HF Mortiser dimensions?

[dlminehart]

Does anyone with the HF mortiser modified with the XY vise know the minimum useful dimensions of the base? The height of the entire tool? I'm wondering if it would be possible to swap it out of a cabinet top that could also be used with a CMS and perhaps some other tool like a grinder, OSS, or something.

I only have so much useful room at working height, so I'm looking at moving the tools from a cabinet compartment up to the cabinet top as needed. I wonder about the mortiser, since it has a handle that sticks upward. Is it easily detachable for more compact storage?

Has anyone built such a cabinet, besides the big ones I've seen with BT3x00 at one end?

[messmaker]

I have the x-y vise on mine and it comes in at about 26" deep,13" wide and 29" high with the handle removed(Held in place with 1 set screw).If you leave the handle on you will need to allow another 12" in height.Hope this helps.

[Bob Webb]

I have the x-y vise on mine and it comes in at about 26" deep,13" wide and 29" high with the handle removed(Held in place with 1 set screw).If you leave the handle on you will need to allow another 12" in height.Hope this helps.

Will the weight be a factor? I have the mortiser and the vise just not put together yet. I know the vise is pretty heavy considering its' size.

Bob

[messmaker]

You don't want to move mine unless you have had a good breakfast. I have not put it on the scales but it seems heavier than my lunchbox planer and it is ,by no means, light.

[dlminehart]

Darn. Well, I've already considered putting the planer on a low pull-out shelf that I'd use from that position, so maybe I'll do the same with the mortiser. In both cases, however, it would be nice to have additional infeed/outfeed or left/right support.

I suppose the mortiser only needs extra support at one side, since one could rotate the wood and reset the XY vise. Maybe I could put it at one end of my multipurpose cabinet and just leave it there, with the top of the XY vise at table height so it wouldn't interfere if I was using a CMS or planer in the middle section.

[ironhat]

Just be remember the amount of pressure that your mortiser uses. Will a pull out drawer support that? I was using a brand new set of chisels on my Shopsmith while mortising some cherry and the table deflected so much that I had to build cribbing under it! I have heard others say that of other makes of mortisers so, just a heads up so that you build appropriately. I wouldn't trust a pull out since using mine. In fact, I'm going to sell the attachment and buy a dedicated mortiser to be mounted on a bench.