Customer Reviews

Powermatic 1791264K Model 719T Tilt Table Mortiser with Stand

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This mortiser is easy to set up, very accurate and has a lot of power. Included with the mortiser is an extension if you choose to use another brand of chisel & bit. (Powermatic chisels are about 2" longer than most other brands.) I used this tool most often in making blind mortises on face fronts. When finished, the joint requires little hand work to clean out the bottom of the mortise.

The only improvement that Powermatic could do is to make adjusting the angle on a bevelled mortise easier. Though the gauge is accurate, you have to hold the cast iron table in position while tightening the locking nut.

First of all, I'm an old-school, professional furnituremaker. I'm pretty fast with a drill press and a couple Sorby mortising chisels.

This mortiser is exquisite. For the money it's a huge leap forward in my shop, easily slated to pay for itself within a month. The table's movement, after backing off the factory squeeze on the dovetail gibs a bit, is butter. The side travel end stops could be stronger and easier to get at but they're head and shoulders ahead of the General International mortiser I looked over recently.

The thing will mortise a 10" tall (wide) piece!

Many details are thoughtfully and successfully worked out, and this tool has come a long way since my furnituremaking friend's Powermatic was made (maybe 10 years old). Clear and easy access to the chuck, excellent quick release part clamp, excellent adjustable pull handle, excellent moving table.

Thanks for reading this. If you're on the fence and shopping for a mortiser, buy this one yesterday. You will love it and it will move your work forward.

I recently had the chance to use this floor standing mortiser at a trade show and could not be more impressed. I've demo'd benchtop models of the Delta 651, the General, the Powermatic, and the Steel. Though adequate, the benchtop mortisers works well. But if you really want ease of operation, great wood clamping, big lever arms (ease of work), and the capacity to roll through 3/4" mortises, then this machine is unreal. 1.1K is alot to pay for a mortiser, but if you have the cash.....and do a good deal of M&T joinery, you need to check out this machine.

I am taking a Woodworking Class along with 10 other newbies and this is the machine in our class. Having already gone over making tenons, he brought us all over to this machine. After about 2 minutes of instruction, he turned us all lose. We were to make a M&T door frame and we all got the mortises on the first shot. So from my perspective, this machine makes it so easy, even a newbie can do it. My only confusion was, how in the heck would you do it without this machine???

I'm building a woodworking shop, and because just about everything these days is made overseas with MUCH lower quality standards, I look for good condition, "Made in USA", used equipment before purchasing new Chinese-made inferior quality crap. I was unable to find a mortiser that I liked used, so I began my search for new products.

The Powermatic was the only mortiser that I really liked and it had three 5-star reviews on Amazon. I agree with all of the other reviews as far as the accuracy, and ease of use. Where I disagree (giving it 4 stars) is the hardware. The table moves back and forward and side to side. These movements are lockable with theaded thumbscrews. As with anything made in China and Taiwan, the hardware is junk. If I tighten the thumbscrews all the way (just before the cheap tab starts to bend), I can still easily move the table. I also feel that the lock screw for the hollow chisel will eventually wear and lose its holding power. This is just my feeling, however, so I did not rate the item based on that.

If you cannot tell already, I am NOT a fan of the nonsense "it's a world economy." It really isn't a world economy as far as I'm concerned when the countries that are taking the work from the US are paying their citizens $0.50/hour AND they pollute like it's going out of style. The US, because we have regulations, cannot use slave labor and manufacturers have to be responsible, which costs money. Granted, it's not perfect here, but these crap countries that are taking our work have little to no regulations, which is why they can produce stuff so cheap.

That said, I am reluctant to give good reviews for anything made in crap counties. However, aside from the hardware, this unit really is a decent unit. I know it's designed in the US, but usually the manufacturing process overseas results in degraded quality. For the most part, I haven't found that here. I've only had the unit for 4 weeks, and the motor is made in Taiwan, so I'm guessing it's not going to last too long, but for now there are no problems, so I'm not rating it on that.

Anyway, to sum up, not a bad product considering it's made in a crap country. I'd still, however, pay double for a model that's made in the USA.