Need suggestions for mortise chisel

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

That's interesting if true. I didn't measure mine yet. I just assumed it would be 6mm. Are the Narex bench chisels true imperial sizes as well?

In most cases it doesn't really matter but when combining power tool and hand tool work, having a 1/4" bit matched up to a 1/4" chisel is nice.

Daniel - just edited my previous post. They're close, but not spot on. Although my dial calipers are on the (very) cheap side. Given the subtle taper of the blades, even if they were spot on, they won't stay that way.

No idea on the bench chisels, but again, I thought LV had specified them this way; (or at least, I feel like I remember reading something to this effect) others may or may not have.

[Sean Hughto]

FWIW, for the hobbiest, I really would not obsess about tool slaving for mortise chisels. If you do ten big projects a year, it's a lot. If you forgo a benchtop mortiser in favor of chisels, you aren't in a hurry anyway, and the extra bits of effort to deal with slight variations in tools are not likely to be a big deal. If I was the OP, and I couldn't get the AIs, I'd buy the best old pigstickers I could find from an old tool deal or on ebay. Even ones with rough or no handles are fine because it's not hard to rehandle them. I suppose that if the old one you got ahold of was a bit big, it would pretty easy to stone it down to a perfect 1/4 or whatever as well.

[Mike Henderson]

I put together a set of Ward cast steel mortise (pigsticker) chisels but if I need to hand cut a mortise, I usually drill it out first and then trim it up. You can use bench chisels for that.

Mike

[I made handles for some of my pigstickers. The secret is to drill multiple holes as you go deeper into the handle (for the tang). So you start with a large drill bit, drill a little ways, then use a smaller drill bit, etc. until you get to the length of the tang. At one time I had a bunch of pigstickers of all different makers but eventually sold all except the Wards.

Here's some pictures of the chisels. The sizes are 1/8" + 1/32" (meaning that the chisel is 1/32" larger than 1/8"), 3/16" + 1/64", 1/4" + 1/64", 3/8' + 1/128", 3/8" exactly, and 1/2" + 1/64"

Ward pigstickers 01.jpgWard pigstickers 02.jpg

[Pedro Reyes]

Not knowing better I got one at woodcraft, figured a 1/4" was going to cover most of my needs, and it does. It is a Sorby, and works well.

Then an opportunity came to buy 6 pig stickers from England, good deal. These are non-exact sizes but there is one a tad shy of 1/4" and one a tad proud of 1/4", like someone has said, what does it matter? Unless you want to match a groove, but these cases are not as common as a simple mortise, then I could argue that some people simply use a regular chisel.

If we are buying 4/4 and end up with a board that is 21/32 or 27/32, then who cares if it is not 1/4", as if the imperial system made sense anyway ;-). I almost always use the pig stickers, can;t remember which one I use more, the thin 1/4 or the fat 1/4, I guess depends on which side of 3/4 my stock ends up at.

/p

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Then an opportunity came to buy 6 pig stickers from England, good deal. These are non-exact sizes but there is one a tad shy of 1/4" and one a tad proud of 1/4", like someone has said, what does it matter? Unless you want to match a groove, but these cases are not as common as a simple mortise, then I could argue that some people simply use a regular chisel.

Well, then you go further down the slope and start getting vintage plow planes, and realize your irons a tad shy and a tad proud of 1/4" inch as well . . . of course not quite by the same amount, so you grind one to match . . .

[Pedro Reyes]

Well, then you go further down the slope and start getting vintage plow planes, and realize your irons a tad shy and a tad proud of 1/4" inch as well . . . of course not quite by the same amount, so you grind one to match . . .

I drew a line, and today I have been 7 years clean!

From UK antique dealers anyway :-), and I could have said the same thing about the bay, but recently I saw some 3-1/8 square of Beech, 12" long that begged to become a coffin smother, I have never made a plane so I'll cut my teeth on cherry first.

/p

[Warren Mickley]

The mortise chisels do not have to be an exact size. Nor do they have to match a plough iron. In looking at period work we can often see that the mortise was made first and is slightly different from the groove. For precision work, it is best to mark the tenon and the mortise with the same gauge setting and make them before ploughing a groove. Trying to match the groove exactly to the mortise introduces error.

I have made about five thousand mortises with the boxwood handled Sorby chisels. They are adequate. I think the joiner's chisels ("pigstickers") are heavy for cabinet work. The LN have too small a handle. The Narex chisels seem like a good deal.

[Brian Holcombe]

don't get the LN chisels. they are the sash style socket mortise chisels and not meant for heavy work. odds are good that when you drive a 3/8" chisel into a 3/8" wide hole, you'll pull back on the handle and leave the chisel end wedged in the hole. It's frustrating as hell.

Get a good set of tang mortise chisels like the pigsticker style or Narex chisels from LV. wasting out a mortise is not delciate work. mortise chisels are a brutal tool for fast waste removal. they're not meant to be scalpels. you want something you can swing at with a mallet without worrying about damaging the handle or ruining the resale value

Cut with lie Nielsen mortise chisels;

[David Weaver]

The Ray Iles chisels are the best I've used, but you do have to be able to sharpen them ,and you have to actually be able to get them.

I sold mine somewhat stupidly, but still have a nice set of miyanaga japanese mortise chisels that are every bit as tough as the RI and much smaller. They are alarmingly tough little chisels (I am not making a recommendation that someone should buy them, though, they are expensive and someone sold me the set of 4 for less than half of new price).

I could cut mortises faster with the RI chisels, though, just a little bit, and they have such a nice long thin primary that they are never tight in a mortise like you might expect with a large chisel.

[Jim R Edwards]

I have been very happy with Narex

[John Sanford]

I have a pair of the Sorbys (round handle, not octagon) and have fairly recently received a pair of the Ray Iles. I've used the Sorbys quite a bit on small mortises, and on some larger mortises, haven't used the RIs yet. The RIs are simply massive in comparison to the Sorbys. Everytime I look at them, I want to grab one and head out into the woods tracking a boar.

[Derek Cohen]

I have a mixed collection of Ray Iles and vintage English Oval Bolstered mortice chisels. The 1/4" RI get most use, and the D2 steel is an upgrade on the vintage tool steel, however I have never felt let down by them.

I did try Japanese mortice chisels out over a couple of years about a decade ago. I found these both too short and the primary bevels tended to be too high (35 degrees) for penetrating the wood. The OBM types have a 20 degree primary bevel and a 35 degree secondary, making entry easier and still retaining durability.

I have at times wanted a shorter mortice chisel for more shallow, delicate work, and made up a couple out of HSS sections.

Paul Sellers' method is ideal for sharpening the OBM chisels.



Regards from Perth

Derek

[Anthony Moumar]

I also have the Narex mortice chisel and like them. Narex make them in both proper metric and proper imperial sizes not nominal sizes like a lot of other manufacturers. LV only sell the imperial sized ones so if your buying from them your good. If you get them from somewhere elsewhere might be a good idea to ask. As other have said the chisel size shouldn't matter to much anyway. I have metric blades from my plough plane and imperial mortice chisels and I've never had problems.

I put a 35 degree micro bevel on my Narex mortice chisels and Feel like the have good edge retention. Most of my projects have 10 or less mortices. If I sharpen the chisel before I start it's usually good for the whole project. The handles might be a bit big if you have small hands but I find them quite comfortable.

[Rob Luter]

I have the LN mortise chisels and have no complaints whatsoever. They are plenty stout for my needs.

[Don Rogers]

Sean's got it here. I ground some of my plow irons on my cheap plow to match my mortises. It makes the mortise job mindlessly easy, because the groove from the plow helps align the mortise chisel. I've actually run a very shallow groove down a piece precisely for this reason, and then planed it off afterwards.

The other way around, on this work, of course, is to mortise before you plow, but depending on the size of the mortise, it can make for tough riding for the plough's skate - if the mortise is particularly different sized, or rather long, things can get snagged as you plow through.

Great idea. Plowing a very shallow grove will help me keep the mortise sodes straight.