New Delta Mortiser

[davidtu]

I just got the Delta Mortiser 14-651 setup. My first question is what technique do others use in order to align the chisel square with the workpiece. That is, the chisel is held by the set screw and there seems to be no assurance that the sides of the chisel will align with the sides of the workpiece, which I assume is a very common if not most common desire.

So... what do YOU do?

[LCHIEN]

Easy one.

I take like a 1/2" setup bar (or any other piece of wood with two parallel sides) and place it between the fence and the chisel. Loosen the chisel and move the fence up to where the bar is flush between the fence and the chisel, no gaps. Then tighten the chisel in place and now its parallel to the fence.

I prefer a setup bar - sometimes you need to put stuff under it to hold it up high enough - but then you will not only be parallel to the fence but also set a specific distance (the width of the bar) to the fence.

Of course you can also just run the fence up to the chisel and set it that way but no one ever makes a mortise right on the edge of a workpiece. So you have to set the fence off by a certain distance so you might as well kill two birds with one setup bar.

[davidtu]

Makes sense!

But... what is a "setup bar" is that simply a piece you fashion to the size you need or is this some sort of product?

[LCHIEN]

Makes sense!

But... what is a "setup bar" is that simply a piece you fashion to the size you need or is this some sort of product?

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=4854

You can buy this set, $11 at woodcraft. also other places have them. I guess they also call them set-up gages.

But I simply buy square steel bars at Lowes or HD for around $1 a piece.
12" bars 1/2, 3/8, 5/16, 1/4, 3/16, 1/8th inch square. You can cut them down and make several sets or just use them as is like I do.

Supposedly, brass bars are "better" because they won't damage your blades with contact but carbide tips are much, much harder than steel so I don't think its a issue unless you really take to bashing your bits with the bars. casual contact shouldn't present a problem at all.

Setup bars also great for table saw, drill press table and router table operations. Use singly or in combination for compound sizes.

These bars are very close toleranced, like 1/2" will be .500+/-.001"
but you can make your own to custom sizes in wood, plastic or aluminum you want to use repeatedly.

[Ken Weaver]

What Loring said. I don't have the measurement bars so I used milled stock.

[L. D. Jeffries]

One of the first things I did after buying my Hatachi MV12 router was buy a set of brass set-up bars from people at "Router Workshop". I use them everwhere in the shop; router table, BT3000 saw, bandsaw when resawing, and anywhere I need to accurately space something! Couldn't get along without them now. Well worth the 15-20 bucks they cost.