if I could buy a bunch over Miller's Falls boring machines and make the switch I would do so in a heartbeat!
You and me both Sean... 
...but alas, having been to and/or facilitated several "head to head" comparatives of power to hand tools in several ideations over the years...The power tools win out in the long run when in the hands of the skilled operator...In most (but not all) applications...
Japanese saws, and some hand tool methods can be very fast, yet the fatigue factor and wear and tear on the body if working day in and day out, usually leans toward the power tools as being more forgiving. In furniture making, this can be a wash for some operations yet still, if counting from "stump to chair"...there is almost some power along the way these days unless performing an Historical interpretive rendition and/or restoration...
You can buy 3 Makitas for the price of a Swiss Pro or Mafell. I don't see what is wrong with a Makita.
Makitas are great Mike and probably the number one mortiser out there...perhaps even in Japan, compared to Hitachi, Ryobi, et al...
With the grain mortisers, that clamp to a timber have abilities that the "European models" don't have and larger bar set ups on them make them as fast or even faster with deeper plunges...
Again, it is about understanding the tools, their operation and different applications. For example (...not recommended for novice!!!) Makitas can be operated with a custom base just like a router for cutting slots and cleaning up the bottom of long free spline joints...The many uses of these mortisers (and just one example) are much broader than typically understood by those the seldom use them or have not owned/operated most of them...
Are you saying that you couldn't replicate the accuracy with hand tools? That is surprising to me. I find they are much more accurate than a circ saw gone wild. Even new Makita saws (8 1/4") won't cut square.
No tool (hand or power) should ever "run wild" and I believe that should be placed under the perspective of "bad or unsafe operation."
As for speed and accuracy, I have switch over to "rail plunge saws" (aka Festool, Mafell, etc) decades ago for their repetitive accuracy. Ornate flooring operations, and scarf joints both do well under these saw types. Yet a nice little thin kerf 18v Makita can do tremendous work in the hands of a skilled operator for a fraction of the price, and probably quicker in most applications...Again, my Japanese saws are always close at hand from many cuts that need to be fast, and in awkward positions...
I can rough chop a housing or tenon with an axe faster than you can kerf with a circ saw...
Hmmm...I think I will take that challenge on someday Dave, I think it would be interesting to have on video... 
So far, I haven't had anyone come close with such claims and their axe against a Festool 75mm Plunge saw...
Perhaps a "Diminished Haunched Housing" as a good comparative example...
Perhaps the full joint...mortise and housing, then corresponding tenon...??
Last edited by Jay White Cloud; 02/15/16 06:04 AM.
