Accessories

Great Product (Ignore Shipping Woes)
After reading the numerous reviews about customers' shipping woes, I was initially hesistant to order this product, even though I had read countless raves about how good it is -- both from trade journals and users. I finally ordered and crossed my fingers that it would arrive okay. Well, I needn't have worried.

This is a great product and, for me at least, it arrived in flawless condition. Listen to the raves -- and save the complaints for the shipping carrier -- because it's well worth the money. My only complaint now is that I hemmed and hawed for two weeks and didn't order right away. I should've been enjoying this sooner!

Delta Quality & Service On This Product Left Me Flat
So I bought a Delta 14-651 Hollow Chisel Mortiser recently. Setting it up, I find I cannot fit any Delta chisel into the machine's bushing part # 1346469. So on 9/23 I call the Delta service & warranty number and get a nice girl who tells me I'm the second caller that day with that problem, but she has a bushing right there on her desk she can ship me and I can expect it in a week. Cool.

That was then. This is two weeks later and no part has shown up so I call and get a guy who tells me the part is back-ordered until 11/14.

Now the first problem is, slipping a chisel into this bushing is fundamental to the operation of the machine and you might think that this might be a basic quality check prior to shipping. After all, quoting from the Delta manual, "All Delta Machines and accessories are manufactured to high quality standards. . ." Further, "Since accessories other than those offered by Delta have not been tested with this product, use of such accessories could be hazardous." This implies Delta accessories included with the Delta product might be expected to fit a Delta product. But you'd be wrong. Apparently not this one. And yes, I tried other Delta chisels & bits I had on hand: no joy.

To this fellow's credit today, he did attempt to find a bushing in stock somewhere in the country. For a fact I was left on hold for the better part of 30 minutes while he did something. Alas, in the entire worldwide inventory of Delta Machinery, there is none to be had. But when he returned, the expected ship date had improved to 11/4, so there's something to be said for that. I really think the guy did his best, but his company failed him, therefore he was unable to make his customer - me - happy.

It's just another example of the erosion in quality and service we see going on all around us. Too bad: I was looking at a variable speed Delta woodworking DP. Now, I need to reconsider.

Buy this tool in a retail store, not from Amazon
After seeing a demo and using this tool, I decided to buy one for myself. From my brief exposure I can say that this is a well-designed mortiser with an excellent table & fence system that produces great results when used properly. There are better mortisers on the market if you are doing high volume production work and want to spend 3 or 4 times the price, but if you are a home woodworker, you will not be disappointed in this machine.

I am not sure how to rate it. I give the tool 5 stars as long as you buy it in a retail store and not online. I give it 1 star if purchased from Amazon. I bought it from Amazon because it was a little cheaper than buying it locally and I have had great luck with buying tools from Amazon in the past. When I got it, the cast iron column was split into two pieces. This tool is packaged in a very flimsy cardboard box with no banding (it will obviously be dropped by most UPS facilities), it has very flimsy styrofoam packaging, and the thin & brittle cast iron parts of the column and connections between the motor and brace are wedged together in the box. I opted for a refund from Amazon rather than a replacement because I cannot see how a heavy cast iron tool that is packaged this poorly would ever arrive undamaged when shipped by UPS Ground.

good machine after manufacturing flaw repaired
I have always liked Delta Products and own quite a few of them so when I decided on a mortiser this was the first one that I checked out. After comparing features and prices with other models I ordered one from homedepot.com (free shipping). When I recieved it the carton was mint and the machine looked fine. A very heavy and stable machine for the price. After trying it out I noticed i was having trouble getting the chuck to tighten up on the bit also the bit seemed to be off center and was very noisy and there was drag. After looking over the machine I determined that the motor was not seating level in the base. I tried tighting the mounting screws , but not so tight as to cause damage, but no luck. I removed the motor from the base and found the recess that the motor was supposed to fit in was too small (only by a small fraction but enough to cause problems). I spent some time with a round file very carefully going around the recess until the motor seated properly. It took some time but now it works good even though the supplied bits are only of average quality. I have to say I was dissapointed because whoever assembled this one I'm sure knew this was a problem but let it go. A consumer should not have to start doing repar work to a brand new prduct. I gues that's what happens when you outsource out of the country. I wounder if this is why some people complained of broken flanges. If I had tried to really crank down on the mounting screws to level the motor I'm sure the flange would have broken. How about some quality control Delta? I know outsourcing means higher profits but if the Delta name suffers is it worth it. A brand new out of the box product should never have had this problem although I like the machine very much now that it works properly.

AVOID THIS ITEM AT ALL COST!
As with so many other people that have purchased this item, it arrived broken. Mine was broken in the same place as the customer photo shows, a major cast iron section. They either aren't packaging these correctly for shipping or sending them back out after they've been returned as damaged. In either case, you don't save enough money buying it from Amazon to make it worth the extra headache and time of returning it, especially since it is so heavy (80 lbs). You're better off just buying one locally if you can.

UPDATE: I received a replacement. Amazon makes the process pretty painless. Unfortunately, the replacement was broken as well. I got my money back.