Review of a $99 Mortising Machine

[Mtnman]

Last year I bought a mortising machine. It was a cheep one from Harbor Freight. I really didn't expect too much from it, but at $99.00 bucks I thought that it would be better than hand cutting mortises, although I will have to admit that I usually find other ways to join wood together beside mortise and tenon.

Well any ways, It worked just fine after I stoned and sharpened the 3/8 th bit I was going to use. This was just a touch-up on the 4 outside surfaces of the square chisel. I did not like the look of the factory edge. (they provide 3 chisels and mortising bits. - 1/4", 3/8", & 1/2").

The only other problem I had was following the assembly instructions. If you have ever bought any of these low cost Asian made tools, you probably have noticed that the instructions are very difficult to understand. Obviously there is much lost in the translation. My problem was with the fence bracket assembly. The instructions just says to "attach bracket A (4) to base using two screws. The problem was that there were 3 holes in the bracket, and there was no way to know which two were for the bracket screws. After choosing the wrong two, which seemed to work at first, I had to go back and try to think like a Chinaman and re-assemble the fence bracket assembly.

So far I have cut 8 mortises in the 4 legs of a small oak end table that I am making and the mortises look good.
I feel this mortising machine (Central Machinery - model 35570) will serve me well in the future. Actually when you think about it, the mortise usually gets covered up by the tenon and is not visible anyway. Small defects are not a problem as long as the mortise and tenon make a strong tight joint.

Bottom line - I think this mortising machine is a good buy for the occasional user, and is worth the $99 price.