# Central Machinery 35570 mortising machine.



## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Mind you this is FAR from a long term review, but rather a first impressions sort of thing...

Like most other reviews I have seen, this is a good basic machine with some easily fixable, but absolutely laughable design flaws. Out of the box, for smaller work pieces, this machine is completely unusable. If you are cutting mortises into say 2x2 table legs you are fine, but if you are working with 3/4" face frames, you have a big problem to deal with. Simply put, the hold down does not have ample clearance to the chisel when lowered. This was fixed, in my case, by cutting a couple of dadoes in the particle board table just outside of the screw holes, to accept some Rockler T track for hold downs in the same fashion as a drill press table. I have it held in with epoxy and screws and I doubt the slot is going anywhere for years to come... I use the Harbor Freight hold downs to keep everything snug. Many users have replaced the fence / hold down with a sliding X/Y vise, but I didn't want to go that fancy...

The second design flaw I find is the throw of the lever / arm you use to plunge the head down. If you are attempting to make through mortises, the arm actually strikes the table. I have found that you can mount the arm 180 deg from where it ought to be so that it is pointing down and behind the machine, but that keeps tension on the head. The other option required some CAREFUL modification. I added some small "stop screws" in the handle / tube to make it unable to slide out of the collar, then the allen bolt that locks it in place is loosened up, so the handle ends up working like a vise handle. Kind of hokey, but it gives me full stroke on the machine without striking anything, and without loosing too much length / leverage from the handle...

The chisels themselves were far better than what I had anticipated as most of the reviews I have seen say you need to sharpen / hone them first. At least on mine that step wasn't needed, these things were razor sharp out of the box. I may have just gotten lucky though... 

So far I have tested in pine, maple, walnut, cherry, oak, and even BB ply and this has not smoked in the slightest, or left me wanting for anything better aside from the issues I mention above...

The user DOES need to, like with any other mortiser, carefully set up the chisel so that subsequent passes are exactly in line with the past, so as to avoid getting a "Sawtooth" pattern mortise instead of a nice sharp square mortise. But setup is easy. 

Other reviewers have mentioned a breakage problem with the pinion gear for the rack and pinion lift assembly, which is easily replaceable with spares from HF. The replacement gear from HF is rumored to be stronger and not as prone to breakage... This issue seemed to be common on the green painted version, not the black one... Might be a production change. 

Overall, the operation is smooth, power is plentiful, but in typical HF fashion, there are the quirks that need to be worked around. For the cost, when bought with the 20% off coupon of around half of what the Grizzly, Shop Fox, and Wood River mortisers go for, if you are on a budget, or just want to spend that extra $$ on lumber, and don't mind making some tweaks, this machine offers great bang for the buck. But it is far from acceptable right out of the box. The modifications honestly take less than 10 minutes if you are quick setting up your dado, and if you already have the hold downs for your drill press, cost about $20.00 for the Rockler T track kit on sale... (or free if you have scrap T track floating around the shop!)


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## troyd1976 (Jul 26, 2011)

I also have this mortiser, I believe the same one, the all black machine. I'd love to see a pic of your table mods dbhost, be nice if could get away from useing scraps with mine.


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Will do. Except I am about to build a new table for it. I am REALLY not liking the flex the particle board table has. Especially with a 3/4" wide Dado in it... I will post up photos of the new table rig when I get it finished...


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## troyd1976 (Jul 26, 2011)

Awsome man, thanks..So far what i have been doing with mine is useing a scrap on the table top, than leaving the fence locked and useing scraps to shim the work piece out from the fence. Seems like that fence is just simply a nightmare to get set up square to the world.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

I've got the all green HF mortiser and have had it for maybe 7 years or so. I'm pretty happy with it. I did replace the hold down with a DP vice. I just couldn't justify spending more to for the few occasions I drill square holes. It's gone thru 3" hard maple. 

Looking forward to those pics! :thumbsup:


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Simple table, 3/4" rough ply sanded, cut to size, holes for screws drilled, countersunk, dadoed, sanded, wiped on BLO, and T track installed. Very quick, very simple, and very effective. I do need some longer bolts for thick stock like what I have pictured. It does work, but it just doesn't fill me with a ton of confidence... I could have made the table a bit wider, the OE table width is a bit narrow / shallow front to back. I actually was in the process of cutting a 1/4x2" mortise in this piece when I took the pic. Not for any project, but to test the machine... It cuts smooth as silk...


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## dwendt1978 (Mar 13, 2010)

So it's been a couple months now. Would you buy this mortiser again? I'm in the market for one and this one might be right up my alley. Especially with a 20% off coupon.


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## kim.schultz1952 (11 mo ago)

dbhost said:


> Mind you this is FAR from a long term review, but rather a first impressions sort of thing...
> 
> Like most other reviews I have seen, this is a good basic machine with some easily fixable, but absolutely laughable design flaws. Out of the box, for smaller work pieces, this machine is completely unusable. If you are cutting mortises into say 2x2 table legs you are fine, but if you are working with 3/4" face frames, you have a big problem to deal with. Simply put, the hold down does not have ample clearance to the chisel when lowered. This was fixed, in my case, by cutting a couple of dadoes in the particle board table just outside of the screw holes, to accept some Rockler T track for hold downs in the same fashion as a drill press table. I have it held in with epoxy and screws and I doubt the slot is going anywhere for years to come... I use the Harbor Freight hold downs to keep everything snug. Many users have replaced the fence / hold down with a sliding X/Y vise, but I didn't want to go that fancy...
> 
> ...


Can I get the email of this hf your referring to I need the reck and pinon gear


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

kim.schultz1952 said:


> Can I get the email of this hf your referring to I need the reck and pinon gear


www.harborfreight.com

Look on there to see if you can find a support number, or maybe a manual that might have a support / parts number.

Mind you. They no longer sell this machine. My post here is from 10 years ago. No idea how long they offer parts for discontinued machines. 

I would recommend you start a thread asking about compatible replacements as the orignials are likely not to be had...


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