I’m putting together a small woodworking shop in my garage, and I need some recommendations on a drill press with a mortising attachment and a router and router table. My budget for the drill press and mortising attachment is about $250 and for the router and table is about $200. Neither of these numbers is set in stone.
Anyone have any recommendations?
For the drill press and mortising set:
Can you get by with a bench top drill press? They are less money, but also less versatile. This is an inexpensiveDelta bench top that I bought. It was less money than the variable drive, but I don’t mind switching the belt myself.
I bought the Delta mortising set recently, but I haven’t used it yet so I can’t comment.
For the router and table, I think that you aren’t budgeting enough. You can buy an inexpensive router, but it may be useless for work with the table with all but the lightest routing. I’d go for a better router and make your own table as a project, and then maybe buy a good table when you can.
I bought the Bosch 1617 router. The link is to a kit that has fixed and plunge bases, and has some accessories. I bought it because it is powerful enough for the work I do, and it is light enough for the dovetail jig. If you want the most power, consider a Porter Cable Speedmatic. They are pretty much a standard.
I also bought the Bench Dog router table that clamps to the side of my Delta Contractor’s saw. Nice fence, and it makes an extended cast iron base for both the router and the saw; it also ensures a very stable router table. This unit goes in and out of availability, so keep looking.
A few words of caution on the Drill press with mortising attachment. 1 if you do buy an inexpesive bench mounted drill press the delta mortising attachement may not fit the quill (been there done that). A friend of mine has the Mortising attachment for his floor mounted Drill Press and he hates having to set it up and tear it down when he goes from mortising to regular use of his drill press, I guess it takes a bit to get the set calibrated everytime so that it and the fence are square on every side. After Hearing his advise I went and bought a Dedicated Mortiser, I found a new Delta on Sale at the time for $200
Do you already own the Router and just want a table? My first Router was is a Porter Cable 693, it came with both the standard base and the Plunge Base, I recieved as a gift a crafstman table that does ok for me but I would like something better, and free standing, you can make a router table pretty easily, the trick and expense are in the Fence, and the system for mounting the router to the table. I currently use an extra base for my router to mount it to the table so I can pull the motor out and put in the standard or plunge base that came in the kit. Mine uses the height adjustment of screw/rotating the motor in/out of the base to adjust height. No real fine adjustment is available. I am in the market for a router that is Variable Speed, Larger motor and can be adjusted from above the Table. Check out a copy of American router magazine, they have a couple pages in every issue that shows all the manufactures models, features and Street Price. You are looking at about $200 just for the router, that doesn’t leave you a whole lot for the table.
What kind of work do you plan on doing in your home workshop? I am in the final stages of making a set of kitchen table chairs for my sister and brother-in-law. Using all of the above mentioned tools and then some.
Plynck, I was planning on getting a bench-top drill press, both for lower expense and less floorspace. I was looking at the Delta 250 which seemed to be a step up from both the 200 and 300, but alas, it seems to be discontinued.
Like I said, the budget amounts aren’t set in stone. It’s just a ballpark figure I’m aiming for.
Skipper, my first project is a mission style clothes hamper. At this point, the main purpose of the drill press is as a mortiser. Would I be better served to just purchase a mortiser and not try to have the drill press serve double-duty?
I don’t own a router yet, and I’m not sure I know enough at this point to build a useful, let alone good, router table. I’d like to buy something that’ll grow with me as my skills improve, but it doesn’t have to be top of the line.
My Bosch 4000 table saw and stand should be delivered in a couple days. 
You can do mortises using a router table which might influence your choices somewhat. Granted, the mortises have round corners, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You can buy a cheap 20 dollar tool to square them off if it bothers you.
The Bosch mutiple base router is going for $180.00 or so right now. (You can get prices at toolseeker.com.)
If you want to spend $350.00, Amazon is offering a Delta 295 drill press with free mortising attachment and free shipping.
Router tables, in general, are heinously overpriced OR made of cheap crappy plastic. But you can look at what Rockler has to offer and maybe woodpecker.com. I use an Incra Jig with mine for easy positioning and indexing.
Skipper makes a good point; the mortising set may not fit on a bench top model. You should verify that before ordering. I didn’t check that; I may be screwed. They were both Delta, so I assumed… Note to self: Never assume… However, I didn’t buy the bench top specifically for mortising, so no problem there, and I got a sale price on the mortising set so I’ll keep it. And, if I need a floor standing drill press when the time comes, then so be it.
Oh, and the mortising chisels that come with the Delta aren’t supposed to be particularly good, but they should get you going.
Skipper, I did the same thing; I bought a third fixed base for my Bosch that I have permanently mounted beneath my router table. It make life so much easier…
Finagle, I’ve heard of the Incra-Jig before, but I don’t know what it is. Can you elaborate if it isn’t too much of a hijack?
I Guess it really depends how much Regular Drilling you will be doing, and How much Mortising you will be doing.
I use both quite a bit,
With my Drill Press:
Cut Plugs for screw holes
Cut large Disc with my Circle Cutter
Drill clean holes on angle (cool project wine bottle holder from flat board, and Angled Hole and bottom)
Sand (with different sized Sanding Drums and a sacrifical table with hole in it, until I bought a Rigid Oscillating spindle sander)
Drilled Flat bottom holes for Recesses and the like
With my Mortiser:
Drilled Square holes
Now I will point out that with my mortiser those holes are not only square in shape but square to the surface of the table and the fence used for alignment with very minimal setup. For Angled Mortises a drill press setup could be better in that you can Angle the table, but if Mission Style is what suits you (it suits me by the way I love the simple lines) then angled mortises are not what you need, but clean thru mortises and square holes for square pegs.
On the router Table
Any Surface will work (almost) buy the right base/lift system and recess it into a melamine top with legs and a basic fence and you set. Have any of you seen the Show on PBS called the Router Workshop? He doesn’t use a fancy fence, just a piece of UHMW from the looks of it that has a straight edge and recess for the bit, that he sometimes backcuts with a profiled bit so it has the same relief as the bit, and for adjusting he gets out his special adjusting tool a small hammer and taps it till it is flus with the bearing or part of the bit. If I were spending money I would put more in the lift than the fence, but that assesment is based on the work I do, lately I haven’t used a fence at all on my table, but will once I start doing cope and stick door panel frames again.
Turek – do you have a table saw already? If not, I’d prioritize that well above a drill press. Right now (apparently), the Home Depot is (closing out? selling?) the Ryobi BT3100 for @200.00 with an additional $50.00 off mail in rebate. This is a heckuva deal for a very competent table saw.
Plynck – the incra jig is, at its heart, just two flat plates, each with fine, interlocking grooves on one side. Because the grooves interlock, you can position the plates accurately at whatever the resolution of the grooves is. If you fasten one plate to a saw or router table and one plate to a fence, that means that you can very accurately reposition or offset the fence. Combine with a micropositioner (in the more upscale models) and it makes a lot of the fiddly adjusting of the fence for router cuts easier. Not sure if I’ve explained this well, but you can check out their web site for more details.
I have a Bosch 4000-09 table saw on order. I’m just waiting for it to show up at my door.
I also have the Bosch 1617 Router – wonderful tool. Since we’re talking routers, let me share the best advice I’ve gotten regarding bits: Get a a large set of inexpensive bits, then replace them with expensive bits as you wear them out. Only the bits you use the most need to be ultra-high quality. You’ll find out which those are as you wear out bits in the set.
I got a set of 50 for under $100. I’ve yet to wear one out. Compare that to the fifteen dollars to many hundreds of dollars per bit for ultra-high quality bits. Then again, I’m not doing particularly fine woodworking – more like coarse woodworking, in fact.
Hitachi M12V 3 1/2 hp router is a true workhorse for a router table. Buy it for under $200 these days, and build your own router table. Outside of the table, this router will also cut mortises with a jig that you can build from shop scraps (but as previously stated, these mortises will have round corners which you will need to square up with a mortise chisel). This scenario will definitely come in under the budget you describe.
I’ve never used a dedicated mortising machine, but I believe they are much superior to a drill press with a mortising attachment.
Thanks for the great answers
Ok, how 'bout I re-purpose my thread?
Let’s go from “What models should I buy?” to “What features should I look for in a router, router table and drill press/mortiser?”
I’m a novice but mechanically adept kinda guy. If you use a jargon term, I might not understand the actual word but will understand the concept if you tell me what it means.
Also, does anyone have any plans for a router table?
Because I do mostly “away” work, portability and speed are important. Router table is a cheap Craftsman-metal construction with extended in and outfeed fences-dedicated 1 HP fixed speed Craftsman router. Nothing fancy. Durable-parts for repair are easy to come by.
Everyday router is a D-handle Bosch 1 HP. The design is simple-incline plane spiral depth adjustment.
For big jobs the 3 HP variable speed plunge Bosch. Adjustments are easy to get at and manipulate.
Prolly the best thing for you to do is hit a woodworking supply outlet where you can put your hands on different models and find what feels right to you. Just cuz I’m a fan of Bosch doesn’t mean a Porter-Cable wouldn’t be the cat’s pants for you. 
I’ve done woodworking professionally for over 20 years and have owned I don’t know how many routers. I own 5 at the present time. My all time favorite is my Elu 2 1/4 hp plunge router. Unfortunately they are no longer available. I also own a couple of PC 690’s, a Ryobi 3 hp plunge router which I have permanently mounted on a shop built router table and an old Bosch 1 3/4 fixed base. If I were to add a new router I think I’d check out the Bosch 1617.
Also I’m curious about what type of work you are thinking of doing where a mortiser would be a priority?
My first real project is going to be a Mission style clothes hamper to match my bedroom furniture. The cross pieces will have mortises into the legs, and the spindles will have mortises into the cross pieces.
If you’re working on a budget have you considered a quality set of chisels and learning to cust mortises by hand? It’s really not that difficult and ultimately much more satisfying.
The downside is that you can rarely use wood chisels right out of the box. There is a fair bit of elbow grease in flattening the backs and honing them but that’s pretty straightforward if you use silicone carbide sandpaper on a plate glass or marble platen. I use a Veritas honing jig which makes it very quick to get the edge angles consistent.
Do you have a table saw and jig for cutting tenons?
I’m not really on a budget, other than self-imposed. I worry that I’ll spend a lot of money, do the couple of projects I want to do then forget stop using the tools.
I don’t think I have the patience to cut approximately 30 mortises by hand.
If FedEx would ever get their s__t together and deliver my saw, then yes. But I was planning on doing my tenons with a router and table. Most of my tenons for my first project are going to be non-structural and only involve removing about 1/8 inch of wood on the four sides of the 1/2 inch spindles.
Wow. I’'ve gone from “vaguely having heard of them” to “I need one of those in the worst way”. However, Christmas shopping intervenes, so maybe next year. Thanks.
Turek, it sounds like you have a handle on your budget. That’s very good, because you can easily go to the point where you have your paycheck direct-deposited with Rockler or Woodcraft…
Man, Plynck, thanks for that link to the Bench Dog router table. I never knew such a thing existed… and now that I know I think it would look quite smashing attached to my table saw. I gotta go find my wife and revise my Christmas hint list… again.
I’m not so sure I’d pop for a mortising attachment. A plunge router with a good jig will make short work of the shallow mortises needed in a mission style piece of furniture. I’d use the money on good quality router bits and a set of dado blades for your table saw or some nice Forstner and other bits for the drill press. IMO you’ll get far more use out of these.
A good Onsrud up cut spiral bit will cut nice clean mortises.