Bench Morticer from Axminster

[caretaker]

I hope to purchase a bench morticer from Axminster to morrow but can not make my mind up.
There are 2 that look good, first one is CCM on offer for £67.91 or the AW12BM for £85.07.
They look the same spec to me, one has a light, not bothered about that much.
I will only be doing light work (hobby) with it.
If the second one is better then I would go for that one.
can anyone give me some advise?
Reg
there web page is www.axminster.co.uk

 

[newt]

I have the second one with the light. It also has a dust extraction facility which looks crude but works very well. The first one I had delivered had a number of faults mainly the chuck was not concentric with body where the chisel goes. There was also a bolt floating around in the pinion gear. AXM changed it. You will find that the chisel that comes with the machine is next to useless, unless you spend some time sharpening and honing the outside. I made up a dummy MDF fence and stuck it to the steel fence, I cut a rebate in the bottom to provide a space for any bits of debris. You will need to degrease the 2 columns and lubricate. Check every bolt is tight particularly the ones that clamp the 2 columns and the one that secures the pinion. I bought the 3 chisel set but had to spend time doing the same as above. You will be limited to your chose of chisels as the bore is 3/4" and this is not a popular size for the up market chisels. Having said all that it works well and I have used it a lot mainly in oak with a 3/8" chisel.

 

[woodbloke]

I had a cheapo Axminster mortiser some time ago and I got rid of it on the bay. It would never keep the same set as the timber was moved along, in other words the individual square holes didn't line up to form a smooth completed mortice which was infuriating. In my view, if you need a mortiser get one where the timber is clamped in a sliding carriage of some sort, otherwise you're wasting your money. Cut all my mortices now on with a router which is far more accurate - Rob

 

[andycktm]

Hi caretaker,
I've got the perform model it seems fine to me

 

[caretaker]

I still can not make my mind up, i like the look at the AW12BM in the catalogue but could get some more chisels with the money i save with the Perform one.
Oh well it will be a drive out tomorrow (100miles), will let you all know what i get.
I am going to mount it on a sliding bench, so it will slide back out of the way when not in use.

 

[RogerS]

I had the CCM and found it very 'clunky'. Not very nice to use. When you released the lever to raise the chisel, the work would try and follow because the hold-down didn't hold-down. In the end I sold it. Not one of my better purchases.

 

[mel]

hi caretaker
like roger says the holddowns . dont
have a look at this for a bench model , seems to have a decent hold down and crosslide mechanism

ebay link

if you have room for a floor standing machine

ebay link

got this myself , but a slightly older model

ebay link

HTH
regards
mel

 

[Corset]

I have just purchased the new axminster morticer with the x-y table. It should arrive tuesday ish. I will happy give you a mini review, although i have only ever used a big sedgewick in comparison. I liked the idea of the moveable table and the hold down looked a better, plus its right in the middle price bracket.
Owen

 

[9fingers]

Looks good Owen,

I prefer the designs with a dovetail slide for the morticer head. Most of the cheaper ones seems to use a pair of round columns which always allow unwanted side movement.

Hope you enjoy you new toy

Bob

 

[Anonymous]

The hold downs are generally unsatisfactory but you could always mount a vice on it like i did. It is still working fine and I used it to cut all the mortises through thick oak on my new workbench

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1374&highlight=vice

 

[caretaker]

Well I got it.
I got the cheep one as it was on offer and a pack of chisels, plus a sharpening pack.
I was surprised to find it so heavy, got it home after having dinner at the cob.
Degreased it and oiled it, checked all bolts and then gave it a go.
Well it works but will give the chisels a good sharpen.
May get the vice to go with it.
Reg
P.S. Now I have never used a mortice machine and would like to know, do you take short stabs at the wood or do it in one downwood pull ?

 

[DaveL]

P.S. Now I have never used a mortice machine and would like to know, do you take short stabs at the wood or do it in one downwood pull ?

Well I have a cheap Draper machine, I have fitted a cross vice like Tony, makes using it much easier.
I find the cutting action needs to be changed depending on the wood in use, if the dust is clearing the chisel then the number of times I raise the chisel is reduced.
When using it I do use the dust extractor to remove as much of the dust as possible, stops it building up an covering the marking out.

And mind you fingers the points on the chisel should be very sharpe

 

[Lord Nibbo]

Well I got it.

P.S. Now I have never used a mortice machine and would like to know, do you take short stabs at the wood or do it in one downwood pull ?

If you have never used a machine I assume you have never set a chisel either.

It might interest you to read this info HERE

Paying attention to the use of a two pence coin.

 

[caretaker]

I have sharpened chisel and made my first joint, great, well after a bit of cleaning up.
I am going for the real thing to-morrow, starting to make more of my conservatory sections.
I am up to seven so far, it has now taken over my garage for painting sections.
My next section will have an opening window but this one will be square, I hope.
Machine Mart did not have the sliding vise in stock, but think I can press on with out it.
Thanks all for help and advise.
Reg the bodger

 

[andycktm]

Glad you like it .
I've put two 2" g clamps on the rear of the fence to hold it to the wood base,works great .

 

[stuartpaul]

P.S. Now I have never used a mortice machine and would like to know, do you take short stabs at the wood or do it in one downwood pull ?

Well I have a cheap Draper machine, I have fitted a cross vice like Tony, makes using it much easier.
I find the cutting action needs to be changed depending on the wood in use, if the dust is clearing the chisel then the number of times I raise the chisel is reduced.
When using it I do use the dust extractor to remove as much of the dust as possible, stops it building up an covering the marking out.

And mind you fingers the points on the chisel should be very sharpe

Dave,

I've got a cheap Draper as well and wondered how you managed to raise the 'legs' to increase clearance? My engineering skills are virtually zero and I can't see how to do it easily.

Cheers

Stuart

 

[tinfoil]

I too followed Tony's clever move and fitted a cross vice to a cheap morticer.



I bought the smaller 3"" Axminster cross vice which fits under a 6mm chisel leaving about 60mm for the workpiece - without having to modify the pillars. That's enough for my present project - mortices in 50mm deep timber.

It needed the two tapped holes Tony referred to in order to mount the to-&-fro slide facing the front and I had to drill and tap fixing holes in the base of the morticer to fix the vice. My only problem was refitting the base to the pillars - the big spring didn't want to let me push it down and locate the fixing screw at the same time!

The morticer is a SIP - I picked it up for £85 from SIP at Ally Pally last month.

 

[George_N]

Dave,

I've got a cheap Draper as well and wondered how you managed to raise the 'legs' to increase clearance? My engineering skills are virtually zero and I can't see how to do it easily.

Cheers

Stuart

Stuart, near the top of this thread Tony posted a link to another thread that has details of the modification. Some/most of the work was carried out by a local machine shop he found in "Yellow pages" for about £7, if I read the post correctly. Basically, he took off the base and got two extensions the same diameter as the legs and screwed them on via the tapped holes that originally connected the legs to the base. Th 7" extensions were drilled and tapped to match the threaded holes in the legs. There was also a minor mod. to the cross-vice itself that involved turning the vice head round so that all the controls were at the front.