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

I have had a Powermatic model 66 table saw for nearly ten years, and it has been rock solid. Based on that experience and the reviews of others, when it came time to buy a mortising machine I assumed the tool would be built like a tank and last for generations. I can't speak to the last, but it is solidly constructed. This is the first mortising machine I have owned, and I have only used one other which was an industrial floor model machine at a school. The order arrived earlier than promised, and the packaging was in excellent condition. The tool and all its parts were in great condition, and it was very easy to set up. I checked the backstop and it was square to the table. I bolted it down to a rolling table so I could bring it out when I needed to.When I ordered the 701, the description of the item included "free open stand", so I was kind of expecting to receive a stand with it. I did not, and when I called Amazon they told me it was not included. I had printed out the page just in case I needed it, and while I was on hold as they checked with the manufacturer and I was transferred to another agent the web page was edited and the "free open stand" listed was removed. Guess what- the second customer service agent says "I don't see anything about a free stand". I told them I had printed it out and offered to fax it to them, at first they were hanging tough, then they said I could get a discount on a stand if I wanted to order one, then they just gave me a credit for the regular cost of a stand! Thank you Amazon! That was more than I expected them to do, and it makes me feel like telling others how good they were.Back to the mortiser- the motor is 3/4 horsepower, and it is heavy. As beefy as the column is, I was surprised to see it flex every time I turned on the power, but it didn't seem to affect the normal use of the tool. I got my chisel and bit sets the day after this arrived, so I wasted no time in sharpening them further so I could test it out (these chisels need to be very sharp for them to work well). I had trouble getting it set up right, because I thought the bit and chisel sets were either 8" or 9", mine was 8-3/8" so I added the chuck extension and things didn't fit right- the chisel to bit clearance was too great. The manual is not much help here, I went online and found that the normal range is 1/8" to 3/16" (I had nearly 1/2"), so I figured out that I did't need the chuck extension after all. Once that was back off, setup was a snap and I was cutting mortises. Again, the manual didn't spare much energy on describing normal operation, so back online I went to learn that I wasn't supposed to overlap cuts, but space them apart leaving bridges of wood, and coming back and removing them, in order to avoid the chisel being pushed to one side by an unbalanced cut. I have read that the hold down on this tool is not as bad as the competition, but still not as good as more expensive models. I found that in order to be able to shift the wood after the first cut, there had to be a little play between the hold down and the wood, and the front roller blocks and the wood- I ended up having to use pressure from my hands to keep the work aligned as I plunged into and removed the mortising chisel. Maybe with practice this will become easier, but after my first job entailing about 30 mortises I was still experiencing the same.I love owning and using quality tools, and this is a quality tool. It does what it is designed to do and it does it well. It has the lower RPM that many new design mortisers have in order to keep the drill and chisel sets from burning, and it has a bigger motor to keep it from bogging down at those speeds. If you need to make angled mortise and tenon joints, go for one of the bigger models at five times the price, but don't waste your time going cheaper than this, you'll only be disappointed.P.S.: I bought the Grizzly tenon jig to go with this, I wrote a review already on it- basically, it works but there must be an easier way to make consistent tenons that hopefully is less time consuming (and the instruction manual for that is awful). I didn't have time to make my own tenoning jig, but I'm not completely happy with that one.

I received my Powermatic 701 Bench Mortiser on Friday from Amazon (WMH Tool). No damages. Over the weekend I set it up and made 12 mortises in red oak table legs. Wow!Powermatic makes the heaviest, most powerful power tools in the professional woodworking market - period. First, this thing weighs about 80 pounds. It's iron castings are massive. The arm and column on which the motor and quill are mounted are like bridge supports. I looked at the competitor's machines and they're like toys compared to this one. The cast iron table is huge, thick and perfectly flat.The fence system is great - lots of ways to secure the workpiece with a heavy cast fence that moves back and forth on slots in the table keeping it perfectly 90 degrees to the head. The fence locks down and won't move or flex. And the hold down is the best one I've seen. The rolling front locking wheels are great.The motor (3/4 HP) is the largest in the class. And it hums like a kitten. Love that PM power. Once my chisels were sharp, this machine allowed me to make easy mortises in the hard oak. Chop, chop.The arm mechanism can be mounted on the left or right and feels solid once you set it in place. It takes a lot of punishment as does the excellent rack and pinion gear set it moves on. The depth stop is also solid.I was going to put this unit on my workbench and move it around when I needed to use it - wrong! It's just too darn heavy. So I mounted it to a piece of 3/4 inch plywood and now it's permanently mounted to the top of my rolling tool chest.At nearly $475.00 it's by far the most expensive bench mortiser. This is true of all Powermatic tools - they are the high end. I have a PM2000 table saw and 54A 6-inch jointer in addition to this beauty. They were all more expensive then the competition. But if you're a serious woodworker or a professional furniture maker, this is your machine.OK, one minor gripe - there should be a way to immobilize the arbor shaft so you can more easily tighten and loosen the chuck. Not a huge deal but would be an improvement.Powermatic tools are bought once and last forever (and then you give them to your son or grandson and so on). Spend the money now and you'll be a happy mortiser for a long, long time.[...]