Delta 651 Mortiser opinions

[LYU370]

Decided to make a cradle for a dear friend who's expecting and the plan I'm using has 30 square spindles. To me that means I get to buy a new tool, cause I'm not cutting 60 mortises by hand! So I was thinking of getting an attachment for my Hitachi drill press until I read several threads about mortising attachments.

So then I found this Delta 14-651 Mortiser at Amazon. $249 - $50 rebate - $25 Amazon discount = $174 plus free shipping. Good deal??? Good machine??? What do you think.

Also speaking of drill press attachments, anyone have any opinions on a drum sander attachment? I'm going to have to sand a few curved surfaces on this project.

Thanks!

[dkhoward]

I have one of the HF morticers. I had to do a little work on the table and I added a longer handle for more leverage, and I bought a better set of chisels. . .. but it works well for me. I cut probably 40 mortivces with it the first time I used it on a table I built for my wife .. . . For the money I think it is a steal.

[ChrisD]

Andy,

I've got the 14-651 and am very happy with it. I bought it from Amazon for $200, so $174 from my standpoint is a steal!

Roland Johnson wrote a good article on how to get the most out of your mortiser in FWW earlier this year. Of course, our very own Tom Hintz also has a very good article on his website, www.newwoodworker.com

The key things I learned are:
1.) Sharpen and hone the chisels prior to use. I bought a honing cone from Rockler for a very reasonable price and it works great.
2.) Chuck the bit with the proper clearance from the bottom of the chisel.