PORTER-CABLE Lock Mortiser, 1-1/2-HP (513)

This is a door mortiser and thats all. It's a lot of money to pay for a tool with only one job but there is nothing else in the world that can do the job it does in the everyday world. Set up is a little slow but when all adjustments are complete it seldom runs over 20 seconds and its job is done.The depth adjustment came broke on my first one. Amazon leaned over backwards to get it swapped out and we went on with business.

I have to say that when doing a home full of custom doors with mortised hardware this tool was worth its weight in gold. I found the set up to be a bit frustrating because of finding the tools initial alignment but once it was established it was perfect. The only down side was that the tool has to be used in the vertical position which b/ of its weight makes it a bit awkward. The only problem I had with the tool was after about 3 doors the switch toggle stopped working and I had to unplug it to stop it. I played with the toggle and got it working again, but it was frustrating and potentially dangerous. Overall. I am happy and found it to be a real time saver. I highly recommend the face plate template too.

for making a pocket for a mortise lock as good as this one, unless you have a CNC. this is the ONLY one and Amazon got it to me on a SUNDAY!!!! I called five "woodwork specialist" suppliers and NO ONE had this tool.

This is a great product for someone with extra cash to burn. Literally, in a bonfire. If I could curse in an Amazon review and get away with it, I would. I wish people had written a more detailed review about this product so I could have avoided buying it. I'm a locksmith and I install a lot of mortise locks in the hospitality industry. A typical small job for me would be around 150 doors on a project. Some bigger jobs have 600+ doors. So I need a solid durable tool that can make 4-1/2" deep mortise pockets quickly and easily. I also need something that is fairly transportable as I drive to most of my jobs. Doors are typically pre-hung, so I also need a rig that can be easily moved from door to door. First of all, this is a big heavy beast. The box it comes in measures 18-1/2" x 17" x 20-1/4". Good luck finding a Pelican case at a reasonable price for something that big. It will take up a huge space in your van or work vehicle. On the job site, it's too heavy to repeatedly move from one door to the next. A few doors? Sure. 100+ doors? My back aches just remembering about it. If you have to use it, get the young apprentice to do setup and get him a heavy duty utility cart. Second, when you get it, make sure you try setting it up and verify that all the parts are there. Mine came without the depth guide. Only found out about the missing piece the day before I was supposed to use it for the first time. It was also too late for an Amazon return. I ended up jury-rigging a depth guide. Since then, I had to order a $80 part from another site and now have to face the prospect of dismantling this thing for a part that it should have come with in the first place. Not too happy with Porter Cable's quality control department at the moment, if they have one at all. Third, quick and easy? This is the only part where the 513 really stands apart. Once you got it all setup, it can make a 4-1/2" x 6-1/2" mortise pocket in about 20 seconds with minimal effort on your part. It's fast, and it should be considering it's basically a plunge router spinning at 25000 rpm. However, this is where it's value proposition really starts to degrade. You have to use Porter Cable mortising bits. Not only are they really expensive, they also need frequent sharpening which only adds to the cost of using this thing. My colleagues and I figure one bit will do about a dozen doors before it needs professional sharpening. My mortiser of choice is the DBB Souber. With a proper power drill, it can make the same mortise in about 30 to 40 seconds. It might take 10 to 20 seconds longer, but I can set it up in half the time, I can sharpen the the bits myself, and it weighs way less. I can lift the Souber with one hand. More importantly, I can buy 2 to 3 Soubers for the price of 1 Porter Cable 513. So not only can I increase my efficiency with the Souber (i.e. less time = more money) by having multiple doors worked on at the same time, if one rig breaks down or gets stolen I'm not totally screwed. By the way, did I mention how hard it is to get replacement parts for the 513? I was lucky to have found the part I needed in stock. If something major breaks, you'll probably have to fork over the cash and buy a whole new rig. To add salt to injury, the 513 is to be used in conjunction with the 517 template guide. The latter is used to make the pocket that the 1-1/8" x 8" face plate sits in. Not a bad product but requires the use of a plunge router. So more money out of my wallet. The DBB Souber can do the job of both the 513 and 517 in one go. Most DBB Souber kits come with a short and a long rod. So for the sake of 10 to 20 seconds of extra time mortising the hole, you save so much more time and money in the end. I only got the 513 and 517 because I was contractually obligated to do so for one of my clients. It's now a huge paperweight sitting at my shop. The only colleague of mine that actually likes the 513 is a door guy. He often has to prep new doors to accept mortise locks before they are hung. In a production environment where doors come to the rig and not the other way around, it makes more sense. Using a DBB Souber when the door is laid horizontally on its hinge stile is a bit awkward. However, he still doesn't like how much the Porter Cable mortising bits costs and how often he needs to get them professionally sharpened. In the end, some people won't believe me. After all, your experience with it may be very well different than mine, and you might love it. So if you have some extra cash to burn and don't mind that it may not come with all the parts you need, go right ahead and get one. I can almost guarantee you'll regret it.

Product was described exactly! Shipped much earlier than stated!

This tool is absolutely wonderful, good thing too because there’s not too many choices out there. It does exactly what it says it will do and you can read the instructions for step by step details on how to use and fine tune the machine. I highly recommend actually following the recommendations they lay out and check everything is tightened up before each door. There is a lot of vibration involved which tends to auto adjust your settings, so you do need to pay attention as you’re running down the hallway unless you want a bunch of different sized mortise pockets. I gave it 4 stars because there’s basically a monopoly on this tool and there is room for improvements.

I love it

Exceptional

Exactly what I wanted