Shopsmith Forums

Can anyone tell me if there is a mortise chisel set up that will fit the Shopsmith quill?
Thanks.

Yes. Shopsmith sells one.

I am not sure what you are asking? Yes, SS makes a mortising attachment (http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/cata ... ising.htm). Or are you asking about 3rd party manufacturers? Whatever, you still have to use the Jacob's chuck to drive the bit, then the issue becomes fitting the chisel into a systems that works with SS. You are better off buying SS's kit.

I thought about getting Shopsmith's setup until I read the reviews. They all complained that the chisels are of poor quality and sharpening them seems not to help.
I wonder if Delta or Woodstock chisels would work?

Edit: Just talked to Shopsmith and the lady said that they use them and have no issues. And, they must be sharpened first.
guess I'll give them a try.

Gene, I also read many reviews on the mortise attachment. From what I gathered it will work if you have patience and sharpening skills.

I've had great luck using the Shopsmith in horizontal mode with a router bit. Later on, and now, I am using the Overarm Router attachment to make mortises. Rather than chisel out the corners, I round the sides of the tenons.

The exception here is making a thru mortise, Here I use a chisel to square the corners.

beeg wrote:I'd go with a stand alone mortise, if ya wood use it frequently.

I would say that is probably pretty good advice for many. While the Shopsmiths are great for setups there is a lot to be said for stepping to another bench and flipping a switch and doing the job. That is one kind of stand-alone that does not use up a lot of floor space. Also the prices between the two are not that far apart.


In either case it is important to let the tool do the work. Waaay too many guys want to work like they are killing snakes. Same guys that want to run while ripping a board.


.

Thanks Charlese, and every one else that replied.
I have a stand alone OAR. That'll work. Don't do many mortises. Hard to justify the $$, but I was trying.

charlese wrote:Gene, I also read many reviews on the mortise attachment. From what I gathered it will work if you have patience and sharpening skills.

I've had great luck using the Shopsmith in horizontal mode with a router bit. Later on, and now, I am using the Overarm Router attachment to make mortises. Rather than chisel out the corners, I round the sides of the tenons.

The exception here is making a thru mortise, Here I use a chisel to square the corners.

Sorry about being late to the party, but hope the following is useful.

I had the SS mortiser and gave it away. I have used a bench model in the past and the SS version was just too inadequate without multitudes of tweaking. Changing the chisel bevel so it would cut without wandering, constant sharpening especially cutting red oak. This was 30 years ago so maybe they have changed suppliers.

Anyway...

Gave it to a friend who used it briefly, then he gave it away. (Or maybe just tossed it). He did have some success with the Delta system. I can't get ahold of him quickly, but believe it was the 935 (maybe 17-935?). Much better chisels that kept an edge longer. I do remember that he wasn't fond of the drill bits for either SS nor Delta.

I've found I prefer setting up a router with a jig. Non square mortise ends are not a problem. If they NEED to be square I just use a small chisel, but more often than not I can get away with rounded ends. As of late, I've gone to mortising both pieces and using faux Festool Domino tenons.

Not sure if that was of any help.

Be well,
Ben