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Andy,?

We never settled on a permanent location in the shop, so it's handy that we kept the lead cord long and roll it to the projects, esp. when large and already sitting on a lift cart. Otherwise it sits away in a corner.?

It's a great tool for what it is, if you can afford it, buy it. My only alternative to consider would be a vertical style machine that still had enough capacity to be versatile, which I haven't seen exist outside of very expensive tools in metal machine shops, thus irrelevant.

To add applications - I enjoy the free-handed mortising options for clearing large areas or fitting new parts to as-built joints and old work.

On Wed, Dec 4, 2024 at 12:05?PM Andy via <andy.raynor08=[email protected]> wrote:

Joe

You hit on some use cases I was thinking of that this machine seems to address. In particular euro door construction.?

I used the Hoffmann at Joes shop. It’s awesome for sure.?

I’ll email you separately regarding your f stop solution. Thank you for taking the time to reply ?

On Wed, Dec 4, 2024 at 11:42?AM bacchus6015 via <joeinno=[email protected]> wrote:

Andy,

I used the FD250 for door construction.

I added pneumatic clamps and a height DRO to make it easier and faster to use.

I also moved the control handle utilizing a custom bracket that Brian Lamb helped me design.? The bracket allowed the handle to not interfere with the right hand clamp riser. ?

For doweling the square chisel mortising feed attachment increases accuracy.? I tried square chisel mortising a few times but I think there are better ways than the FD250 to do those. ?

For double rows of dowels the height DRO was very useful.

The table on the FD250 is not wide enough to do mirror image dowels so doing mirror image dowel holes requires an offset from one side of the table to other to avoid flipping workpieces and any height inaccuracies that could cause. ?

I used the FD250 for mortising for Euro hardware in doors and windows.? The photo shows a two stage mortise.? The DRO made setting the height of the cutter easy.? I would measure off the top of the bit with a height gage then set the height of the bit to the center of the workpiece or whatever offset was necessary.

I used the fence on the f-rail of the table to do mirror image doweling.? The dowel templates were not referenced off center so deepening on what template I was using the center changed which the sliding miter gage could accommodate.? I found a good way to to make a game for mirror image doweling was to bore all the way through a block of wood then it could be flipped around to set the miter gage on the opposite end of the table.? I also made little f-rail stops to reference the miter gage so I could flip back and forth while doweling. ?

The f-rails and a bunch of extension tables made working on assembled doors and sash much easier. ?

The FD250 is a lot of bang for the buck.? But a mortising table like the Hoffman (sp?) that Joe Calhoon has is much faster.? There are other mortisers available for window and door construction but they all started around $20k.?

I saw a mortiser at LIGNA that solved most of the shortcomings of the FD250 but it was not available in the US.? Hess is the name. ???

Joe?

On Dec 4, 2024, at 7:47?AM, Andy via <andy.raynor08=[email protected]> wrote:

I’m interested in this machine and wanted to get user feedback.? As it stands now I like that this machine can dowel, slot mortise and chisel mortise.? It seems particularly useful for door construction in a smaller shop.?

What are some of the drawbacks?? Anything I should consider?? Thanks?

?

Andy?

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Brett Wissel
Saint Louis Restoration
1831 S Kingshighway Blvd (at Shaw Blvd)
St Louis, MO 63110

314.772.2167
brett@...