Just ordered me a Powermatic 701 Mortising machine… and I got it for a steal! I’ll let you know when it arrives!
Any tips for setting this type of tool up? I’ve seen a million videos on installing and tuning saws, but never a thing on a mortiser.
2009: The Summer of the Tenon!
-- Laziness minus Apathy equals Efficiency

















4 comments so far
theoldflyer
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2 posts in 1750 days
#1 posted 1472 days ago
David,
Where did you steal your Mortising machine from? I’m looking for one for my shop.
-- TJ in Southern Oregon
thiel
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359 posts in 1490 days
#2 posted 1472 days ago
I found a seller on Amazon advertising it for $349 plus $50 shipping—new in box, never opened. (The next best price I found was $479 plus shipping.) Since they had a solid rep on Amazon and eBay (and a clear return policy) I took the risk of ordering it. They only had the one though… the seller appears to be a liquidator and he must have found it in the final stock of someplace going out of business or something.
-- Laziness minus Apathy equals Efficiency
thiel
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359 posts in 1490 days
#3 posted 1457 days ago
Everything arrived in good order and the machine is set up. I have short-shank mortising chisels though, and this machine really prefers long shank ones. There IS a chuck extention included with the machine, but the chuck doesn’t want to come off.
Anyone have any comments on how hard I should try to get the chuck off so I can add the extender? I gave it a really good effort with a gloved hand and it wouldn’t turn… I was gonna turn to a wrench but wondered if I was gonna break something!
I did toss a short shank chisel in there (it was barely held in the chuck) and did some test cuts. It’s like butter.
-- Laziness minus Apathy equals Efficiency
thiel
home | projects | blog
359 posts in 1490 days
#4 posted 1390 days ago
Long term report on the PM 701: Plenty of power, the sliding clamp system is worth its weight in gold, everything rock solid and it cuts clean and true. The handle, however, was designed by an idiot: you have to swing it about 270 degrees to move make a 2 inch mortise—crazy!
-- Laziness minus Apathy equals Efficiency
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