Accessories

Powermatic Mortiser
In my opinion, there is never much you can say about Powermatic tools other than good things. They just work; are extemely accurate and well built, and are just plain fun to use. The price of this unit, delivered to your door from Amazon, is a fantastic deal. I put it to work staight away cutting through some really hard Black Oak cutting 1/2" by 3" deep mortises. It performed excellently without any trouble at all. I did add a quick clamp though to help stabilize the work piece. The existing clamp is good, but does not hold the piece absolutely solid. This is most noticed when extracting the mortising bit from a very hard piece of wood. Other than that, well worth the price.

Looking forward to using it.
I purchased the tool in February, 2007 but didn't get around to setting it up until October. The tool arrived without any problem as has been my experience with Amazon, but letting the tool sit caused the oil to leak out of a hydraulic piston (Part number 701-178) that holds the motor upright. I contacted WMH technical support and the representative told me the part doesn't hold up the motor so this was normal. The manual suggests otherwise. I went to the web site to just buy the part so I could start using the machine and shipping for a cigar sized item is $19.95! Shipping is more than the part. Needless to say this is very disappointing. Customer Service for WMH tool group is quite bad. As for the machine, I enjoy the weight and consideration of its design. I'm no expert at mortising, but this looks like a good item when functioning properly. The Chinese characters on the part mentioned above do suggest that it is foreign manufactured and the quality of manufacturing is in question. There could be other gotcha's but it seems like a good machine.

Cuts Square Holes
First, although an occasional Amazon customer, I avoided all potential problems with shipping, backorder, and freight damage by the simple expedient of buying locally. I was able to look at Delta, Jet, Shopfox, and Steel City side by side for comparison. Oddly, I bought the one machine they did not have set up on display - the Powermatic PM701 - based on past experience with Powermatic machines, and the reviews on this site.

The Powermatic was $100 more than the others, give or take. This got me a solid cast iron table and fence, adjustible roller guides for holding the stock against the fence, right or left hand operation, a large access door for the chuck, a 3/4 hp motor, an included diamond hone, and (a serious consideration) a brand that would be easy to resell if I decided I didn't like or need it.

Surprises:
1. Virturally no assembly. You take it out of the box, install the handle, adjust the three jib bolts (and yes,as noted by others, an included 3mm hex key would have been welcome), install the bit and it is ready.
2. The stock hold down will adjust from flush on the table to the maximum stock height, so even narrow pieces can be clamped down.
3. Both the hold down clamp and the rollers have two separate locking devices that let you choose to clamp firmly against the stock, for maximum precision, or with a bit of play, for easier movement of stock through the machine.
4. The tool holder is quite useful, not just a flimsy little attachment like those on some others.
5. The diamond hone is attached to the top of the frame so I don't lose it.
6. The machine is surprisingly quiet. I get the occasional squeal from the bit when a chip gets caught, of course, but not much even of that.
7. Perhaps most importantly, it easily cut square mortises for me in white oak with little effort - right out of the box!

No Surprise, typical of Powermatic machines:
1. All machined surfaces and all gears are clean and smooth in operation.
2. The finish work on the machine is typical of all Powermatic tools produced these last 30 years or so - poor. There may have been a time when Powermatic made nicely finished machines, but it must have been before my time. The castings are left pretty rough except for the table and fence faces, which are excellent. The paint appears to have been done with a spray can outdoors on a windy day. The piece which holds the handle in place had a casting burr sharp enough to cut someone. It took but 15 seconds with a file to clean it, but even so....
3. All fittings and hardware appear to be designed for long term use. Although there are plenty of plastic pieces, nothing seems to be fragile.

Mortises in white oak, with little effort? Yes, but let me explain. I do not even try the bit without sharpening first. When I have a mirror polish on the flat faces, I give it a few turns on the diamond hone. After the first plunge, I take only about half the width of the bit at a time. And I bore down only a 1/4 to 1/2 inch at a time. This method requires relatively little force on the handle, keeps the bit cool, and makes it easy for the waste to clear the chisel.

About that handle: It is stout and long enough for plenty of leverage. Powermatic lets you choose which side you want it on. I could be wrong, but I don't think anyone else does.

The machine is very stiff. I can detect no play in the column during operation. Although common sense and the manual both suggest bolting it down for use, I find it plenty stable just sitting on top of my workbench. It is possible to reverse the column to work off the edge of the base, but in that case you would have no choice but to secure it to a fairly large, stout benchtop.

I would certainly make the same choice again.

Junk........
I bought this machine after looking at several other bench top mortisers. I bought it for a specific propose but I have concluded it has a fatal flaw which makes it useless to me. First I'll start with the good stuff. It has a lot better clamps and adjustments then other machines you can get in its class. It also has decent horsepower. It did not bog at all even with very hard wood. It would probably be fine for softer wood applications however for what I was using it for it just didn't hack it. I was working with Ipe which is a pretty hard wood. The problem is the gear that is that controls the up and down motion is attached to it's grooved shank with a very small tooth. The rest of the machine is built like a rock but it really doesn't matter since this tooth will easily shear if you try to use the machine with moderate force. I have done this twice already in just a few minutes of use. If you have a lighter application than I do it might work OK for you. However I still feel this is a design flaw so I must rate the machine accordingly. In my view wood working tools should be rock solid and it fact most are. This is first shop tool I have had this much trouble with. My saws, drill press, planer and other equipment all work fine even with exotic hardwoods.

Received Damaged, Multiple times
I ordered this item approx 10 days ago via Free Super Shipping and received it today. The staples holding the box together on the side were pulled out from the cardboard, the packing straps had cut into the cardboard...I still wasn't worried, pulled it out, put it up on a table to start degreasing it and waxing the top and noticed it wobbled somewhat. It is hard to make cast iron that far out of true, so I looked at the base, looked around the back and the cast iron base at both T-slots was cracked all the way through the metal. Amazon is starting to process the replacement, I am hopeful it is not a repeat issue. It appears to be a solid piece of equipment, for the few minutes I looked at it. I did not realize until receiving that the bit tray is plastic-not a problem but caught me off guard. I can do a better rating when I get one that is not broken, until then 2 stars is me being kind....
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Update:
OK, I received the replacement-the tool tray was smashed to pieces and the set screw for the sharpener was missing. Further inspection showed marks on adjustment knobs, marks on the paint, etc. There is NO way this is a brand new piece of equipment. I have talked to approx. a dozen customer service reps and had a couple of very helpful people, most not so, especially overseas call centers-horrible customer service! Most recently I was told that they were going to ship the replacement pieces for the broken one, then later receive an email from the fullfilment center that they do not stock these and to go contact the manufacturer myself and order/pay for the pieces myself...FOR A SUPPOSEDLY BRAND NEW PIECE OF EQUIPMENT. One guy says he is going to make it right and you agree to a course of action then someone else changes that to something not acceptable to any right-minded person and drops you an email. I have spent HOURS AND HOURS ON THE PHONE TO CLEAR UP THEIR OWN INTERNAL MISTAKES. If you have a choice, go to a real store where there is some accountability, clearly there is not much here. Still not resolved.....