Powermatic Benchtop Mortiser, 3/4" Chisel, 5-1/2" Stroke, 115/230V 1Ph (Model PM701)

Did a lot of research before I picked this unit.It came faster than expected, a day early than forecasted with snowstorms in our area at the time.It arrived in great shape via UPS.I took my time cleaned all the oil off with mineral spirits and got familiar with all the components.I stoned down all the sharp edges and working surfaces before reassembling the unit and reassembling, I do that with all my tools.I had bought some really cheap mortise chisels a long time ago from a big box store. I touched them up a little and made a mortise hole in some red oak. Did a good job, much faster than chopping by hand. I think I could do better with surface finish in my holes with a little more tuning. Setting up the mortise chisel and auger was very easy for this first time user of a mortise machine!It will take me a little bit to get this machine tweaked but that is to be expected. The only two cons are the storage unit on top for the chisels. It's a safety hazard, eventually your going to run your wrists and hands over razor sharp tools. I'm going to fabricate a separate holder for my chisels well away from the machine. The second issue is the 60 degree diamond cone for sharpening the inside of the chisel. For one it's too coarse, then its permanently fixed into the unit. There are a lot better ways to sharpen these bits.Maybe I'm obsessive but I like my tools to be surgically sharp, that means coarse, medium, fine and then a polish hone to make the cutting edges a mirror finish. I will buy after market sharpening cones to get what I want and make my own polisher.Other than that a great machine in my opinion, everything works smoothly and it's very well thought out and designed. I think they try to give you what they can while trying to be competitive. How one reviewer broke the rack is beyond my understanding, this thing is built like a tank.

The fence and clamp design alone make this machine worth a premium price: all settings are done without tools, and that means quicker setups with excellent accuracy. It is VERY powerful and makes the job easy.I've had this unit for several months now and have done quite a bit of work with it. I'm still overjoyed with it -- it meets all my expectations, and then some. Lots of power, easy setup, and super solid build quality.One complaint: the handle is downright silly. It's designed so that to go from the highest to lowest points, the handle needs to rotate nearly 270 degrees -- so it starts out of reach behind the machine, and it ends its travel by banging into the edge of your workbench. That said, it's very easy to reposition the handle, and the silliness of the design has cost me little more than a couple chuckles in my shop. A very minor factor indeed.I suggest pairing this item with very high quality mortising chisels. OH... and you'll want "long" chisels, though the chuck on this machine can be adjusted to fit shorter chisels as well.

I just finished my first project with this machine, a rather large gate (7 f 1/2 feet tall by 4' 10" wide). I was able to make 3" deep mortises in 5" tall rails with spot on accuracy. The key when cutting deep mortises and probably likewise with harder woods is to cut the depth gradually and not attempt the mortise in one continuous cut. This will put less stress on the feed gear and will also benefit the chisels. It is also imperative to cut the ends of the mortise first so the surrounding wood acts as a guide to keep the mortise straight.For those reviewers that were expecting super clean cuts, I was able to achieve tight fitting mortises without secondary cleanup. You just need to make sure you overlap the cuts properly. The mortises I cut were exceptionally tight and were difficult to pull apart after dry fit.This is heavy duty machine and needs to be on a sturdy bench. You could put this on a rolling stand, you just need to be careful about the balance and making it top heavy.The machine has plenty of of power and as long as the chisels are sharp, this will cut mortises effortlessly. Once you have the table setup to the clamp in the proper location, as long as your boards are straight, you will get repeatable accuracy at a high clip.I would definitely recommend this machine to anyone who wants to make high quality mortises.