the pressure required to drive the chisel into the work piece? Both? Or is it a conspiracy among tool manufacturers to get you to spend more money?


Inferior minds want to know.

[Roly]

Is there a reason why you can't just use a mortise chisel bit on a drill press without having to buy a special attachment or a dedicated power tool costing hundreds of dollars?

Is it stability? Is it the pressure required to drive the chisel into the work piece? Both? Or is it a conspiracy among tool manufacturers to get you to spend more money?


Inferior minds want to know.

 The chisel bit is held from turning but the drill bit inside it turns to drill out the wood.   That is what the attachment does.  Roly

[Hobbywood]

I gotcha. The bit and the chisel are not connected in any way. The bit goes in the chuck and the attachment holds the chisel and the whole thing is plunged as one unit when you lower the quill of the drill press.

I was thinking the chisel and bit were an integrated unit, hence my confusion.

Thanks, Roly.

[Timberwolf]

I gotcha. The bit and the chisel are not connected in any way. The bit goes in the chuck and the attachment holds the chisel and the whole thing is plunged as one unit when you lower the quill of the drill press.

I was thinking the chisel and bit were an integrated unit, hence my confusion.

Thanks, Roly.

....................
Without the bit drilling out the center, you could never force the square chisel through the wood...All the chisel does is take the wood out of the corners.

[wood-chips]

Is it stability? Is it the pressure required to drive the chisel into the work piece? Both? Or is it a conspiracy among tool manufacturers to get you to spend more money?

This... I once bought a mortise attachment for my full size floor stand drill press thinking it would do the job.
Well, the force required to drive even a 3/8 inch bit was too much.  It sorta worked on soft woods but it was no match for hardwoods.

There's a reason why dedicated mortising machines have a long beefy handles and robust cast iron construction.

[gregr]

Is there a reason why you can't just use a mortise chisel bit on a drill press without having to buy a special attachment or a dedicated power tool costing hundreds of dollars?

Is it stability? Is it the pressure required to drive the chisel into the work piece? Both? Or is it a conspiracy among tool manufacturers to get you to spend more money?


Inferior minds want to know.

 For years all I used for mortises was the Delta mortising attachment for a 1950's Delta Homecraft 11"
drill press.  While this press is not very robust, it did the job on 3/8"  mortises in cherrry, walnut, and maple with no problems.  I now have a dedicated mortiser, and it is faster at doing the job, but not necessarily better.

Greg

[Scoony]

I have a Ridgid drill press with the Ridgid mortise set. It chops mortises just fine.

I also have a Jet mortise that is my primary tool for mortises, but it is limited to the rail/stile width it can mortise in. In those cases, the Ridgid does the job.

Mortise machines/attachment use different Chisel/drill sets depending on manufacture, need to be carful when buying replacements.

[Rick Barton]

Is there a reason why you can't just use a mortise chisel bit on a drill press without having to buy a special attachment or a dedicated power tool costing hundreds of dollars?

Is it stability? Is it the pressure required to drive the chisel into the work piece? Both? Or is it a conspiracy among tool manufacturers to get you to spend more money?


Inferior minds want to know.

You have two different operations occurring at the same time.