Derek
I echo what's been said before. I have the perform equivalent (more or less) of this one
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp? ... 59&recno=1.
The morticer does what it says on the box...chisels do stick in the wood and the hold down is reasonable. OK - it's made down to a price but if you're only doing a few then it's OK.
Here's another thread
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3156
or just put in morticer into the search on this forum...there's stacks of comments.
I bought separate chisels (also from Axminster) and they are not bad..certainly for a first time morticer.
The one extra thing to look for is the maximum height of wood that you can fit underneath the bit. I came unstuck with mine as there was insufficient (throat?) depth recently to put a mortice into some timber that I had.
Whichever one you get there is a thread somewhere that tells you how to set up the chisel and bit correctly. Ignore whatever the manufacturer says (IMHO) and go with this thread
https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1261
I bought a small bench drill from Machinemart for £29 as I just couldn't be ar**d to keep fiddling about swapping the chucks. The decision, in hindsight, was 100% spot-on.
Last but not least...it sounds like you're buying up a few things :wink: If you haven't bought the router table yet then seriously think about getting a Woodrat...as it will do most things that a router table will do plus many, many more that it won't easily (nothing like a born-again 'ratter
) and you can mortice with it. Remember earlier I said that I couldn't put some timber in my morticer? Well, it went in the 'rat...no problem!!!!!!!!
If you are thinking about getting a Trend Mortice and Tenon jig then I have one for sale..brand new... :wink:
At the risk of sounding patronising you sound as if you're going down a similar path that I took a year ago. Very similar kit. Would I buy the same again? Most definitely...the Ryobi combi router is a steal at £89 for both router and table...and the experience I got in using it was invaluable as now I'm thinking what exactly do I want in the the next router table :wink:
Cheers Roger