Mortising and table for an Inca 259

[Deadeye]

Hello

tl;dr Can I use a router bit to mortise at ~3000rpm? Can a second hand table from a contractor saw fit?

Full version:
I came by a heap of bits. Good news and bad.

Good news - it's an Inca (259 I think); it's got the mortising XY table (which is what I mostly wanted); the bits that are present are intact; I've managed to free most of the severely rusted bits; it was very cheap - so writing it off isn't going to put the kids in danger.

Bad news - it's missing the table surface (and the motor, but I'm resigned to buying a new one); the steel parts are severely rusted (frozen solid) and generally fixed to the aluminium ones by slender pins that I dare not try to remove.

As of now, I have virtually everything freed and am halfway through polishing up.

Two current questions:

I bought the bits for the precision XY table...to cut mortises. The original-that's-missing-so-I'm-about-to-replace motor is c.3000rpm. What bit should I use? A mortising chisel? A router bit?

Incas have a strange system where the table moves; not the blade. Table is missing. I was thinking of either replacing with birch ply (18mm) or using a table off another (salvage) contractor saw. Opinions?

Thanks as always for the advice (apart from "don't start from here")

 

[marcros]

thinking out loud here, but it is either the Inca or the kity that has left-handed bits. I think so anyway. There is certainly something odd about the bits for one of them, so might be worth searching around on here.

 

[MusicMan]

The inca 259 will have right hand bits. I have the saw and mortice chuck but not the morticer. If you stand in front of the saw about to make a cut the blade is rotating towards you of course. The chuck is on the right, so is rotating the same sense as an ordinary drill press.

If you are only going to use it for morticing you don't need the table, surely? Nor the rise and fall mechanism actually as the axis is fixed in space. Your work goes on the mortice XY table.

but if you want to do sawing: Do you have the two semicircular trunnions that hold the table? Those are the hard things to make or to find. I would make up another table out of aluminium gauge plate, 10mm I think, but it would need milling and careful drilling. I can measure the table and mounting holes accurately if you decide to do this. A salvage table would be best, if about the right size. The max depth of cut is only 55 mm so an 18 mm table would bring this down to about 47mm.

Slot mortice bits such as https://www.scosarg.com/tooling/mortiser-tools/slot-mortise-tools. NOT a morticing chisel, there is nowhere to mount the chisel part and stop it rotating.

A pic of your buy would be useful. Those morticer accessories are expensive so you got a bargain, and could sell it on if you wanted.

 

[marcros]

it is the kity combi that has the ;left handed bits. false alarm!

 

[Deadeye]

The inca 259 will have right hand bits. I have the saw and mortice chuck but not the morticer. If you stand in front of the saw about to make a cut the blade is rotating towards you of course. The chuck is on the right, so is rotating the same sense as an ordinary drill press.

If you are only going to use it for morticing you don't need the table, surely? Nor the rise and fall mechanism actually as the axis is fixed in space. Your work goes on the mortice XY table.

but if you want to do sawing: Do you have the two semicircular trunnions that hold the table? Those are the hard things to make or to find. I would make up another table out of aluminium gauge plate, 10mm I think, but it would need milling and careful drilling. I can measure the table and mounting holes accurately if you decide to do this. A salvage table would be best, if about the right size. The max depth of cut is only 55 mm so an 18 mm table would bring this down to about 47mm.

Slot mortice bits such as Slot Mortise Tools - Mortiser Tools - Tooling | Scott+Sargeant UK. NOT a morticing chisel, there is nowhere to mount the chisel part and stop it rotating.

A pic of your buy would be useful. Those morticer accessories are expensive so you got a bargain, and could sell it on if you wanted.

Hi - and many thanks for this.

Although the XY was the reason for buying, it *looks as if the only thing that's missing is the table (and the motor); so it's always nice to do it up.

I do have the semicircular pieces and all the bits are intact (and survived the dismantling); so there are 4 holes onto which a table could be bolted.

I wonder if an old contractor saw might be the answer - I'd get a motor as well and they seem to be about 1.5-2HP which is what I need.

I've got everything except the chuck free now, which looks like I may need to replace. Is it a 1MT?

Thanks for the perfect link on the bits; well I never!

 

[Deadeye]

it is the kity combi that has the ;left handed bits. false alarm!

Phew! No worries!

 

[MusicMan]

The motor needs to be 1-2 HP and a contractor saw would work fine, though unless they are induction motors they would be noisy. I bought a TEC 1 HP 2880 rpm motor. You need to sort the pulleys out so the speed is about 4000 rpm.

Have you got the manual? It's available online if you search. I just went to send you a copy and found that mine is the smaller 341 not the 259. Everything I said above is still correct but I can't give you any dimensions. Here is a nice YouTube intro to your saw:


The Inca User group is good for obscure records and queries. incawoodworking groups.io Group. You can probably find your chuck taper there.