I pondered the purchase of this mortiser for quite a while. The magazine reviews were good but I was concerned about the high rpm, 3450, as compared with many of the other mortisers on the market which run at 1750rpm. From what I read the speed was a tradeoff, either you had a mortiser which cut faster but required you to be careful not to overheat the bit/wood, or you had the slower speed which cut slower but was less likely to overheat.

One of the features I was drawn to on the Shop Fox is the fact that it is the only benchtop mortiser which allows you to swivel the machine, and cut a mortise in any size piece of wood (see pic). I currently had no plans to use this feature but it sure seemed to make the machine more versital.

Well, I found one in a hardware store about 20 min from work and not only was it cheaper than any I had seen on the internet, but there was no shipping to boot! Since this machine weighs 30 pounds more than any of it's brethren, 94lbs, shipping is about $55. I ran down during lunch and bought it.

My first impression was wow, not wow as in good, wow as in bad. I immediately smoked the wood and turned my bit blue...and it took all my strength to cut into the white oak. It turns out that the included bit was a little bent which probably accounted for the overheating, but not the crappy cutting. A little more research on the web and I decided that the first thing I needed to do was sharpen the chisels. I found a cheap set of 4 at WoodWorkers Warehouse for $24. With the high speed models, it's recommended that you use cheap bits in case you ruin them by overheating. Oh, by the way, I called Woodstock International and they are sending me a new bit, it's been a week and I haven't received it yet, but we'll see.

I used the Scary Sharp method of sharpening the outer sides of the chisels but stopped short of a perfect mirror, these aren't hand chisels after all. For the inside bevel I used a pair of cone shapers I bought at Lee Valley for $6.80. They worked just fine.

Now for the test. First thing I did was bolt the machine to it's bench. This is a must as the handle is long to gain leverage (that should have been a hint) and without bolting it down, the machine will tilt on you. Using the new 1/2" bit, I tried cutting into the same oak which foiled the first bit. I was successful in cutting the mortise, with allot less force, although still quite a bit, and no burning. Finally, it seems to be working as I expected.

It still amazes me that while watching The New Yankee Workshop, Norm seems to have no problem cutting the mortises, it looks like he's not expending any energy at all to pull that handle down. I can say that from all my research and discussions with fellow woodworkwers, the conclusion is that it does indeed take allot of force to pull down the handle and plunge into hardwood.

In conclusion, I'm happy with the machine.


**4 Dec 2004**

I just added a mod I've been wanting to do but just never had the ambition. I made a new table from 3/4 MDF and routed two slots for some Rockler T-Track and Rotary Guides. If you do decide to order from Rockler and you haven't already purchased the diamond sharpening cones from Lee Valley, I just noticed that Rockler has a diamond sharpening cone.

Ok, back to the modification. I routed two 3/4" wide slots in the mortise table and installed some of the T-Track. Then I mounted the rotary guides. I took the opportunity to also make an MDF sacrificial fence, to which I beveled the bottom for chip relief.



In the photo at right you can see how the rollers hold the work tight against the fence.