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Just ordered and recieved the Steel City Benchtop Mortiser and wanted to put a quick review of it up. It's not the cheapest mortiser around at $289 plus shipping, but it feels like a quality piece for the price. I have to admit that this is my first mortiser so that may color my views.
To start with, it's heavy, about 90 pounds, with a very solid cast iron base and fence. The DHL guy was good enough to unload it next to the garage so I only had to drag it a few feet into the garage to set it up. Instructions are generally ok, but with a few minor errors, for example the hydraulic rod was not attached on mine, although the pics and instructions imply it should be. No worries though as it went together quite easily. The fence on mine set perfectly square, and the microadjust works as advertised.
I started testing it with the included 3/8" chisel set which squared up quickly, and proceeded to put some mortises in 6/4 cherry stock just to see how it worked. While the chisels seem sharp enough there is some minor edge waviness so they will all need to be squared up on a stone before any real use. I'd say the chisels are about what you would expect to be included for the price, decent, but not perfect.
The front clamps are extremely good, they are set up with rollers so that that you set the depth for the piece you are cutting and can then easily move it down to drill another mortise int he same piece. I found they worked very well for holding the lumber hard against the face without making you reset everything to cut another mortise. Depth of cut is also very simple and robust.
After a couple of hours playing with it it seems to be a well thought out and solid tool. When running there is little or no vibration and it has worked smoothly in my test cuts. The built in bed extensions will also be very handy for the pieces I am planning on using it on.
To start with, it's heavy, about 90 pounds, with a very solid cast iron base and fence. The DHL guy was good enough to unload it next to the garage so I only had to drag it a few feet into the garage to set it up. Instructions are generally ok, but with a few minor errors, for example the hydraulic rod was not attached on mine, although the pics and instructions imply it should be. No worries though as it went together quite easily. The fence on mine set perfectly square, and the microadjust works as advertised.
I started testing it with the included 3/8" chisel set which squared up quickly, and proceeded to put some mortises in 6/4 cherry stock just to see how it worked. While the chisels seem sharp enough there is some minor edge waviness so they will all need to be squared up on a stone before any real use. I'd say the chisels are about what you would expect to be included for the price, decent, but not perfect.
The front clamps are extremely good, they are set up with rollers so that that you set the depth for the piece you are cutting and can then easily move it down to drill another mortise int he same piece. I found they worked very well for holding the lumber hard against the face without making you reset everything to cut another mortise. Depth of cut is also very simple and robust.
After a couple of hours playing with it it seems to be a well thought out and solid tool. When running there is little or no vibration and it has worked smoothly in my test cuts. The built in bed extensions will also be very handy for the pieces I am planning on using it on.