3 Attachment(s)
Masterwood OMB1V mortiser
When I bought my Robland NX410 it came with a mortiser attachement, its in the way if you are using the jointer, if you are using the thicknesser, you have to walk around it, so I've only used the mortiser attachment once and it was put away for good.
I have a Domino XL and the vaccum to do most of the smaller tenon/mortise work, but when it comes to larger mortise, I am limited by options.
Sometime in 2013, I've bought myself a 2hp Holytek chisel mortiser along with a quality Japanese chisel mortise bit, initially I was quite happy that I can drill square holes, but only after a project I've built I've discovered its quite repetitive and time concerning process if you want to mill out a large mortise.
My Holytek 2hp mortiser
Attachment 315603
Ever since then I have been looking at oscillating chisel mortiser, after a bit of online search and store visits, I've found a near perfect mortiser for my needs, the Masterwood OMB1V, The agent who sells them were pulling out of NZ and offered them at a discount so I bought it along with the Minimax S400P.
The mortiser was delivered without any issues, except I had to buy a crane to remove it off the pallet it was on, thought about rolling it off but the machine weighs 500kg. When everything is in place I tried to mill a mortice on a stock but it was not milling right, the cutter head enters on an angle. I did not want to spend time on setting the machine up and reading the manual, I can spend a couple of hundred dollards on professional help it will probably save me many hours of my time, therefore when the technician came over to fix my wide belt sander I did ask him about setting the machine up, he commented this is probably one of very few if not the only Masterwood vertical mortiser they have sold in NZ in the last 10-15 years, he knew little about setting it up. At this point I thought to myself, well its just a mortiser, how hard can it be? from there onwards its about 5-6 nights in the shed figuring out how to set it up and bed time reading the manual everywhere I go (simplified manual didnt help!). I've got it right eventually and I am glad I spent the time reading the manual.
Just after setting up, not quite there.
Attachment 315604
Attachment 315605
The Cutter
The factory cutter head has 3 holes in its tips to blow out the chips, they are at front, middle and back of the cutter tip, you can obtain these cutter heads from Italian tools manufacturer but the aftermarket ones does not have these blow holes to blow the chips. Academy Saws in Australia does these cutters as well but I was told the guy doesnt have email so I gave up there. The cutter should have cutting capacity stated on them, for example, a S10 35-45 P70 means it can cut a mortise that is 10mm wide, 35-45mm thick, and 70mm long, the 35-45mm is the range that they are designed to work with, you will need to setup this on the machine, you can use a 35-45 cutter head to cut 50mm and cut slightly deeper than 70mm, or you can use a 35-45 cutter to cut 30mm tenon, but this is not recommended. The maximum the cutter can go to is S25 100-110 P130, this is from Masterwood Manual, aftermarket cutter may give a bigger cut but I am yet to check them out.
Stops
The mortiser has many stops that you can utilise to speedup the production, the stops stays true and they are all adjustable.
Capacity of the machine
The mortiser is capable of very tiny to large mortise, the largest it can mill out in one down stroke is 25mm thick by 110 mm wide by 130mm long, to do this you will need a cutter of this particular size, if you want a 50mm thick mortise then just move the machine 25mm forward/backward. The machine came with 2 cutter heads from Masterwood, although not the size I wanted but given its very easy to move longitudinally its not an issue for now, the machine can move latitudinally as well, about 100mm. The after market cutterhead is about $500-$1000 NZD.
Pneumatics
The hold-ons and longitudinal movement are activated by compressed air, the machine wont start if the material hold-on is not activated, the machine uses 320 litres of air per minute or 11.3CFM. Apart from the aforementioned blower on the cutter the machine also has nozzle blower blowing into the mortise to remove the chips, there are no chips in the mortise if you are not rushing the cut (I was cutting 70mm mortise)
Improvement:
1. The extension does not stay level, I have to set a stand underneath the extension to bring it up to level
2. Probably bring down the machine cost? they were listed for $15k NZD in 2009, Centauro makes these mortiser as well, they are $18k+ NZD, this is 2014 pricing.
3. The front panel where you access the machine is tightened by a riduculously small handwheel, it will come loose after 1-2 minute of machining, I've put it away and used proper nuts and locked it by spanner. problem solved.
4. Chip extraction is only 75mm, can do better with 100mm or bigger extraction.
Possible alternative:
Leigh FMT, about $1800 NZD
Last words:
Although initially a pain to setup because its oscillating heads, its nothing but a pleasure to use, the machine stays true after hours and hours of use. Do I have the production need to justify this mortiser? nope. Do I like quality Italian machinery that makes low pitch humming and put a smile on my face everytime I use it? YES.
