Benchtop Morticer Buying Advice

[JonnyW]

Santa this year, is going to put up some cash towards a bench top morticer.

I really want a dedicated machine with an X and Y movable table.

Charnwood W316 Morticer

Charnwood have updated their benchtop machine with a more sturdy looking thing, which I really like the look of and really looks nice in the promo video (which it would). This thing will do all I ask it to do - I'm not manufacturing doors or windows for a living, so it'll have to cope with some heavy DIY usage.

Do any forum members own Charnwood machines, namely a morticer? Is there anything better for similar cash?

Your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Jonny

 

[Shultzy]

Jonny, I too was looking to buy a dedicated morticer and I had a look at both the Charnwood and Axminster versions. I also looked at a domino machine which could potentially do the same job. As I couldn't make my mind up I looked at what items I would make to justify the cost. I came to the conclusion that for what I was going to make I couldn't justify the cost of a dedicated morticer (with the extra costs of chisels and shapening kit), but could justify the cost of a domino machine as it could be used for other things as well. I know this post doesn't answer directly your question but it might make you think.
PS I still haven't decided.

 

[JonnyW]

Hi Shultzy. I'm sure I read a post on your conundrum - possibly posted by yourself

I'll have to be honest, I don't know much about the domino. However, I do like dedicated morticers - I've been using an attachment for my Clarke drill press, which does work, but is a struggle if you are doing multiple mortice holes and want some kind of accuracy through all your cuts/work pieces. It's such a fiddle trying to move the piece of wood back and fore, which usually requires loosening off of the hold-down. Having the work piece clamped and being able to move the table is a must in my inexperienced opinion and would help cut multiple mortices very accurately. I've spent many an hour at a dedicated morticer in a past life, but that was a long time ago and I am very wet behind the ears with it all now.

I emailed Charnwood and they told me that the W316 packs down to quite a small size - way smaller than what is listed in the info - below is the text from the email I received:

"If you first compress the gas spring and lock it, then remove the plunge handle (loosen one screw), remove the lateral handwheel/shaft (remove one screw) and the two lateral stop rods (loosen two grub screws) the overall size of the machine is reduced to 600mm high x 410mm deep x 270mm wide. This takes only a couple of minutes and makes a big difference".

The above is a big selling point as I don't have the room for a floor standing morticer. I could make room I'm sure, but it would be at a sacrifice, and the morticer isn't a machine that would be used all the time so I couldn't justify the sacrifice of real estate. I'm still unsure whether or not I'll just sit the thing onto my bench, or customise the small unit under my bench to set it on. It would be good rolling the thing out from under my bench in the small unit that will have lockable castors, and just sticking the thing on top of it - however, I'm still in the 'thinking about it stage'.

I'm wondering if there is any other machine that has that kind of spec and can pack down to that size?

Or am I just kidding myself; is the thing under powered? should I make the room and buy a floor standing machine?

Aaaaah

Jonny

 

[Shultzy]

Axminster Hobby Series AW16BMST2 Bench Morticer is the only one that's the same or similar and £10 cheaper. I would only have a floor standing morticer if I was using it constantly. Good idea to make a cupboard for it and then take it out and put it on top. You could put fold down "wings" on the side and lift them up to be level with the table.

 

[JonnyW]

A good machine

Folding down wings is a good idea.

Jonny

 

[John15]

These morticers weigh around 40kg so pretty heavy to be lifting around. Also I can't believe how much they cost now - I bought my Axi model for £168 two years ago.

John

 

[JonnyW]

Hmm that's a fair point John. I've just checked. It's 42kg! That's nearly twice the weight of my Dewalt saw, and that's heavy enough.

I may have to rethink this.

Or hit the gym.

Jonny

 

[JonnyW]

I'm just going to go for he bench top mortiser. I see they come with an area at the back to lift it with. Still heavy, but I see from the photo of he Axi, the chap has it bolted to a piece of wood that's clamped to his bench. I know that's just a promo shot, but it implies that's it's movable. Maybe not.

It's between the Axminster Hobby Series AW16BMST2 and the Charnwood.

The Charnwood has it by 75mm on the side movement and 35mm front to back movement, which is a lot. The Axi with the optional head stock spacer has it on the stock height at l60mm - that's 15mm, which is nowt really. But only if you buy the head stock riser that lifts it by 50mm.

I wonder seeing they are practically the same machine, if the Axi headstock riser would fit the Charnwood?

http://www.axminster.co.uk/aw16bmst-riser-block-kit

Hmm.

Jonny

 

[Nelsun]

I'd be more than happy to give you a quick run through of a domino. Very portable (take it to the wood rather than the other way round), small, plenty easy alignment options and a joy to use. I've never used a morticer so cannae really make any comparisons there though.

 

[RobinBHM]

I dont have one, but looking at the charnwood, it looks a well designed machine. The main shaft is a square, cast section and the rise and fall as well as table travel run in dovetails adjustable for play. Years ago I had a bench multico mortiser and that worked very well.

 

[JonnyW]

Thanks guys and thanks Nelsun. I'm pretty much decided on the mortiser. But a domino maybe a future purchase, so I might take you up on that offer, so thanks for that - appreciated.

Jonny

 

[Nelsun]

No worries Jonny. I'm in Lerwick through the week so it's easy enough to bung it in the car any time.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

Before you buy a mortiser might help you to know where I work we have 2 wadkin mortisers and a big old wadkin Swan neck tenoner plus a small tenoner that's OK for sashes but not much else. Since I bought a domino 500 and then the XL the mortiser and tenoner never get used

 

[custard]

Have you considered morticing with a router? Either using a shop made jig, a commercial jig, or via the Wood Rat/Router Boss route.

I'm a full time furniture maker with a floor standing Sedgwick morticer (plus both the big and little Dominos) but if they weren't available I could still produce virtually all the mortices I use either by hand or with a router using jigs I made myself. It's really not that hard, cutting the mortice is the easy bit, it's making a tenon to fit that's trickier!

Seriously, when I look at hobbyist workshops they all seem to make the same mistake, packing every available inch of space with mediocre quality tools and machinery. That approach always ends up frustrating them and slowing them down. You might be better off taking a different approach.

Good luck!

 

[JonnyW]

Thanks guys; good points and comments and worth thinking about.

I don't know what it is about a morticer, but I love standing at the thing.

But I'll give it more thought.

Jonny

 

[JonnyW]

Sorry Custard I forgot to say that I have been looking long and hard at the WoodRat and Router Boss; the latter begin the machine I'd go for. But I've refrained for two reasons; firstly the price and secondly and more importantly, the wall space required. That's why I was interested in the Leigh DRM Pro, but again at £700 odd quid, she's hefty on the wallet.

With the benchtop morticer, I can stick it in a cupboard - all 42 kilos of the thing, then head off for some ibuprofen.

But I will definitely have a right look at the Domino.

Thanks again guys, your input is really appreciated.

Jonny

 

[Eric The Viking]

Axminster, Charnwood and Record Power all sell variants of the same basic design. Like others on here I have one (the Axminster version), and it cost about 170 a few years back (sorry but the 'zero inflation' thing from the government is a lie, IMHO).

It's very handy, I find it useful, so much so that it tends to stay on the bench, mainly for drilling. (get the drilling attachment too, and the riser block).

Anyway, I'd buy from Axminster because of the excellent service (I had a motor die - replacement has been excellent though).

Tips:

- on the distance stops for the sliding table replace the Bristol levers with Allen bolts - they don't get in the way then!
- glue some sandpaper to the clamp - works miracles for grip without damage!

- It is heavy, but it's also easy to remove the sliding table, and separate the column from the base. Doing the latter, either bit is manageable for me (I can't grip things well any more).

- use a vacuum nozzle close to the chisel to clear chips, and arrange for the slot in the chisel to throw chips into the hole you've already cut, so it's less likely to clog.

- I usually define each end of the mortice with shallow cuts first off, then work back into the middle before going to depth. With a sliding table this is really easy! It means you get a cleaner mortice as a rule (I find). arc-shaped nibbles along the sides, cut by the auger, are normal, and don't matter - they are invisible.

Finally you may need to shim it to get everything absolutely square (and things DO need to be square) - I use kitchen foil for tiny increments, or bits cut from drinks cans for thicker.

E.

 

[JonnyW]

Eric thank you very much for the advice. I really appreciate it.

I'm going to stick with the bench top morticer, purley because I like morticing.

However, I've had a right look at the Festool Domino. Wow, what a machine. I can completely understand why furniture makers are gravitating or have already gravitated towards that tool.

Possibly a future purchase.

Thanks again

Jonny

 

[Alexfn]

Check out the pantorouter on YouTube. Available as a kit or make your own

 

[JonnyW]

Nice one Alex thanks for that. I'll have a look.

Jonny