mortise drill press attachment

[Woodman2k]

I have a Jet mini milling machine that is stout as all get out.What I'm wondering is where would I look for a drill press type attachment for mortising that would possibly fit the quill on my milling m/c.I've seen the delta and grizzly,and jet but I'm looking for a company that produces them for generic applications.I figure that would be one heck of a stout mortiser having the X and Y tables and alot of height clearance.Now I might be dreaming but if it doesn't exist bring me back to earth slowly!

[Mike Davis]

Sounds like a good idea, my set has several different sizes of collars so it will fit most any drill.

[jmauldin]

Mike,
I have a Delta mortising attachment you can try if you want to. Now that I have the Grizzly mortising machine I don't need this anymore.
Jim in Mayberry

[junquecol]

Just pop a spiral end mill in your mill and mortise away. You don't even need to buy carbide end mills, just plain steel. Mortises will have rounded ends, just like ones cut with a router. Round the corners of your tennons.

[froglips]

I'd also mention that a drill press mortise attachement needs a tremendous amount of leverage/pressure to work well. Most drill presses are not really up to the task.

A dedicated mortise machine is derived from an arbor press (as I read).

That said, I too would look at the spiral end mill.

Might think of using the mill more like a router than a mortiser.

Jim

[DaveD]

Well, you could use the milling machine to make one.

Offhand it seems you would need an adapter to mount the chisel portion to the outside diameter of the quill. You could run the drill bit in a standard collet sized to fit.

So get a big chunk of aluminum. Bore one end to clamp on the outside of the quill and bore a smaller (concentric hole) on the opposite side to clamp the chisel in.

One last thought. Why not chuck up a router bit rather than a mill? I would think the router bit would do a better job. Then again you are limited by the much lower RPM of the mill so the mortising chisel and its drill bit are probably still the best solution.

[Woodman2k]

David,
you are right in that the rpm of the mill makes using it like a overarm router very iffy.I have used it with a 4 flute bit to make dados and signs and what have you but I had not thought of round and curved end mortises and tenons.I have a delta tenon jig so I'm sure I would have eventually came to.

Froglips,
with the mass on this thing and the size of the spider wheel leverage is not a problem.You can push a regular chisel through red oak like a arbor press.It weighs around 400 lbs ,lots of cast iron.
I measured the diameter of the quill and its right at 96 mm,or in English 3.78".Hefty compared to a drill press,at least my Grizzly.So if anybody has something around that size please get back to me and in the mean while I will build a 90 degree holding jig to experiment on.Thanx everybody