Ray Iles Pigsticker review

[Patrick Chase]

This is a quick review of the Ray Iles mortise chisels sold at TFWW. I have a set of Narex mortise chisels, but decided to upgrade to a "real" pigsticker in my most commonly used size (5/16" - don't ask). As background, I cut mortises using the following technique:

1. Mark out using a 2-wheel (actually dual-arm) cutting gauge
2. Chop out the entire mortise to a depth of ~1/16". I do this to establish "guide walls" on both sides so that I don't have to worry about positioning once the serious cutting starts.
3. Work from the center out with the bevel facing outwards, alternating orientations. This technique makes a "V" profile cut that grows from the center out.
4. Upon reaching the end, chop the bottom out vertically to true up the ends of the "V".

It's basically a combination of the "layered" technique advocated by Kirby and others (step 2) and the traditional "center-out one-pass" technique (steps 3-4). I don't pre-drill on a press. I always configure mortising chisels with 20 deg primary bevels and fairly sizeable 35 deg secondaries. That's the as-shipped configuration for the Ray Iles pigstickers but requires some work on the Narex chisels.

The short summary is: The Ray Iles chisel works extremely well. Other than the obvious differences in configuration and bulk, I notice 3 main differences between it and the Narex ones:

1. For whatever reason I'm about 50% faster with the pigsticker even when all else (wood, mallet, starting sharpness) is held constant. I think that some of this comes down to the fact that I rapidly figured out that I could take more aggressive cuts without rolling the edge over (see 3 below), and part comes down to stiffness and impact transmission.
2. They're more accurate, at least for me. The Narex chisels are tapered both in profile (~1 deg/side or so) and along their length (~0.25 deg/side), while the Ray Iles is only tapered in profile. This means that the sides of the Narex ones aren't a reliable reference for vertical, and will allow the cut to change direction a bit if you're not careful. It also presents some issues when levering material out. Admittedly we're not talking about a whole lot of taper here, but even so I can see it reflected in my results when I check accuracy with a square (I use the Vesper double square with a thin blade to check mortise sides). It took a little bit of practice to *not* correct for the tapered side edge though.
3. The edge lasts longer in the Ray Iles chisel, and when it fails it doesn't require as much material to be removed as the Narex chisels do to get back to a clean edge.

Some random notes about the construction and materials in the Ray Iles chisel:

1. The D2 steel works surprisingly well in this application. Because it contains a lot of chromium carbides I sharpened it using diamond media (plates/pastes for back, lapping film for bevel) in the hopes that I could sharpen the carbides in situ instead of just knocking them out. It seemed to work - I wouldn't describe the edge as terrific, but it was better than I've seen from D2 in the past (admittedly honed with waterstones in previous instances) and more than good enough for chopping. The edge life was extremely good given the pounding it took, and noticeably better than the "Cr-Mn" steel in the Narex chisels
2. The pigsticker is TALL in cross-section, at just under 1/2" at the top of the primary bevel, and just over 3/4" at the bolster. The only honing guide I have that works with it is the old Veritas Mk I top-clamp guide. The slightly tapered sides foil side-clamp guides, and the chisel is so tall that it contacts the roller in the Veritas Mk II guide.
3. The blade geometry is accurate as-shipped, with very slight lengthwise concavity and crosswise convexity in the face, and moderate crosswise convexity in the bevel. None of those matters much for a mortise chisel, but my OCD compelled me to flatten the first couple inches of the face and the entire primary bevel. Doing so took ~10 min.

The bottom line is that while the Narex chisels are unbeatable for the price, you do get what you pay for in this instance. Don't be surprised if a full set of Narex mortise chisels appear in the classified before long.

[ken hatch]

Patrick,

Welcome to the club. Over the years I've tried most ways and types of chisels for chopping mortises and for one off work nothing beats a good English style pig sticker. With the cost of vintage pig stickers, the Ray Iles are a no brainer.

ken

[Patrick Chase]

Patrick,

Welcome to the club. Over the years I've tried most ways and types of chisels for chopping mortises and for one off work nothing beats a good English style pig sticker. With the cost of vintage pig stickers, the Ray Iles are a no brainer.

ken

Yeah, I see that now. I think the Narex chisels are a decent "value" option as they have a similar blade configuration [*]. I'd take them over a registered sash mortise chisel a la L-N, but as you say there's no comparison to the real deal.

[*] Other than the lengthwise taper, which I've always found sort of baffling. It's sort of like investing in CNC stitching machines for your new line of rasps, and then using them to create perfectly uniform tooth patterns. Oh wait, they did that too...

[Jim Ritter]

Patrick I just sent you a PM.
Jim

[Frederick Skelly]

Good review Patrick. Thanks!
Fred

[Charles Bjorgen]

Thanks for the review, Patrick. Last year I picked up a couple vintage "pigsticker"type chisels off the bay and planned to reshape them in the Ray Iles style. Was advised not to use a hollow grind by other forum members so will probably use a power belt sander. I was not aware of the profile tapering so I will check to see if these old-timers have that.

[Pat Barry]

Hey Patrick, what material were you chopping those mortices in? How long, how deep? It sounds like these chisels are pretty substantial in construction? Is the Ray Iles 'ferrule' solid to the main chisel iron or just a separate decorative piece? Any idea of the tang dimensions inside the handle?

[lowell holmes]

Comparing a Narex pig sticker to a Ray Iles pigsticker is like comparing a Volkswagon to a Sherman Tank.
Pat, I'm not Patrick, but I will answer your question. The ferrule is solid to the main chisel.

Holding the Ray Iles pigsticker is a pleasant experience. You realize that you have a substantial tool in your hand. Also, the fit and finish of the chisel is absolutely superb.

[Patrick Chase]

Hey Patrick, what material were you chopping those mortices in? How long, how deep? It sounds like these chisels are pretty substantial in construction? Is the Ray Iles 'ferrule' solid to the main chisel iron or just a separate decorative piece? Any idea of the tang dimensions inside the handle?

I chopped some maple I had lying around, about 3" long and 1.5" deep. They're VERY substantial.

The Ray Iles chisels don't have ferrules on either end. The ferrule at the base of a handle prevents a smaller bolster (one that isn't as wide as the handle) from being driven into the base of the handle and thereby splitting it. The Ray Iles chisel has a full-size bolster (as wide as the handle) that is integral with the blade. Because it supports the entire base of the handle the bolster only applies vertical loads to the handle during chopping, so there's no need for a ferrule to prevent splitting.

A ferrule at the top of the handle prevents splitting due to mallet impacts. In that case the pigstickers appear to rely on sheer mass.

I don't know about the tang configuration, but if it's like everything else about these chisels it's massive.

[Patrick Chase]

Thanks for the review, Patrick. Last year I picked up a couple vintage "pigsticker"type chisels off the bay and planned to reshape them in the Ray Iles style. Was advised not to use a hollow grind by other forum members so will probably use a power belt sander. I was not aware of the profile tapering so I will check to see if these old-timers have that.

Yep, I leave the bevels on most tools hollow-ground, but not mortise chisels. If you use the "inside-out V-cut" technique like I do then you then that face must slide against the newly cut surface, and that doesn't work very well if it isn't flat. If you use the "layered" technique then it doesn't matter, but if you're going to do that then you don't really need a pigsticker to begin with.

Note that I said "leave the bevels hollow ground". If I'm doing something that requires bulk removal (for example changing the primary bevel of a Narex from 25 to 20 :-) then I often use a bench grinder to do the bulk of the removal (usually in multiple passes such that I end up with a series of 2-3 scallops that each bottom out along the desired final face) and then finish on diamond discs or belt sander. Doing it that way is efficient but requires careful mark-out and grinding.

[Tom Vanzant]

Patrick/Ken, I'm still in the Narex phase. The few mortises that I make are in walnut, cherry, or yellow pine, so the Narexes work fine. OTOH, I don't know any better...

[Niels Cosman]

I love my Iles pigstickers. I have most of them from the svelte 1/8" to the beefest vampire-slaying 1/2".
They are perfect for what they do.
One thing that I did notice on two of them was that the edge did not hold up very well until I resharpened it 2-3 times. The first sharpenings wouldn't last a single mortise in maple or ash. After that I have had no problems and I've been happy as a clam.
I suspect this could have been some tempering variation from the factory grind and/or my bevel angle increased as I sharpened it.
I sharpen them free-hand or with my Kell jig (which is perfect for the shape of these blades. When I bought the first couple directly from Joel in Brooklyn. I asked about the "ideal" secondary bevel, and he said "whatever" almost anything will work. So I haven't sweated maintaining a super precise angle as long as the edges are wicked shaaap.

[ken hatch]

Patrick/Ken, I'm still in the Narex phase. The few mortises that I make are in walnut, cherry, or yellow pine, so the Narexes work fine. OTOH, I don't know any better...

Tom,

Pick the chisel you use most....Buy that one. The others will soon follow .

ken

[Patrick Chase]

Tom,

Pick the chisel you use most....Buy that one. The others will soon follow .

ken

Me last week: "I'll just buy the 5/16" one"

Me this week: "If I order the rest will you give me the set discount?" (for the record the answer was "yes").

[Keith Mathewson]

The Ray Iles chisels have a long primary bevel which is good for deep mortises but not for shallow ones, the fulcrum for levering is too high and leads to bruising of the mortise. The handles can split if one is overly aggressive, I've broken 2. Not something to be proud of but after 4 or 5 hours of chopping mortises I tend to hit harder than I should. The good news is that Bob Scott in Boston can make replacements.