Mortising Machines

Sonny, are you thinking square chisel bench top machines?

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

The Steel City I have was made in Taiwan, which I think is better than the other place :) I love the heck out of it. As far as others made in the US, good luck with that.

I think if you want a USA made hollow chisel mortiser,
you will need to buy an old, used one.

Made in NA ? Is anything still made here ??

-- Dwight - "Free legal advice available - contact Dewey, Cheetam & Howe""

I would NOT recommend Jet. The hold down doesn’t work.
General International might have an interesting one. Bailey is a company new to woodworking with an interesting one.
I think manufacturing in the USA is a thing of the past.
Ray Iles makes some really nice hand mortising chisels. They are on ToolsforWorkingWood.

-- Rich, Seattle, WA

Rich is right … the Jet JBM-5 benchtop machine’s hold-down sucks.

I think General was manufacturing mortisers in Canada until recently … General International machines are Asian.

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

What makes a good hold down? Could the Jet be modified?

I have the Jet and I like it because the motor is 1725; all the others I looked at were faster. The lower speed seemed wise given the steel – to – steel possibilities in the bits.

Kindly,

Lee

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"

The Delta is okay. I have replaced a few parts on it, and it continues to chug along. When it needs to be replaced I would look at WoodRiver and Powermatic.

-- Willie, Washington "If You Choose Not To Decide, You Still Have Made a Choice" - Rush

Arent Powermatics all still made in the good ol’USA? It’s what I would get if I can find a used one. Gotta love the long handle and nice fence adjustments…

-- JC Garcia, Concord, CA : "It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission..."

I don’t think so. Powermatic was sold to WMH about a decade back. As
far as I know most WMH stuff is made in Asia and stateside production
has been halted. WMH may own some interest in Robland , and
perhaps other European brands, so some of the higher-tech
Powermatic machines may come badged from Belgium or Italy.

Lee—Yes, the Jet JBM-5 can be modified by adding a cross-slide vise, reversing the column on the machine, and adding a platform to raise the machine enough to clear the cross-slide vise. You also need to modify the cross-slide vise by drilling/tapping holes to move the handle of the jaw to the opposite side.

I haven’t done this to mine, but this fellow has: http://mysite.verizon.net/vze6zvlk/id12.html

-- Gerry -- "I don't plan to ever really grow up ... I'm just going to learn how to act in public!"

I have a jet and don’t have a hold down issue but I can tell that it is sort of a Mickey Mouse machine as most bench top models are. If I had the need to use it often I would go with a floor model for sure.

The best you’ll get is “assembled in the USA” A good percentage of all the parts and sub assemblies can be made elsewhere and still be considered “made in the USA” as long as final assembly takes place here. I assume that de notion will be further watered down in the future.

If and when it makes business sense to build light industrial
machinery (most general purpose woodworking machinery for
small shops) in N. America, it will happen. Machinery is
made in Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, France, and
exported profitably, despite whatever the tax and business
climate is in those countries… but they certainly can’t
piggyback profitability on the sort of low-wage labor force
found in some Asian countries.

My advice to anybody is buy used machinery and a lot
more value for your money… plus your money stays
in your local economy, it doesn’t get split up and the
profits squirelled in offshore tax shelters.

It is not a mortising machine, but the Mortise-Pal is made in the USA. San Diego, to be specific. I have a Jet benchtop model and agree with others that the hold down is less than perfect to say the least. The Mortise-Pal is a joy to use and produces accurate mortises quickly. Here is a review that goes into it way more than I ever would. I will say that my very first attempt at making a mortise with the Mortise-Pal turned out perfectly. I would buy it again if I lost this one. FWIW

-- Art