Mortising attachment
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Mortising attachment
Has anyone used the SS mortising attachment? I've heard that drill presses in general don't make good mortising machines. If you have used the SS mortising attachment I would like to know your thoughts.
Hi,
We have talked a bit about this on the forum...
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=117
You can also check the ssug.org site and search for the subject.
I have the shopsmith set and it does work fine, how ever if I planned to spend a lot of time doing this operation I might opt for a dedicated machine.
Let me explain, it takes a good amount of effort to do the operation due to the length of the drill press handle... on dedicated machines they are designed to do just that operation and have made it easier by having a longer handle and adjusted the stroke to make it easier to use. On the shopsmith I find it easier to use the 3 spoke drill press add on but even at that it is effort... keeping things sharp is a must! If I was doing this a lot of the day my arm would beef-up or fall off and at my age I'd bet on the falling off bit.
If you do occasional jobs the shopsmith attachment is the way to go as you already own the shopsmith and like most of us are limited by space in the shop.
The use of a router is another way to go and I find that a very good method too... shopsmith use to make a tool called a joint-matic that works really great for such projects but they can be costly as prices on ebay have shown. More infomation on the joint-matic can be found using the search feature and also the ssug.org site has a small area for this tool.
Ed
We have talked a bit about this on the forum...
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/showthread.htm?t=117
You can also check the ssug.org site and search for the subject.
I have the shopsmith set and it does work fine, how ever if I planned to spend a lot of time doing this operation I might opt for a dedicated machine.
Let me explain, it takes a good amount of effort to do the operation due to the length of the drill press handle... on dedicated machines they are designed to do just that operation and have made it easier by having a longer handle and adjusted the stroke to make it easier to use. On the shopsmith I find it easier to use the 3 spoke drill press add on but even at that it is effort... keeping things sharp is a must! If I was doing this a lot of the day my arm would beef-up or fall off and at my age I'd bet on the falling off bit.
If you do occasional jobs the shopsmith attachment is the way to go as you already own the shopsmith and like most of us are limited by space in the shop.
The use of a router is another way to go and I find that a very good method too... shopsmith use to make a tool called a joint-matic that works really great for such projects but they can be costly as prices on ebay have shown. More infomation on the joint-matic can be found using the search feature and also the ssug.org site has a small area for this tool.
Ed
bdbc, IF you have an older Shopsmith, they came with only one bearing in the quill, and that caused problems using the mortising attachment. It would cause the bearing to fail, but the newer machines came with two bearings, that solved the problem. I use a dedicated mortising myself.. Because I got a good deal on it.. But there have been a lot of the attachments for the Shopsmith sold!!!
Having too much fun in Alabama!!!
510 owner/user since 1996.
510 owner/user since 1996.
Hi,
Since the subject was brought up.... the mortising operation has two parts, one being drilling and the other being chiseling.
The drilling operation like any drilling operation puts stress on the bearing but does not account for any greater stress then any other drilling operation. If you want to check this out just mount a mortising bit and drill with it.... so one or two bearing quill makes little difference.
The second part is the "stress" part of the operation but the stress is on the rack and drive gear not on the bearing portion. Again take the chisel and mount it on your shopsmith (minus the drill bit) and square up the hole you just made... don't need to turn the power on.... that is the force it takes to do the chisel portion of the job.
To sum things up feel free to use the single bearing quill for mortising if that is what you have.
I have had my shopsmith for over 30 years and only replace the quill a couple of years ago and to be honest it did not need it and the two bearing model doesn't seem to make too much of a difference... I did it because it was on sale and I was thinking maybe mine was wearing out and I wanted to get in to some turning projects....... at least that is my experence.
Ed
Since the subject was brought up.... the mortising operation has two parts, one being drilling and the other being chiseling.
The drilling operation like any drilling operation puts stress on the bearing but does not account for any greater stress then any other drilling operation. If you want to check this out just mount a mortising bit and drill with it.... so one or two bearing quill makes little difference.
The second part is the "stress" part of the operation but the stress is on the rack and drive gear not on the bearing portion. Again take the chisel and mount it on your shopsmith (minus the drill bit) and square up the hole you just made... don't need to turn the power on.... that is the force it takes to do the chisel portion of the job.
To sum things up feel free to use the single bearing quill for mortising if that is what you have.
I have had my shopsmith for over 30 years and only replace the quill a couple of years ago and to be honest it did not need it and the two bearing model doesn't seem to make too much of a difference... I did it because it was on sale and I was thinking maybe mine was wearing out and I wanted to get in to some turning projects....... at least that is my experence.
Ed