Drill Press mortising attachment - School me!

[HoosierBuddy]

Hey guys,

I have an Old Powermatic 1150 Drill press that I would love to be able to use occasionally as a mortiser.

I see they sell various attachments for Drill Presses to do exactly this....but I don't know what I need to buy to get going on this.

Any recommendations out there?

Phil

 

[rsanter]

You need a kit.
What to watch for is that above the chuck you have a collar that will be a specific diameter.
This is the collar that does not rotate and typically holds the lower spindle bearing or retains the lower spindle bearing.
The kit you get must be if the size to clamp onto this collar.
Some generic kits come with a couple adapter or spacer rings so they fit several different models of DP. If you get a kit for one that is larger you can always make your own adapter ring if it cannot be bought
This clamp on bracket bolts the mortise chisel. Through the mortise chisel is the drill bit.
As you pull the splidle down, the drill bit removed the mass of the material in the center, the mortise chisel basically broaches the square hole in the wood

 

[derosa]

Really isn't the best idea, I bought one for my Delta and after one good try gave up and spent the few hundred on a dedicated mortiser. Mortisers have a much stronger spine vs a spindle and the base is meant to sit on a surface or is really heavy duty on a big mortiser while the tables on a drill press aren't designed for the strain. There's also a big difference in the lever arm which serves to remind how much strain a mortiser is designed to take that a drill press isn't. I've got the entry level delta mortiser and it has little trouble cutting most any wood, it did strain with purpleheart but chews right through any North American hardwood with ease. The drill press one was struggling with cherry. If you go the drill press route keep the bits really sharp and stick to softer woods.

 

[Boilerhouse]

I just set mine up. The kit came with 3 adapters for my collar, but none fit well, so I made my own. Then my light drill press struggled. It was fine with the 1/4 inch chisel, and OK with 3/8, but really struggled with 1/2 inch, which was the size I most wanted to use. You Tube has several videos on setting up and using these mortise kits, but clearly my results varied.
I ended up getting a 1/2 inch up spiral carbide router bit which I installed on my shaper, and this worked very well for trial mortise cuts, but I haven't used it yet for the project I have in mind.

 

[gungatim]

I did the same as Derosa, bought the delta kit, used it once, decided to spend $200 on a dedicated Delta morticer.

the kit is adequate, but a drill press is not designed for that kind of downward force, beats up the rack and stresses the table, and the fence/hold down is kind of a joke.

a decent morticer, even if you don't use it much, will be much easier to use and give much better results without beating up your drill press.

whatever you do, use quality bits, buy a sharpening kit and sharpen/hone the chisel. space the bit properly, don't go too fast or try to take off too much in one go. just enough that the point of the bit is in the wood, so you plunge maybe a half at a time.

 

[guy48065]

Add me to the disappointed list of drill press mortisers. It felt like I was going to shear the quill pinion or strip the rack. The table flex had me concerned the mortise was not truly perpendicular. This was on pine and after spending time getting the chisels honed to a mirror finish.

I bought a dedicated Delta benchtop machine and it's lightyears better.

 

[derosa]

If you get the mortiser I advise against using the plastic bit holder that attaches to the back, I keep mine in a cigar box. I sharpen/hone mine after every use and while reaching for a chisel had a slight slip. Square chisels don't make thin cuts and the tips cut deep, lots of superglue was used to amend the mistake.