I have a strange relationship with mortising machines. My first one was a benchtop model that was good for little 1/4" square holes and not much else. I flipped workpieces to get a 1/2" mortise. It was slow and tedious. But like many sub-par tools, I got by, thinking I didn't need anything better.
My second machine was much larger, capable of easily handling 3/4" bits. That machine I was babysitting for a friend and it eventually went to another home.
While I had that machine I also had a dinosaur beast in the corner of my garage. A Greenlee 228. That's it below. Yeah, isn't it a beauty? I wanted to restore it in the worst way, but ran out of steam (and room) and let it go for less than scrap price. It was my first machine with an auto-feed head, so that feature was particularly painful to wave goodbye to.
Greenlee was the big daddy of mortising machine manufacturers back in the heyday of old iron. Based out of Rockford, IL, Greenlee made a dizzying array of machines, some with multiple heads, that were used from everything from small furniture to early rail cars. The latter required huge timbers and gigantic mortises. So Greenlee made a machine specifically for this purpose. It was called a car mortiser.
The mortiser could take up to 3" chisels (!), and plunge them easily into timbers as large as 18"x20". You know that hole in that great big Sequoia out in California that people drive through? That was made in one plunge by a Greenlee car mortiser.
I have never seen a No. 238 in the flesh, but what a sight it would be.
In case you're wondering, Greenlee is still around. They don't make mortisers though. These days its tools for the electrical trade. But the logo is still the same. The end view of a hollow chisel bit surrounding the letter G. I wonder how many people at Greenlee are unaware of this fact?
So, back to my current mortiser. It's a Wysong & Miles 284, arguably one of the best auto feed mortisers ever made. This particular example was rebuilt by Central Machinery Co. in Lexington NC. A former employee of Wysong bought out the rights to Wysong mortisers back in the 70's and opened Central Machinery to service and support the machines. The rebuild is about 12 years old now, and the machine has seen maybe 5 hours of use since then. It's in great shape and works well. I did some routine maintenance to the machine about a year ago, including new gear oil (just because I had to remove it to work on the clutch) and tuning the clutch. Geez, it sounds like you could drive this thing.
The spindle is 5hp 3600rpm 3 phase and the feed motor is 1.5 hp 1200 rpm 3 phase. It's equipped with a stop rod and 6 adjustable stops, Jacobs chuck, chisel holder and bushing, magnetic starters with overload, 110V transformer, disconnect switch, compound tilting table, and an assortment of bits. Currently wired for 440V, 3 phase.
If you're attracted to this machine because its old arn, be aware of what you're getting into. This is a serious machine capable of running all day and cranking out thousands of mortises, but its also not a machine you walk up to to punch out a couple mortises after dinner. It is a true production machine. But it also takes some getting used to when setting it up. Once you start the cycle, you must finish it, and any wood under the bit will be mortised whether you're in the right position or not. It took me a few mortises to get the feel for it. But now its second nature. If you have lots of mortises to cut, especially production work, this is one sweet machine.
Why am I selling it if I like it so much? Because I'm odd I guess. The other thing is space. I simply don't have space in my personal shop that I'm willing to allocate for a machine that doesn't get used that frequently. I love the machine, but I will likely do my machine mortising from here on out with some sort of rotary setup (Domino, router, slot mortiser). I've cut mortises with pretty much every setup out there, so it won't be hard for me to settle on my next ex-mortiser. I will enjoy the added space however.
Price is $2800. If you don't have 440V power, I do have a 440V to 220V transformer that will allow you to use the machine with 3ph 220V power that I'd be happy to sell along with the mortiser. Price is $500. I can also point you in the right direction for getting 3 phase power in your shop if you need it.
If you're interested, send me an email through the Benchcrafted website.
Here's a video of the mortiser in action.