Drill press or Mortiser

[NeilO]

Hi,
A question for the knowledgable (most of you guys)
I`m looking at buying a new Drill press, but want the option of mortising too.
question is can a mortiser be converted to a drill press?
reason I ask is the mortising attachments i`ve seen for drill presses seem aimed at light work, unlike a dedicated mortiser.
so if i buy the Axminster AW19fm or any dedicated mortiser can i convert it to a drill press?

i know some purists would say have both, but shop real estate doesnt allow the use of two machines.

any help or advice would be gratefully received

 

[DaveL]

Hi Neil,

The limitation of using a mortiser as a drill press in the single fixed relatively high speed.
Most drill presses have 4 or more speeds, needed to slow things down when using large bits or out of balance hole cutters.

 

[PowerTool]

Hi - I've just bought the Perform morticer.Comes with a standard 3-jaw chuck,12mm capacity.
The unit is single-speed 1425rpm.
So not as good for drilling as my 10-speed,16mm capacity drill press - but I agree with the idea that mortice attachments for drill presses don't fill me with confidence
Think it will depend on which function you need most often as to which to get - either one can do both functions,but neither as well as a dedicated unit.

HTH

Andrew

 

[NeilO]

Hi Dave L
Thanks for the quick response i have come to enjoy on this forum.

so your telling me it is possible, but not really practical to convert a mortiser to a drill press..
my real concern was shop space more than anything, I suppose I could just purchase a decent drill press and carry on with the `Rat for mortising..

 

[NeilO]

Thanks Powertool,
a new drill press and just let the `Rat do the mortises then, i feel if the choice is one or he other a drill press is a far more constructive use of funds

 

[engineer one]

if you can spring for it, one of those drill presses that twist and so on
might be the way to go, i think rexon do one which looks a valuable
thing, since you can use the head to do angled drilling, whilst the table stays horizontal. in addition i have seen one on which the drill head slides in and out, now that looks really good for door hinges etc.

paul :wink:

 

[NeilO]

Cheers Paul,
`im thinking you mean a radial arm pillar drill.....?
not a choice I had in mind , but if I`m buying a new one why not
Axminster have one in their Perform range for £99.88, or floor standing for £129.84.

Choices, choices

 

[engineer one]

yes that is what i meant, since it also gives you the
ability to drill over up to a 24 in depth, which is
really valuable. most small and cheap normal pillar
drill have a very limited throat depth which
you may regret later for instance if you make kitchen
units, or cabinet doors.

anyway the deciding is always the most fun, then
of course you will ALWAYS be disappointed, because it
is not quite what you wanted, still it is fun.

and the slope get steeper, and longer. :lol: :lol:
paul :wink:

 

[Colin C]

and the slope get steeper, and longer. :lol: :lol:
paul :wink:

And if you are realy luck :roll: the slope look more like a cliff face :wink:

 

[Alf]

The drawback to those radial arm pillar drills is that apparently they're such a pain to set back to square you'll probably avoid using all it's capabilities anyway. I'd also have some concern about flex with the arm fully extended. :-k fwiw.

Cheers, Alf

 

[dedee]

I bought a Multico PM12 mortiser some time back with a drill chuck. Although I do use it for mortices and I have even cut tenons with it, I find that it has severe limitations as a drill as mentioned above.

For example cutting plugs with a tapered plug cutter leaves burn marks on the edge of the plug. Using large hole boring bits eg for tea light candle holders also leads to burning and also the speed ( about 3000 rpm IIRC) is too fast for sanding drums ( tends to scorch)

If I had my time again I'd buy a decent drill press and finish the mortices by hand.

Andy

 

[Scrit]

In addition i have seen one on which the drill head slides in and out, now that looks really good for door hinges etc.

...it also gives you the ability to drill over up to a 24 in depth, which is really valuable. most small and cheap normal pillar drills have a very limited throat depth which you may regret later for instance if you make kitchen units, or cabinet doors.

Yes, but kitchen door hinges, etc are drilled at the edge of the door and kitchen carcasses are normally drilled near the edge, too. The rows of pin holes for moveable shelves are inset a bit, but even then they're normally no more than 70 to 90mm in from the edges. Where you do need to drill across a panel is for dowel holes on fixed shelves, and for that a dowelling jig like the Record 148 is the way to go - the job is just too unwieldy for a drill press. For angle drilling it is probably easier to tilt the table or make-up a tilting jig than tilt the head. So I'm with Alf in having a low opinion of radial arm drills - too light, too flexible and pain to reset square.

I'm also sceptical about the need to have a multiplicity of drill speeds for woodworking. Most of the holes I drill are in the range 4mm to 12mm diameter (i.e. dowel hole sizes) with the odd larger hole, requiring a single speed of 2000 to 3000 rpm or so. If that is the case for others, as I suspect, you'll probably never change the speed on your drill press, so what's the point in having that facility, unless you drill metal on it as well? But drilling metal on your woodworking drill press can lead to other problems with swarf picking up and marking work, etc. Probably the most important thing to have is either floor drilling capacity or the ability to turn the head round to get that capacity - this allows you to end-drill stretcher rails, etc if you need it. Take into account that the only industrial woodworking machinery companies ever to make drill presses specifically for the woodworking trade, Sagar and Wadkin, opted for a 2-speed direct drive motor giving 1500 and 3000 rpm, so buying a mortiser with a 2-speed or 1500 rpm motor, and which can take a 3-jaw chuck, seems a potentially more logical approach for a woodworker to take.

As for converting a drill press into a mortiser, by the time you've messed around with the fences, etc it's probably quicker to drill the holes as a drill press then clear out the mortise by hand with a chisel

Scrit

 

[Nick W]

Before I bought my morticer I used my drill press with those conversion kits. A morticer has a big long arm on its head so that you can apply lots of pressure to the chisel. A drill press on the other had is built with much shorter arms, and is designed fto take lower forces. If you apply the forces necessary to get a larger mortice chisel (and here I onlny mean 1/2") into a nice solid bit of Oak, you run the danger of bending the internal works of your drill press. DAMHIKT