The Shop Fox Mortiser
I think everyone should have a mortiser if they plan on doing serious woodworking. It speeds up a project with considerable accuracy and precision. While most morticing is done on face frames, and doesn't generally require much depth, most will do the job nicely like the "Green" Grizzly has for me. Pretty content with it so far in both power, and depth...........I've had several recent projects that needed mortices in thicker stock that the Green left me limited. Now, this limit isn't out of the ordinary at roughly 4 1/4", it did leave me with my drill press and fostner bits for some 5 1/2" stock needing mortices in. For that reason, and that reason alone, I opted to upgrade to the shop fox.
Putting them side by side for comparison, you can see that there isn't much difference in height. The Shop fox has a 3/4hp motor vs. the pretty much 1/2hp found in most bench tops. The Shop fox also has a twin column as opposed to a single, which is really nice as this unit is heavier than the green and I like weight in machinery. It has a wider work table, but also a higher fence and thicker hold down to solve that sticking chisel problem many complain about. Its got a nice long handle, great for power for those who like that one stroke bore.
The Fox has a pivot feature for end drill in long stock buy loosening two hex bolts, and turning the head. If the unit is mounted on and end cabinet, this could be a great feature for special projects. The shop Fox also has a 3 position gas snap on cylinder, for different heights. This allows boring to the center of an 8" board on edge. The fence is a heavy duty fence as opposed to a simple angle, eventhough I have no complaints on the smaller fence, the higher fence makes it easier holding stock as well as accuracy when doing think stock such as table legs.
The fence also has a spring loaded micro adjustment for that fine tuning
A word about chisels. I've used some higher end chisels
and these Grizzly's and frankly I see no need to change. Some will argue all day long on how the more expensive chisels are better, but I've used Grizzly's for 2 yrs now and not only have they not turned blue as many chisel manufactures warn, but I haven't had the need to sharpen any as of yet. The key in longevity is not to let the chisel heat up, and that happens under load or bearing down to make that first cut, and cuttings not able to leave quick enough causing heat build up. When heated, there is expansion and that's where the sticking becomes a problem for some. I like to start two holes overlapping each other. When boring seems to get a bit harder, I back off and start a new hole. This allows trapped heated cuttings to empty in the first hole, and allowing that second hole to be completed without burning. Once the holes are complete, then its half holes to completion. This does NOT take considerable more time, but a good investment practice in chisel longevity no matter how expensive the chisel used.My first knee jerk reaction was to sell the smaller unit, but as cheap as they are I've decided to keep it for smaller work such as face frames, and use the shop fox for large work such as table legs and entry doors that require mortices. This will eliminate set up time for me, as I can leave both ready for either operation.
