Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)
I modified my benchtop mortising machine to make it a little more user friendly. I added a cross slide vise to the base, and did away with the finicky work holding setup that came with the machine. Since the vise raised the height at which the workpiece is held, I had to add a spacer block between the base and the upright to ensure proper clearance. Since my mods were made out of baltic birch plyWOOD, I guess this “project” qualifies to be posted here. I want to say that this was not my own brilliant idea. It was a tip sent in to Fine Woodworking by a subscriber (John Jory), and published in their February 2005 issue. The cross slide vise I used is a super cheap Chinese POS, but it is adequate for the purpose. If I were doing a lot of mortising, I would probably invest in a better model vise, or maybe even a floor stand mortiser. But for my hobby shop, this is really enough.