# Delta Mortiser 14-651



## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*My new tool*

My Delta Mortising Machine, the 14-651, arrived a couple of days ago. I got it into the house by myself using a furniture dolly. Waiting for my oldest son to come visit so I can get it into the basement shop. Plan on making a dedicated table similar to my Table Saw Table and Router Table.

I like to make all of my tables so that the work surface is at the same height. That way the material handling equipment (read, rollers) doesn't need to be adjusted between machines. The rollers I have are Harbor Freight and they are really hard to adjust since they need to be locked down tight in order to not slip. Has anyone figured out what needs to be done to a Harbor Freight roller?

Read through the manual and I can't find much about table mounting. The manual does show that there are two mounting holes, one on each side of the base. There is no recommended footprint for mounting so I guess I will need to measure what is needed. My other tables have the same sized top and can be interchanged.

There is also nothing about how high up the work surface is from the bottom of the unit. Again, I will need to measure.

Here is what is inside the box:


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## auggy53 (Jan 23, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *My new tool*
> 
> My Delta Mortising Machine, the 14-651, arrived a couple of days ago. I got it into the house by myself using a furniture dolly. Waiting for my oldest son to come visit so I can get it into the basement shop. Plan on making a dedicated table similar to my Table Saw Table and Router Table.
> 
> ...


i have 2 of those rollers and i love them adjusting in not a problem also i made some wheeled tables for my plane , bandsaw and miter saw . i bought h.b. freights furniture mover dolly (3of them) AND USED then for the base only because of the caster .seperate casters would have cost more then the cart and you have a ready built base. they are not the best casters but they roll my stuff out of the way


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *My new tool*
> 
> My Delta Mortising Machine, the 14-651, arrived a couple of days ago. I got it into the house by myself using a furniture dolly. Waiting for my oldest son to come visit so I can get it into the basement shop. Plan on making a dedicated table similar to my Table Saw Table and Router Table.
> 
> ...


@Auggy - It's probably variable. One of my rollers works OK and the other one sucks, Probably need to bend something to make it work better. If I figure it out I will post it since knowing Harbor Freight I'm sure others got lemon rollers.

I like the furniture dolly and also realized that the dolly is cheaper than the cost of the four casters. They are not locking so they would only work so well. Then again, I've never had to lock my casters so the design may be OK as is without locking casters. My design philosophy is to put the casters on the opposite side of the material inlet direction. Not a big deal for anything other than the router table. I put the casters only on the right side since the material goes left to right across the table. If I want to move them I just pick up one end. Not as easy as casters on all sides, but it never rolls on me when I'm feeding thought material that requires some "push".


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Measuring the footprint of the unit and the elevation*

Took some approximate measurements of the base and height of the table.

Looks like about 14" wide by 16" deep.

The height of the table isn't an even number like I would have expected. It's around 1-5/8". Measured 1.726" using my digital calipers. I'm going with 1-3/4" as my height. Heck, my brick basement floor isn't that level.




























I make a CAD file with each base. Looks like I can use the router table and subtract off 1.75".


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*The Manual On-line*

I like to grab a PDF copy of the manual for anything I own. I couldn't find this manual with a google search, but found it through the website.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Mortise Table Design*

I quickly modified my Router Table Design to lower the top by 1.75". I also provided for a tray in the base of the unit. Instead of having the bottom stretchers screw together outside the legs I made this design so that the stretcher from the front to the back goes inside the legs. That basically makes the sides for a box. All it needs is a piece of plywood to form the bottom of the base.










The cut list is:










The tool footprint on the tabletop is:










Normally a tool this big would need a deeper table due to mounting hardware interfering with the base. I had to do some work to the Miter saw base to fit it on the small base. In this case, the mounting holes are quite a ways in so there should be no problem/

There's no indication in the manual what size the mounting hole screws should be.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Base [mostly] done*

Took a trip to Home Depot checking out their steel bar stock (none was 5/8" wide unfortunately, but that's another BLOG entry). Forgot to get casters so the table is not yet done. The shelf for the base turned out pretty good.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Base [mostly] done*
> 
> Took a trip to Home Depot checking out their steel bar stock (none was 5/8" wide unfortunately, but that's another BLOG entry). Forgot to get casters so the table is not yet done. The shelf for the base turned out pretty good.


That looks plenty sturdy. It will be interesting to see the mortiser on top of it.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*This thing is heavy*

If you wonder why I am putting this unit on a dedicated it's because this thing is heavy. Really heavy. In fact, I'm s bit worried. I know that the base will hold the weight, but I'm concerned about the weight on the plywood. Even if it sags, it really won't matter, but I'm thinking I may need to put extra support in the base to eliminate sag.


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *This thing is heavy*
> 
> If you wonder why I am putting this unit on a dedicated it's because this thing is heavy. Really heavy. In fact, I'm s bit worried. I know that the base will hold the weight, but I'm concerned about the weight on the plywood. Even if it sags, it really won't matter, but I'm thinking I may need to put extra support in the base to eliminate sag.


Heavy is good. Uberheavy is ubergood. You're a lucky man.


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## Mickit (Feb 6, 2010)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *This thing is heavy*
> 
> If you wonder why I am putting this unit on a dedicated it's because this thing is heavy. Really heavy. In fact, I'm s bit worried. I know that the base will hold the weight, but I'm concerned about the weight on the plywood. Even if it sags, it really won't matter, but I'm thinking I may need to put extra support in the base to eliminate sag.


Use two pieces of PW. Along with the weight of the machine, you'll have the force of pushing the chisel through the wood. Triple if you can.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Missing Casters*

Wrote myself a note on my ipod touch. Had three things on the list. Put the ipod in my pocket when I went into Home Depot and Lowes. Can you guess the rest of the story? Bought three things in the store. Unfortunately, one of the things was not the casters so I'm not done yet.

The good news in my senior moment is that I did find something at Lowes that HD no longer carries - the brass push plates for the doors to my fancy room. Now have kick plates on the pushing side of the door, a handle on the side of the door where you pull and will be able to have push plates on the other three door surfaces. Just realized that I might want a handle on the outside to close the doors from the outside. I was just thinking it was good to have a handle on the inside of one of the doors. Don't like that fake handles are $15. Seems nuts to me.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Those Darn Casters*

Finally picked up the casters. Design called for 4" casters and that's what I got. They seemed big compared to the last two sets I bought at Lowes Depot and HF. They were. Forgot I need 4" from the wheel bottom to the metal top. These are more like 5.5". And, they are way too big for the bottom of a pair of 2×4s. Another trip to Lowes Depot…


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Casters still.. Fail*

Why, why is this so hard?

Went and got casters yesterday. They were the right height, but not the right footprint for the base. They were way too big. The casters I got for the other two stands weren't this painful.

I bought a pair at HF for $3.99 each and they work great. A bit big, but good.










I bought another pair at Lowes Depot for a lot more $$$ and they worked great.










These ones are way, way too big. OK, there's two 2×4s so the width is around 3×3.5. Should be easy, right I think it's because I have been going to HD and I think I bought the last set at Lowes. Not sure…

Going to try again. Most of the casters don't list the base size, but these do.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Casters still.. Fail*
> 
> Why, why is this so hard?
> 
> ...


How well do those casters roll over the cut offs?

I shouldn't kid ya though, if LOML looked in the shop right now she'd make me clean it up… I am in the middle of a project and have too much crud on the floor. I need to hit the garbage can instead of the floor with tiny cut offs!

Depending on the size you need, and the load they need to carry, have you looked at the Polyurethane wheeled casters at Harbor Freight?


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Assembling the mortising machine*

Most reviews of the assembly complain about how hard it is to get the cylinder compressed. I think it comes "sticky" and when I leaned on it a couple of times I freed it up and it was easier to move. That wasn't the hardest part of this.

The hardest part of the assembly was carrying the machine down to the basement. That took two weeks. Really it only took my 19-year old son five minutes, but that's how long I had to wait for him to come over (finals at college were his priority over woodworking - go figure). I was afraid I'd fall down the stairs and nobody would be there to help me.

The second hardest part was removing the tool from the box. I did that by myself and it was a struggle. Here it out of the box.










Here's the parts that come with it. The white boxes have the bits in it.










The most confusing part was attaching the spring clip. They have a picture which doesn't make it clear (at least to me) that the spring clip goes into the rod.










You can see it pretty well in this picture if you know where to look.










Here's a marked up drawing showing how the straight part of the spring goes into the ball.










Here it is fully assembled.










The manual says less than 30 minutes. That assumes a smart monkey. It probably took me 45 minutes. Most of that was trying to interpret the instructions.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*First square holes*

I grabbed a piece if wood. It happened to be plywood and punctured a couple of holes. Pretty cool.










The fence has two lockdowns and a knob to move the fence. The lockdowns are spring loaded so you have to tighten, lift then up and tighten them again. the knob allows some pretty fine movement.

Here's one of the two the fence lockdowns:










Here's the knob to move the fence:










There is a #4 allen screw used to lock the box around the bit and another one to lock down something else. You need one of these tools to work with this tool. Fortunately there are extra holes in the bit holder.










I did a very rough tenon on the table saw:










I cut a through mortise.










It fits pretty well, but I need to play with the positioning.










I don't know how to square the box to the fence. It's not clear to me.

I also don't know how to get the box to cut at just the right position on the board (centered).


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## ShaneA (Apr 15, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *First square holes*
> 
> I grabbed a piece if wood. It happened to be plywood and punctured a couple of holes. Pretty cool.
> 
> ...


I find the center on my mortiser by flipping the work piece end for end. Kind of like centering a groove or dado on the table saw. If the mortise will only be one chisels width, I use the brad point of the auger bit to determine center. Flipping the board end for end making small adjustments in the fence, until the dimple from the point isin the same place after flipping. Not sure if there is an easier way, but it will find the center.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *First square holes*
> 
> I grabbed a piece if wood. It happened to be plywood and punctured a couple of holes. Pretty cool.
> 
> ...


Thanks guys, that really helps. I think it's true that it doesn't have to be perfectly square.

Also, good tip on using the brad tip. I need more light so that I can see it better, that's half the problem now.

I built a quick and dirty tenon jig in the next BLOG entry which really makes this nicer.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Quick and Dirty Tenon Cutting Jig*

Wow, that tenon was really nasty and a whole lot of work. I wanted to build a fancy jig like the woodgears guy does, but thought I'd knock out a quick jig just to have some quick tenons. This is a table saw jig which rides the fence. I think it's a bit too tight to the fence, but I think it's good enough.










From the back:










From the front:










Here's the tenon (hard to see, but it's really good):










Test fit into mortise"










The mortise:










The tenon:










Together:










Not bad for a ten minute jig.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Accuracy - Maybe Just a Crazy Idea*

Can I add a dial indicator to the machine that tells the depth of the fence?

That way I could dial in/out the fence distance accurately?

Thinking about where/how to add the dial indicator. I know the moving point wants to touch the back of the fence adjacent to the bit. The other end needs to be securely attached to the machine.


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## lew (Feb 13, 2008)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Accuracy - Maybe Just a Crazy Idea*
> 
> Can I add a dial indicator to the machine that tells the depth of the fence?
> 
> ...


That would probably work but it might be overkill. I've always used the "mark and flip" (singing group from the late 50's) method. Drop the bit/chisel until the bit point makes an impression on the work piece. Flip the piece end for end. Slide the piece until the impression is under the bit and lower the bit/bit chisel. If the bit drops precisely into the the impression, the piece is centered- if not readjust the fence. This is easier than it sounds.

For me, a precision adjustment screw mechanism, on the fence, would be more useful than the indicator.

Just my 2¢

Lew


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Accuracy - Maybe Just a Crazy Idea*
> 
> Can I add a dial indicator to the machine that tells the depth of the fence?
> 
> ...


I tried the flip method and it was off by .020.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Accuracy - Maybe Just a Crazy Idea*
> 
> Can I add a dial indicator to the machine that tells the depth of the fence?
> 
> ...


@Lew - Ya, I agree with the need for a prevision adjustment screw mechanism. I got closer last night and thought that that brad point lined up pretty good. Some of the holes I cut were decent, but most were not all that well aligned with the tenon.

Then again my quick and dirty tenon jig is very much aptly named.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Accuracy - Maybe Just a Crazy Idea*
> 
> Can I add a dial indicator to the machine that tells the depth of the fence?
> 
> ...


This looks like it has promise as a dial indicator that I could add to the tool base.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Accuracy - Maybe Just a Crazy Idea*
> 
> Can I add a dial indicator to the machine that tells the depth of the fence?
> 
> ...


This looks like it has promise as a dial indicator that I could add to the tool base.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Arts & Crafts Picture Frame - Very Rough*

Made my first project using the new Mortising Machine. It's a rough Arts and Crafts style picture frame.

Material is 1×3 pine which is part of why it's pretty rough.










I didn't want to do a lot of glue clean-up so the only glue is on dowels that pin in each corner. The tenons fit pretty tight by themselves.

I have an old map from 1897 of the city I live in that I wanted to frame.

Besides the machine I tried some new techniques with some success. As usual I learned a lot and for me that's what it's all about.


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## mtkate (Apr 18, 2009)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Arts & Crafts Picture Frame - Very Rough*
> 
> Made my first project using the new Mortising Machine. It's a rough Arts and Crafts style picture frame.
> 
> ...


Looks from here that the joints are tight. A dedicated mortising machine is fun! I think I have the same model and I am satisfied with it.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Added depth gauge*

I went to Harbor Freight and bought the clamping dial indicator with vice grips and gooseneck extension.

It's really pretty cool.

Here's a couple of pictures.



















A couple of FWIWs…

- Although the goose-neck does adjust, there's a pretty limited range on it.
- There are surprisingly few spots to clamp that allow the goose-neck to reach "just right".
- No matter where I put the gauge on the back fence, it's going to interfere with something like the fence lock down bolts.
- The depth adjustment gauge is pretty "tweeky".
- Hard to tell just where the front of the fence is at vs the edge of the chisel..

Haven't tried doing and real cutting to see how well it works for accuracy.


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## GregD (Oct 24, 2009)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Added depth gauge*
> 
> I went to Harbor Freight and bought the clamping dial indicator with vice grips and gooseneck extension.
> 
> ...


An alternative strategy would be to attach the gauge to a wood block that is shaped to reference the front edge of the bed, basically a "depth gauge" type arrangement except the "depth" would be the distance from the front edge of the bed to the front face of the fence. You would set the gauge to the side after setting the fence. Since the gauge is limited to 1" travel it will probably work best for making micro adjustments to the fence rather than measuring the offset between the fence and the chisel. My guess is that those fence supports allow the angle of the fence to change at least slightly, so you might need to check both ends.

Dial indicators are great.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Added depth gauge*
> 
> I went to Harbor Freight and bought the clamping dial indicator with vice grips and gooseneck extension.
> 
> ...


@GregD - I like that idea. This does seem to work. I would like the reference point to be as close to the chisel as possible to negate the fence "wobble", but that's a heck of a lot more practical.

I was thinking of a metal bracket that spans the center of the tool and allows the dial indicator to be at the center and referenced to the back of the machine, but it would definitely be a custom job.


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## jm82435 (Feb 26, 2008)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Added depth gauge*
> 
> I went to Harbor Freight and bought the clamping dial indicator with vice grips and gooseneck extension.
> 
> ...


Or use a mighty mag…
Assuming the base is iron, use a magnetic base for the indicator. All you want to reference is how far your fence moved from the chisel right? (locate it as you said, centered under the chisel)
http://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Mag-Magnetic-Base-Each/dp/B002SPOEPW
I use them whenever I want to see how far I adjusted a fence - table saw usually- but any fence really..


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Better Dial Indicator Mounting*

The gooseneck mounting on the dial indicator is just way too painful. I need something that is flexible and doesn't get in the way of the machine..

Here's a picture of what I am thinking about doing except it's mocked up with wood. I think I will get a piece of metal that is right angle, mount one end under the screw at the base and screw the dial indicator to the bracket. This will be a single piece of metal. It needs to be adjustable for different chisel sizes.









 
Plumbers tape (hanger strap)  to the rescue!










Alternating 1/4" and 3/16" holes for versatility. Galvanized. Rigid but bendable. Available at Lowes Depot 1/4" holes will work…


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## jm82435 (Feb 26, 2008)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Better Dial Indicator Mounting*
> 
> The gooseneck mounting on the dial indicator is just way too painful. I need something that is flexible and doesn't get in the way of the machine..
> 
> ...


oops, I should have replied here when I said:

Or use a mighty mag…
Assuming the base is iron, use a magnetic base for the indicator. All you want to reference is how far your fence moved from the chisel right? (locate it as you said, centered under the chisel)
http://www.wttool.com/index/page/category/category_id/20765/
I use them whenever I want to see exactly how far I adjusted a fence - table saw usually- but any fence really.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Better Dial Indicator Mounting*
> 
> The gooseneck mounting on the dial indicator is just way too painful. I need something that is flexible and doesn't get in the way of the machine..
> 
> ...


Thought about it but the plumbers tape is cheaper.


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Dial Indicator Permanently mounted*

I got the dial indicator mounted and it works good. A 10 mil movement isn't much on the knob, but it's pretty clear on the gauge. And I found when a mortise is off by as little as 20 mils it shows up on the joint if the pieces are the same thickness.










Mortise 0.377:










Two sides 0.177 and 0.180:



















That is 10x the accuracy I was getting by sighting it.

Here's the pudding…










Nominal values:
Thickness .750" 
Mortise .375" 
Cheeks .1875"

Reality
Thickness .720" 
Mortise .377


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## LegendInMyOwnMind (Apr 27, 2011)

*Table with tool*

Got the table more or less done. Still need to add handles and drill the holes to hold the tool in place.


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## DinoWalk (May 24, 2011)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Table with tool*
> 
> Got the table more or less done. Still need to add handles and drill the holes to hold the tool in place.


Nice, I'm still contemplating if I need one or not…


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

LegendInMyOwnMind said:


> *Table with tool*
> 
> Got the table more or less done. Still need to add handles and drill the holes to hold the tool in place.


Just read through most of the blog, very helpful and informative.


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