I had a problem with the gas spring's plastic ball socket breaking when trying to snap it onto the steel ball. I emailed Shop Fox about it and after they requested all sorts of information, I haven't heard back from them. It's been over a week now. Don't expect much support. As a comparison, Bench Dog's router table arrived with a broken part and the company sent the replacement 2-day air with no questions asked (except address of course).

I decided to buy my own ball and socket connector and ensure it was all metal this time. The threading is 6mm on both male and female. If yours breaks, this could be a consideration for you. Instead of snapping these on, you have to screw them on though, which takes slightly longer to install. I'll upload a picture.

The 1/2" chisel it comes with is pretty bad. I recommend the Premium Grizzly chisels that are made in Japan (around $40 each).

Other than that, the machine looks good and operates as you'd expect it to. I'll remove a star due to bad customer service and having to buy my own replacement parts on a brand new machine.

Update: As of Nov 8 2016, I still haven't gotten an answer from Shop Fox about replacing those socket joints for the gas spring. It's a good thing I was able to fix the issue with a generic part. The metal ones I got on ebay are working perfectly.

Another note...I have been using one of the Japanese-made premium bits from Grizzly and it's been cutting so incredibly smooth with minimal pressure , that I thought they were all like that. Yesterday, I tried using the included bit for the first time and wow, what a difference. It was horrible. It barely cut (even after some sharpening) and I had to push down very hard. I'd throw that one away and get one of the Japanese made ones from either Lee Valley or Grizzly. It's a HUGE difference.

To be clear .. I haven't used this machine yet, but is Is mounted and ready to go. This review is a heads-up for Grizzly and future buyers.

My machine was manufactured in April 2011, purchased April 2012. 3/4 HP, 3/4" collet capacity, dual non-adjustable column supports, gas spring, the ability to rotate the machine and price being the major factors considered.

Packing was excellent .. arrived in a few days via freight (Fedex Freight only visits here on Tuesdays) along with Grizzly 6" Jointer. Firstly .. be very careful unpacking .. the aluminum fins at the bottom of the motor are virtually un-deburred and may be very sharp. I'll probably use a wire-wheel on a drill motor to mitigate that, when I get time. Such a simple thing should have been done at the motor factory .. there is No excuse, just lack of care and QC.

Secondly, albeit minor, still a PITA and unnecessary .. two of the three hold-down rods had miniscule burrs at the ends, preventing insertion. The burrs were generated while machine chamfering the ends. Again, easy enough to mitigate on the 1" belt sander, and again, just lack of care and QC.

So far, only one design complaint associated with a major feature .. the gas spring. Depending on the heigth of workpiece, there are three positions for attaching the spring, two on the back, and one on the side. For use in the lowest position, you must remove the position-two ball. Indeed, while this may seem a minor inconvenience, a part that small will certainly be one of the first lost.

Here is the biggie. The stop rod was binding quite severely against the column cap due to two factors. The 10mm hole(s) were not machined parallel with the columns .. out by a few degress, and there was alot of debris inside which seemed to be bound around the hole down inside. I verified this using an 8mm diameter Whistler wireless borescope-cam .. and was amazed at the crap I saw down there. The hexagonal stop-rod was only rotatable with great difficulty. Not having an extra long 10mm drill, I used a 3/8" drill, and mitigated the crap collection inside as best I could. I took the column cap off and ground clearance for the stop-rod to pass by with nomimal friction. This is Clearly a lack of due care, and Quality Control, especially considering that this machine has been manufactured for almost ten years.

Perhaps I got a Lemon, but Grizzly is a Big Time player, and hopefully will rap some knuckels with their supplier for this machine. The jointer has been flawless .. a different review coming.

All in all, minus the discrepancies noted above, for features and value, I would recommend this machine. I have bits from 1/4" up through 3/4" in place .. just wondering what using a 3/4" mortising bit at 3,450 rpm will be like .. probably a real screamer .. but that's on me.

The motor is powerful enough to get good cuts. The machine is heavy enough that I didn't have to mount it to the table. Setup instructions could be better. Came in two packages with no instructions for assembling the base, but it wasn't hard to figure out. First used to cut mortise in treated lumber. The wood tears but can be cleaned up with multiple passes. Very critical to make sure the bit is set properly. Youtube has a number of good videos that can help with that. To this point, it was a good addition to my workshop.

OK I've had this thing for about 3 months.

Pros: Good motor with plenty power,quiet, good rack and pinion action.

Cons: The fence system and adjustments.

OK I made mortices for chairs legs. Alot of them. I alligned the measurements with the fence and locked fence in place. With the constant force against the fence the locking mechanism worked its way loose, and it drifted the fence out of whack. I synched it down tight, but the constant pressure on it means you have to synch it down TIGHT!!!!! Or it will get loose. The micro-adjust on the fence only goes in one direction, which mean more futzing.

My choice in this product was between this unit and the Powermatic. The Powermatic was 125.00 more so I went with this one. The difference is the fence. Dont get me wrong this is a good unit. The question to whoever reads this is(prospective buyer), "Is the fence worth the extra 125.00".

10/5/12: I purchased the cheaper set of mortising bits from Lee Valley. The length of these drill bits are 6.25 inches. THEY DO NOT FIT THIS MORTISING MACHINE!!! You need to buy the 8.25 inch long ones!!!! I hope this saves someone some bucks!

I bought this machine to replace my JBM-5 Jet Mortiser. The promise of a beefier machine with a 1/2" chuck (vs. 3/8" for the Jet) was what attracted me to the Shop Fox. I received it yesterday, and spent a couple of hours assembling it and making some test mortises. Below follows my list of pros and cons.

Pros:

1) First and foremost, this machine offers great value in a mortiser. This made-in-China mortiser is a lower cost option than its Taiwan-made competitors such as Jet and Delta. $247 including shipping is hard to beat.
2) Beefier than either of the above mentioned machines. More iron in the casting. Dual columns. Weighs 87 lbs assembled. The fence and base are much more substantial than the Jet. The substantial, adjustable handle offers more mechanical force advantage over my Jet.
3) 3/4 HP motor running at 3450rpm, vs 1/2 HP 1725rpm on the above-mentioned competitors.
4) 6 1/2"+ capacity from bit to column (fence removed) 4" with fence in place. The latter can also be increased by re-bolting the fence support block into different predrilled holes.
5) 8 1/2" Height capacity--unlimited if the head is swiveled to the edge of the bench. Hold-down comes with 3 rods of multiple lengths to suit the capacity you need.
6) Fence has a micro adjustment.

Cons:

Most of the cons can be attributed to poor quality control.

1) Casting are fairly rough, although the machined portions of them are fine.
2) The spray painting job leaves something to be desired. Mediocre quality. Motor housing badly sprayed.
3) Depth Stop rod arrived bent out of the box. It won't affect its function, but a half inch bow isn't pretty.
4) Plastic electrical switch and capacitor housing was loose. One of the two phillips head machine screws failed to tighten, I realized that it had been overtightened and stripped. This was the biggest annoyance for me. Although the machine was fully functional with the housing as it was, I re-tapped the hole to a larger size and replaced the screw. 10 minutes extra assembly work.
5) Fence fine adjustment screw hole not perpendicular to the adjustment stop bracket, i.e., hole drilled and tapped at an angle less/more than 90 degrees. Doesn't affect functionality, but again, smacks of lousy quality control.
6) Owners manual completely forgets to mention attaching tool and accessory holder, which one can install based on seeing the photograph on the front of the owners manual. Overall however, the manual is pretty good for a Chinese manufacture.
7) Cord, although sufficient in length is sheathed in plastic instead of rubber. This gives it a stiff feel, and is reminiscent of so many cheap power tools that I could name here, but won't....

Overall I am quite happy with this machine so far. The motor runs smoothly and very quiet. I own high quality mortise chisels, and my experiments with the 3/4" chisel in white oak were very satisfactory. The high speed and increased horsepower are a noticeable improvement over my Jet, which I frequently stalled with a 1/2" bit in the same material. I was somewhat leery of going to a 3450 rpm machine, because of the higher potential to create more heat and destroy the bit, but proper setup and clearance seems to be the key to avoiding this problem. Because of the greater capacity, I can finally purchase a 1" bit instead of the much more painstaking approach I used to use, drilling 4 1/2" holes to accomplish the same thing.

Because of the above mentioned quality control issues, I give 4 stars only to this machine. If these relatively minor issues are resolved, it would easily deserve a full five star rating. I recommend it as a substantial step up from the above-mentioned benchtop mortisers if you have need of 3/4" or 1" mortising, or routinely work with thick or wide stock.