I do have my eye on an older Oliver that's on the auction site right now, but don't want to bid on something that may not be the right fit. Having never used any of the full size machines, though, I looked here for advice first. Yeah, I figured with the horizontal I would probably have to switch to loose tenons, which might not be a bad thing. The horizontals that I have seen being used leave a radiused corner, if that is any factor. We use the 1/2' chisel for large doors like the ones you are doing, and make the mortise 2' deep.

We now have a General #220 and it works great.

Always wanted the Powermatic #10, but when I could afford it, I could not find one that was not all beat up. It was really fast and accurate, but pricey. Have used the Maka oscillating mortiser, which was set up for kitchen cabinet face frames, and cut a hole 1' deep and 1' wide. What's the advantage to an oscillating chisel mortiser over one without? Is there an advantage to going with a horizontal, or slot mortiser instead?Ĭlick here for higher quality, full size image I've struggled with a benchtop mortiser, and I'm at the point where I think it would be a good idea to move up to a big boy machine. My method has been using a double mortise and tenon to increase the joint surface area. These are a contemporary design using 3' wide rails at 1-3/4' thick. It looks like I have a fairly large job coming in making 7 interior doors and a couple matching panels, with another potential order for 4 more next year.

Plan shop slot mortiser