Grizzly Industrial G0645-1/2 HP Benchtop Mortising Machine

I originally ordered a Delta mortising machine, but it was defective and I had to return it. Having been pleased with a Grizzly bandsaw and drill press I bought many years ago, I decided to go with a Grizzly instead. I'm glad I did.As with the other two pieces of heavy machinery from Grizzly, they shipped me the machine via truck freight. Rather than delay my project over a holiday weekend waiting for the truck line to deliver the machine to my house, I went to their terminal here in my city and picked it up myself. It was amusing to see this relatively small 76 lb. package on a pallet being forklifted into my pickup truck. I was able to carry the box myself from my truck to my shop, but I recommend you get a friend to help you if you have doubts as to your physical ability.Assembly was easy. If you're mechanically inclinded enough to want and use a mortising machine in the first place, assembly should come naturally to you. Export grease comes off easily with a citrus-based cleaner such as Goo Gone.I'm used to using a drill press and right away I noticed distinct differences when using this machine for the first time. First, don't expect the head to want to rise up like a drill press. The gas cylinder is only designed to keep the head of the machine in balance so that it will stay in whatever position you want it (as opposed to the heavy head crashing all the way down). Second, the mortising drill bit tends to make a lot of noise when not in the wood and a little smoke when it is. This is normal, but it's not something I'm used to on my drill press. Saw blade wax tends to cut down on the noise somewhat.After drilling 50+ mortises, I decided I made the right choice. Here's the rundown:THINGS I LIKE:- fence has reliefs to keep wood bits and sawdust away from the workpiece- drill chuck access is very good- cover over the fence's gear mechanism keeps it from clogging with wood bits and sawdust- includes chisels and chisel/tool holder- can be rotated for mortising on the ends of long boards off your workbench- extension block included- tooless hold-down- tooless depth stopTHINGS I DON'T LIKE (these are very minor)- fence adjustment knob doesn't seem to be in an ideal position and/or shape for my large hands- would like greater position adjustment for the pull-down handle. Can only make coarse adjustments.I noticed that the mortising holes are not quite as clean as you would get using a router, but from what I've read, that's to be expected from most mortising machines. I also had to spend a few seconds cleaning out the holes with a small chisel so that the tenons would fit properly. Not sure why, but I may have had the drill bit set too far down from the base of the chisel.Overall, the design of this mortising machine seems to have been thought out, and for the price, you can't go wrong.

After purchasing my mortiser, I received an e-mail stating that the delivery address wouild have to be large enough to accomodate a semi-truck, and that mo options would be to pick the item up at the terminal. I elected to pick the unit up myself. The shipping cost was more than twice what was shown on the chart. Had I known that the manufacturer was only a few more miles up the road from the 60 I had driven to the trucking company, I would have picked it up right from the manufacturer.The mortiser itself was easy to assemble. (less then 45 minutes). It functions great and cuts a nice mortise, needing very little cleanup. I am well pleased with the product. It is a heavy duty machine, and is easy to operate. I was pleased to the point that I feel Grizzley WILL be getting a lot more of my business.Ray Rider (triderenterprise)

I purchased this product for the same reason anyone would - to make easier mortises. Well... it doesn't. At least not for me. The hollow chisel system is fine, for the most part, but there are some major issues that I have with this tool that I didn't have with other mortisers.1) one of the adjustment knobs (plastic over metal) stripped nearly immediately. As in, before I ever turned the dang thing on.2) the riser plate seems pointless. I installed it, had little success with the machine, then removed it. no change. Maybe if I was doing 4x4 stock I'd need that riser.3) not balanced well enough to cut without being bolted down. I've used mortisers that could do this just fine. Not this one. Even after bolting it down, the experience was... not goodThis is a niche tool to begin with. It's designed to save time in those instances where you really want/need a perfectly cut square mortise. I only do that a couple of times per year, but I wanted to splurge... Ironically, all the time I wasted trying to get it set up and functioning properly in the first place means that it actually *cost* me more time than it could have saved me in 4-5 years.I do not recommend this product. If you're a hobbyist like me then you really don't need it. If you are a pro and do a lot of volume then you need something much better than this tool. Save your money, your time and thank me later :)

Almost three month wait for a warranty replacement partthat was broken on arrival. Ordered Jan 15 expected April 5th to be shippedMy purchase of this mortising machine was directly from Grizzly, so Amazondid not cause any of my problems here.The machine has a lock lever as past of the assembly that holds down thework while it is being drilled and while the drill/chisel is puling out. The splinegears arrived striped on this part so the lock lever could not be use to lockdown the work.Calling Grizzly support the replacement part was under warranty.but would not be available until April 5th. I asked the support personto file a complaint in my name and she did that but offered no apologyfor the long wait. So I need to wait until some time after April 5th tobe able to use this machine

Returned the 1st machine, the cast iron base was cracked on both sides of the motor mount so the motor tilted when pulling the handle down, and a malfunctioning fence made me think they were passing a bad machine off. The 2nd machine was prefect, and works perfectly.

It works as expected. I just wish it had a bigger chuck, in case I need it.

however, remember to adjust and grease the gibs. That little step isn't in the guide. After that it worked real nice.

A well made and intuitive machine to use. I was able to put it together and start using it within thirty min. Im very happy with this purchase