Side by Side Comparison of: Northern Industrial vs Grizzly

Works well for limited jobs. Wouldn't want to try this for a multiple product or production use. For the price its a good tool for one offs. When buying this product be sure that the length: from attachment to the drill press to the mortise bit holder allows the drill bit to reach the spindle. Northern Industrial was no help in obtaining this dimension. I bought it and took a chance. It happened to fit my drill press.

I bought this attachment for a few house & patio furniture projects that I am working on. The build quality is good, not great but good. I give this unit a 4 star rating for the following reasons:Set up instructions are pretty bad (watch a couple YouTube videos to get a better idea).I had to modify the set up for my drill press' depth stop (a critical component needed to control depth in mortise).Overall, I am happy with my purchase and will probably purchase a better set of chisels for longevity.I use this attachment with a WEN 12 VS that can hold the 5/8 shank on the included bits. I used one of the included adapters to accommodate the 55 mm quill on my drill press.

This item works as described. The only problem I had was mounting it to my drill press. None of the collets sent actually fitted my Craftsman drill press. It was a simple matter to hollow out one of the collets sent and the Mortising attachment works wonderfully.

Some minor quirks.. it makes you work to get an accurate mortise but it does its job well once it's set up. Given that it is half the price of the competition I would recommend this to anyone making mortises on a somewhat limited basis (e.g. smaller projects) but it is too clumsy for a commercial operation. As a home user (I am rebuilding my kitchen and do occasional other woodwork, it is perfect for my needs.

Received from Northern tool in good shape. Instructions were OK. Fitment to an old bench drill press went smoothly. All in All a good buy.

I have a jet drill press with a really large quill (75mm) and was having problems finding a mortisising attachment that would fit my press.Amazon had incorrectly listed two quill sizes for this mortising attachment that is NOT supported - 66mm and 75mm.I ordered this product, only to find out that it would not fit my press, so I sold it to a freind of mine, who seems to be really pleased with it...For reference, here is the descirption from the manufacturer: * Attachment fits over drill presses with diameters of spindle sliding bush ranges of 52.5mm, 55mm,58mm and 60mm * Durable cast iron with built-in chisel housing * Accepts up to 5/8in. (1.6cm) shank chisels (not included) * Comes with 4 chisels shank sizes of 3/16 in, 9/32in, 3/8in, 1/2 in. * Replacement chisels sold separately * Also includes installation hardware, instructions and plastic carrying case

Great price and functions well. The only holdback from a higher rating would be the owners manual for proper setup. Took some trial and error to get things working but once it did all goes great.

The Attachment appears to be solidly built and was easily assembled on my Ryobi DP101 drill press just from the pictures. It produced clean mortises from the first time I used it.The Operation Manual was accurate and clearly written.Suggestions - 1 - The attachment is supposed to be removable. A knob or lever would be preferable to the hex nut supplied to tighten the chisel holder on the quill.2 - Metal split ring bushings instead of the plastic ones supplied. I'm nervous about tightening the nut on the chisel holder for fear of breaking the plastic bushing.3 - Flexible leaf springs instead of the rigid curved rods supplied to hold the workpiece against the fence; the sides of the workpiece may not be smooth or parallel.4 - Redesign the case so that each bit has its own fitted slot. My bits came in cardboard boxes squeezed in between the other parts in the case.In summary, a good hobbyist tool which I would recommend to other woodworkers.Edward Beckles

Even though it mounts on spindle collar of my 10-inch Craftsman Model 124.34983, the length of the original chuck (for 1/2 inch drill bits) is not long enough to reach the stem of the chisel bits (see pictures). The length of the chuck has to be much longer than 3 inches for this mortising attachment to work for you. Therefore spindle collar diameter is not the only critical specification. If your have 1/2 inch chuck, very likely it is not long enough to work with this mortising attachment. I think, required chuck length should be important part of the description/specifications of this product. I have not been able to locate longer/larger replacement chuck that can mate with the tapered no-thread spindle shaft of my drill press. Considering the overall quality of the product and very attractive pricing, I have no doubt that it will serve well purpose of most wood-workers. I was readily able to contact and discuss this issue with product expert at Northern Tools. Two stars only because of incompatibility with my drill press.

I had a few problems just getting to the point to try it out.It fits my quill (with an adapter) but the depth stop of the press is in the way of it fully seating. That's the press's problem not the attachment.Next up, again I blame the press, the bit doesn't reach the chuck. - I bought a 4" extension then cut 1/2" off the bit ... anyone else with this problem - the different bits are different sizes requiring different extensions.Now for the attachment problems:The fence is plastic and broke without much effort. The cast part that sits atop the fence overhangs the fence. ... Solved those by making one out of Oak.The bolts for the fence are in the way of the wing nuts for the curved rods - I used carriage bolts to fix that.The rods go through that same section of the device which limits adjustability of the fence ...Except that the 9mm diameter rods don't fit the 8mm diameter holes intended for them anyway.The hold down needs something you can crank on or it does not 'hold down'And then the unexplainable things:With all the other difficulties - I used a hole I had already done by hand to ... square it to the fence and adjust the fence depth at the same time. Drilling a piece of scrap, then measuring, revealed the hole not being centered or level though the hole used to square it up is correct (as tested with a table saw made tenon.I should be noted that I was using a separately purchased bit so can't comment on the included bits.

Cast parts were rough. I had to grind out one slot so mounting bolt would go through. Took a lot of time to set up and a lot of adjusting to get the morticing bit square with the fence. Have to use a channel lock to tighten the set screw bolts as the plastic wing heads just don't give you enough torque to keep clamps from slipping. Morticing bits are pretty cheep and not very sharp. I'm making it work, but wish I'd have spent twice the money and got a good one. (don't know if that would have bought a good one tho!)

I was never able to use the tool because it was not fit to my press drill (SKIL 3320-01-RT 3.2 Amp 10-Inch Drill Press). I thought it would be unfair to give one of two stars without really experiencing it. However, I went through all troubles to try and return. The seller's return service was not bad. Responsive and respectable although I had to pay a few extra tens dollars to return the heavy tool. So, I gave two stars for my troubles. It might fit to other press drill so I will leave the product review for them.

The mortising attachment as a whole works well with my General Industrial drill press. However, the mortising chisels are poorly designed and cannot handle hard woods like sugar maple. The mortising chisels have what appear to be a "dome" design (instead of the traditional "cone" design) which compresses the wood and does not push it toward the auger bit when drilling. The points are soft and actually bend inward when trying to penetrate hard woods. The price is low but unfortunately the overall quality and usability is also low.