Bob...

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Much appreciated.

Good point about using a hanheld drill. Your right, I'm not a good candidate.

I'm starting to think the Makita chain mortiser makes the most sense for me. Less costly that the (beautiful) European tools, clamps to the work piece, flat mortiser bottom (I would of NEVER figured that one out until it was too late), and it's pretty fast.

BTW, I know a guy who didn't like the bouncing and vibration of the Makita, so he added hydralic cylinders. Using push botton switches mounted on the mortiser...one for "up", and one for "down". I'm not kidding...it's the slickest setup I've ever seen. The man is VERY intelligent and creative...makes me fell so dang humble.

Joel