Customer Reviews

DELTA 14-651 Professional 1/2HP Bench Mortising Machine

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

I've just unpacked, assembled and tested this machine. Here's my two cents - packing was great, smothered in styrofoam and unpainted parts bathed in oil. Cleaned up easily. Instructions were well written and assembly took about 45 minutes. I bought this based on a woodworking magazine review as an upgrade for my the Delta drill press mortising attachment. Since I've been doing more mission style furniture lately its worth it to have a more substantial machine. This machine earned the excellent reviews by being well designed and constructed. The rack & pinion fence alone is worth the little bit more that you will pay for this tool. The first mortises I cut were 1/2"x1-1/4"x2"long in white oak and were smooth sided and burn free. The 1745 rpm speed slows your feedrate but pays a big dividend in a quality mortise. Don't buy it unless you have enough mortises to justify it but if you do you will be pleased with this machine. I wonder how many biscuit joiners and dedicated hollow chisel mortising machines have been sold because "Norm" introduced us to them?

Having used the new Delta mortiser for two weeks now, I am relatively pleased with the machine. The cast iron table and fence are extremely solid. The depth adjust is sound and stays locked down so you don't have to worry about cutting too deep. Bit changes are simple and your knuckles are safe. The sliding dovetail way makes it easy to adjust the resistance in the head travel to your liking. The lever locks down solid and is plenty long to get that extra torque you need to start a mortis in those real hard woods. The bits supplied with the machine have worked well to punch smooth mortises in everything from red oak to gancalo alves and cocobolo.
My only negative comment is the loss in sturdiness of the device when you install the 2" column lift. This raises the fence off the table and you lose some of the stability in the machine. This can be fixed with some blocks under the fence, but then you must sacrifice the ease of fence adjustment. Other than that, this Delta product has lived up to it's name and has been a solid addition to my shop that I would recommend to anyone. I can't imagine cutting mortises by hand anymore.

After looking at the Jet and Grizzly mortisers, I decided on the Delta based on my experience with their portable planer (22-580). Assembly was not difficult, although as already mentioned, the hydraulic cylinder is tricky to attach. There are a couple of areas that I think need improvement:
1. The fence hold down knobs are plastic and strip easily. Although the hold down adjuster is metal, it too stripped the first time I attempted to use it. Now it is difficult to get locked down.
2. When you use the riser block (a pain to attach in the first place), you loose the ability to lock down the fence to the table. These lock downs have to be removed completely, which allows the fence/hold down to move up and down. I need to mortise a 5" beam, so I had to use the riser block. If you are only mortising thinner material (I would guess about 4" and less), then you don't need to riser block and you don't encounter this problem.
3. When inserting the chisel bit, there is not an index so you can set the chisel parallel to the fence. This is annoying as it takes some trial and error to get it set nice and parallel.
4. The depth stop is weak and flexs a lot. I don't have great confidence in the depth stop and will replace it with something else soon (don't know what yet, probably a collar and rod).

The machine is powerful, and built heavy. The base is heavy duty cast iron, as are the rest of the support structure. It does cut decently in Red Oak. I think that the chisels that are supplied with the machine are marginal (the 1/2" bit I have is very noisy, probably not straight, but the 3/8" is quiet). I will get a better quality bit for fine furniture. So, overall it cuts square holes, but in my honest opinion, it is the first piece of machinery from Delta that I have purchased that I am not thrilled about. I would look elsewhere if I had to do it again (although the other brands may have similar issues). The planer on the other hand is awesome!

I grabbed the first one I saw and handled... The large cast iron table/base, and rack and pinion fence with hold down, are the killer features of this mortiser. The table/base is very stable and the fence is very simple to adjust. The bits are easy to set up and adjust as there is plenty of room for your hands behind the chuck access door. Another thing of note is that the machine came with a cast iron riser block that adds about 2" to the machine's capacity in the normal configuration (i.e., with the bit over the table rather than off the back).

Compared to the more basic Delta unit, and to the competition's bench top offerings, this is a much more substantial machine and is well worth the relatively small price differential. And, as for the thing that really counts, it cut nice square and even mortises in the pine, maple and oak that I've used it on!

This is an excellent mortiser. I decided to buy it over the slightly less expensive competing mortisers (e.g., Delta MM300) because I read complaints regarding fence and hold-down inadequacies. I've never used one of these other machines, so I can't confirm that their fences are bad. But I can tell you that the fence on this model is excellent. Solid, accurate, and easy to position and lock into position.

Assembling the mortiser was pretty easy, with one exception. There is a hydraulic cylinder (kind of like what keeps storm doors from slamming closed) that connects to the power head and the base, which helps to raise the power head. The documentation says to raise the head all the way up so that you can install the hydraulic cylinder. Well, with the head all the way up, the cylinder arm is still approx. 1/2" too long to install. I ended up compressing the cylinder with a Quick Grip bar clamp in order to install the cylinder (it has too much internal pressure to compress by hand). Other than this annoyance, set-up was simple.

Great mortiser. Pay the extra...and buy this machine. You won't be sorry!

I was using the router to make my mortises and found I was not very good at it. I recieved my Delta 14-651 machine yesterday. Everything was in order. I cut my first mortise within 45 min. of opening the box. Assembly and operational instructions are clear and easy enough to follow. Prior to purchasing I looked at the Jet, Fisch, Craftsman and Harbor Freight machine as well as the other Delta machine. I never found this one on display but it was so highly rated in the magazine reviews I thought I would get it sight unseen. Glad I did. This machine is well put together and operates smoothly. It's a few $$ more but well worth the differece. Only small complaint is the construction of the fence lock down handles. They are made of plastic and I am a little leary of the durability. Chisels and bits are sharp and they cut a nice mortise with minimal hand clean up. I would recommend it over the others mortisers and am very happy to be using this machine instead of the router...it is so much easier for me to use.

I received my machine and had it up and running in 5 minutes. I was in the process of building a coffey table out of oak and needed to drill 12 mortises. The first 11 went great, but in the middle of the last one, the tip of the bit broke off about 1/2 inch from the end and lodged into the work piece. It also damaged the corner of the chisel.

I called into Delta warranty service and a new chisel and bit were sent to me immediately with no questions asked on how the bit may have broke. I honestly did not expect to receive this type of service or receive a replacement part at no charge.

This is a solid and well manufactured tool. I have been looking at different mortisers for about three months. The ratings were weak on the existing bench top models, and nearly everyone was critical of the fence and hold-down methods. It appeared that the highest user rated bench top mortisers were those thought to be "less weak" than the others. Delta clearly listens to customer feedback. On this model the fence is positioned by a rack and pinion, and the fence clamps solidly to the large base. Talk about solid! I cut a number of holes in pine and white ash. No problem. The unit cuts well with the supplied chisels. I like the fact that you can adjust the gib for a smooth sliding fit. I like this unit. When I compare it to the other bench top mortisers on the market, it is clear that this one ranks above all. This is indeed a professional tool built for profesionals. It works well and the price is reasonable.

First off, I'd like to address the negative reviews of this machine. I wish people would review the tools and not the delivery service or the retailer.

Now, about the 14-651. This a beast of a machine. It's heavy, it's got a strong motor and it can drill a lot of square holes. That's what a mortiser is supposed to do, right?

Most of this tool is metal. The base is cast iron, unlike some that are part metal, part chipboard etc. As some other reviewers have commented, some of the locking levers are plastic. If you feel the need to go He-man on them, I imagine they might break. But you really don't need to crank them down that much. The important lever (the holddown lever) is metal. The drill bits come packaged individually with plastic caps to protect the tips. They look decently made and come pretty sharp. I'm sure that like most edge tools, a honing would help them perform at their best. But they cut fine out of the box.

This is an easy tool to set up. You have to attach the hand lever, the tool holder and degrease the cast iron parts. You don't really need to align anything until you make your cuts. Even though the directions "recommend" bolting the mortiser down, it should be mandatory.

Why did it get five stars? Well, all the important parts are metal. It's got a great motor that spins at a reasonable rpm (1725 not 3450 like some of them). It's priced very competively and has a long warranty. Its design isn't lacking anything. Combine that w/ Amazon's free shipping and it's a stellar deal. My home was only 2 shipping days away from the depot so it didn't get a lot of handling. I'm sure that with a longer trip, say five days or more, I can see where the risk of damage might increase. But, if you review this mortiser, please review the tool, not the shipper.

Top of the line, bench to mortiser -
Buy the Delta 14-651. The fence is solid and precise with two lock downs, the dove tail slide is accurate and adjustable, the 1725 RPM as aposed to 3200 means more torque/no bog down, the handle is adjustable on the fly for easy cuts, the column does not torque, you get 5 bits that all work, Delta stands behind the unit and does answer the 800 number, and it cuts nice square holes.
-OR- Buy the JET. A little aluminum foil for shims and you can align the cutter to the bed, the polished CRS column looks right out of Shop Class and won't deflect much, don't worry about the fence and bed - you're a Craftsman, the higher 3200 rpm will cut faster - right?, you'll will save a solid forty bucks. Don't worry though - it does in practice cut nice square holes.
-OR- Buy the dill press attachment. If your set up is rock solid and the change out not an issue you will save a lot of pony. I really don't use the press much anyway, and this is a solid way to go.
-OR- Buy some chisels to go with your router. I could spend days on a square hole . . . .
All kidding and wise guy comments done, I bought the Delta. It's the best of the lot and dispite endless cutting this year, the holes are still square and where I need them. White Oak is scared of me!
The Problem - the first one was delivered by UPS (pronounced "OOPs"). They broke it and Delta I had to swap it out. This took a few days.