Customer Reviews

DELTA 14-650X Hollow Chisel Mortiser

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

The Delta is very quiet and has plenty of power. The hold down is solid, and the fence is too. Plan on buying a wide-stance stand or bolting the unit to a table since it has a tendency to tip forward when substantial force is applied to the arm.

The Chisel/Bit sets that come with the "X" package are just plain awful. Other dealers offer a "P" package for about $10 more that includes 1/4" and 1/2" sets of Delta's Austrian-made Chisel/Bits. The difference is really remarkable. 5 stars for the "P" package. 3 Stars for the "X" package. Watch out - the Austrian-made sets are about $40 per size. Clico's and Multico's are almost twice that. You can easily spend nearly as much on Chisel/Bits as you spend on the unit. That $10 extra for the "P" package seems insignificant under those circumstances.

Received my Delta mortiser today (for Christmas), will be returning it first thing Monday morning. The fit and finish is very poor. In assembly, the manufacturer stripped the socket of a set screw securing the depth stop. I cannot get it out to replace it with a new one.

The shaft on the hold down is machined crooked and when you use it to hold down a board, one end touches the board, and the other end is approx 3/8" above the board. Overall, parts don't fit together very well at all.

I made one cut with it using a 5/16" chisel, and it performed fair, considering the bits that came with the unit.

I really hate this but it seems Delta is going the same direction with tool quality as Craftsman. Most of my stationary tools in my shop is Delta and I have been quite satisfied with them in the past.

Like I say, I'm returning it Monday morning, and ordering the more expensive unit made by Powermatic. I'll be commenting on that unit when I receive it.

I just recently unpacked and began assembling this item. It is of unacceptable quality. The castings are especially poor. I had to file and sand them just to be able to assemble the product. The fence is not straight. The hollow chisel I tried first is so soft that the set screw used to hold it in puts a dent in the chisel.

I knew this unit was made in Asia, but I thought Delta would hava a little better quality control. I bought mine just before Christmas and didn't see John's review but I am with him and am returning the unit. I intend to buy a mortiser but this one is inferior! Thanks

Anyone who has setup and used a drill press mortiser would be attracted to these mortisers. That and the FWW review are why I purchased the mortiser to make doors...much to my surprise the mortiser would not accept a piece wider than 4.75". After fabricating some spacers to fit between the base and neck I was able to get the 5" that I needed. Admittedly my fault for overlooking this, but it would have been good to incorporate this capability into the design. One other problem was the quality of the chisels, very poor edge, with much difficulty was able to mortise Poplar after predrilling. Now that I know other higher quality chisels are available, that problem should be solved. Depending on your use (light duty) it could be an adequate machine with the right chisels.

I bought this tool in Dec. '99. I fiddled with the dovetail adjustment for hours but was never able to get it to both slide smoothly and have no play in the mechanism. So it slides with great resistance but with no play.

I got the model that came w/out chisels and coughed up the extra money for the 1/4" and 3/8" chisel/bit sets. After cutting maybe 30 1/4" mortises in cherry and mohogany, I started into some oak. Well, the bit for the 1/4" chisel snapped off. I have no idea why (I never forced the machine and never got any smoking, even) and Delta gave no reason but were good enough to replace it.

The other night I was using the 3/8" bit, again in oak, and the round gear in the up/down mechanism spit up 5 teeth. Utter crap. As before, I was using one arm and moving slowly without smoke or any other negative indicators. Inspection of the broken gear revealed that it was cast metal of some sort but very soft and light. Now, if I had a 3' pipe on the end of the handle and was hanging off the end I could see the thing shearing some gear teeth, but this was one-armed with slow, moderate force.

I gather (from web searches) that this has happened to others' Delta mortisers (one fellow said it happened the night he got it home). Also, I, like others, observed that many of the allen-head set screws used to change adjustments round out easily. I've got two screws that are shot. A small item, but a big indicator of bad quality. How much did they save on the screws?

In summary, this unit performed reasonably under infrequent use for about 10 months and then broke. I'll probably look into a multico.

-jim

I purchased this mortiser about 5 months ago, and have been very happy with it. I purchased the higher quality Delta Austrian Mortising Bits locally, thinking that the imported bits that came with the machine wouldn't perform well, but the bits that came with the machine held up better. I broke 2 of the higher quality bits (1/4") in oak, but the cheaper ones are still going. I had one bolt that I could not install when I put the machine together, but Delta sent me a replacement in a day. The machine has better than average construction, and I think it is a good value for the money. I have cut over 100 1/4 inch mortises with no problem. My fence does sit a little tilted (horizontally)but it does not affect its operation, and everything that affects the precision of cuts lines up well. The machine has good power, I use it mostly on oak and cherry, and have no problems. Common sense dictates that the larger the mortise you are boring, the slower you go. I can cut into oak with a 1/4" bit quite fast, but slow my feed rate down when using larger bits. Don't try to use it without bolting or clamping it down. Considering the bits that it comes with, I think it is an excellent value. It has saved me a lot of time cleaning out mortises that I used to make with round bits. There may be higher quality machines out there, but not for this kind of money. The fact that Delta / Porter Cable stand behind their products was a factor in selecting this unit.

I own several Delta tools, including the 12 1/2" Portable Planer and 6" Professional Jointer. I plan on buying a Unisaw this weekend. These tools are well built and work well so I thought the Delta Mortiser would be a good choice. I bought mine after Christmas and received it in a few days. When I opened the box I found the 3/8" chisel was missing. Also, when I put it together, I found that when I tightened down the set screw that holds the fence in place, one end of the fence is about 3/8" higher on one end than the other. I called the help number and left a message to call me. In a few minutes, my local rep called and sent a new chisel (Austrian Made no less!) and a new fence... But, the new fence does the same thing. It looks like the flat milled on the shaft is square to the bottom edge of the fence, so the hole for the set screw must not be square to the upright post. I agree that the set screws are of poor quality also. I figured they were metric, but the sockets are so sloppy that some of them fit S.A.E. Allen wrenches better than metric wrenches. I hope Delta takes notice of these messages.

The mortiser's table was misdrilled causing 1) the table to be "twisted" aboout 5 degrees, 2)the stop rod hit the base in an uneven location causing inconsistent depth stop. Variation about 1/4". The flat spot on the fence's support rod was not aligned at 90 degrees to the fence, so that when you tighten the allen bolt the fence tilted about 10 degrees. Very weak Quality control, in my opinion. I returned the item after one mortise.

I don't like to use Allen wrenches to do adjustments, but the Delta unit requires use of them a lot. The set screws are of poor quality, too, and have a hard time staying put. I found that the depth adjustment stop didn't stay, so soon I was mortising deeper than I had wanted. A real pain! Also, the Delta unit tended to make a lot more noise than I would expect a mortiser to make.

I've seen that the Jet unit (around the same price as the Delta) is easier to setup, runs quieter, and stays setup properly.

I love my Delta table saw, but I'd steer clear of this mortiser and get the Jet.

I think this product has gotten a bad rep. This machine is an exceptional deal for the money. I wasn't expecting top of the line, just a good basic machine. That's what I got! There were no plastic gears and the dovetail slide works great! I don't think there is enough of a fence to worry if it's straight. If you want top of the line, this isn't it. But if you want a good deal for your money and want to make square holes in wood, this is it!