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Thread: More On Mortise Chisels

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    More On Mortise Chisels

    Originally posted by Ex-Oceangoddess: All my mortise chisels, ranging from real oldies, to ones I bought from Lee Valley back in the 80's, are slightly narrower on the back than the front. The old ones came that way, and the new ones I made that way. That's because you cut a mortise with the front part of the chisel, and if the back is the same width its a PITA to work it out of the hole.
    Not trying to be the contrarian here, but my mike sure can't find any of that.



    The 19th-Century millwright mortise chisels shown...1/8 thru 3/4 in 1/8 increments... are Douglas, Swan, New Haven and Dickerson....only the fat Dickerson 5/8th's has any difference 'tween front and back face...the front is 3 thou narrower than the back.

    Same for the trendy, expensive Japanese laminated chisels....only the 1/2 shows 3 thou difference just like the Dickerson.



    Them and others all work just dandy...the half-incher above is dead parallel...can't tell any difference....16 deep mortises in 45 minutes.

    BTW....wound up with a couple of these long millwright mortise chisels when I was buying large handleless lots for a couple of rehabbed socket firmer/gouge set commissions for a few Navy Yard woodshop greybeard pals who don't like what the Navy is buying these days for them to use.

    So I rehabbed them and tried them out:

    Wow. Like night and day, and I've chopped a mortise or two over the decades. Long lengths easier to keep plumb and the larger heft provides gobs of more power...

    ...and have been collecting all the sizes I can find ever since...even paying all of...shudder...25 bucks when I hast to.

    All my Japanese and British tinkertoys will hit Ebay shortly.
    Last edited by Bob Smalser; 10-04-2004 at 11:22 AM.
    “Perhaps then, you will say, ‘But where can one have a boat like that built today?’ And I will tell you that there are still some honest men who can sharpen a saw, plane, or adze...men (who) live and work in out of the way places, but that is lucky, for they can acquire materials for one third of city prices. Best, some of these gentlemen’s boatshops are in places where nothing but the occasional honk of a wild goose will distract them from their work.” -- L Francis Herreshoff

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