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Thread: Mortise Chisel ERGONOMICS

  1. #16
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    If the issue at hand when you need to chop a mortise is not having a proper size chisel for the mortise your making, you grab a bevel edge chisel and chop it.

    If being fashionable with the proper chisel, it's another story. We all like having the proper chisel, but in reality you can chop mortises with bevel edge chisels if need be.

    I love my Ray Iles and Lie Nielsen chisels, but I didn't have mortise chisels for years after starting to chop mortises. Practice chopping mortises using the Maynard method using Blue Chips.

  2. #17
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    I am going to go the opposite direction just to make your decision a little more difficult. I personally love my LN mortise chisels. I gravitate towards these over my RI pig stickers or my Hirsch mortising chisels. For the size of work I typically do I much prefer the dainty size of the LN's. I also really enjoy the square sides which I find helps keep my mortise sides crisp and square and have never had the problem of getting a chisel stuck in the work. I can really blaze through a mortise with these chisels contrary to what one might think with these. I pound extremely hard on these handles and have barely made a tiny dent on these hornbeam handles so there is absolutely no issue with their strength

    Having said all this I also really like my RI pig stickers and you won't go wrong here. They are a just very large. No matter what brand of these higher end chisels you choose I think you'll be plenty happy and will learn to love them.

  3. #18
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    i have a 1/2" hirsh that is a brute, very different from the chisels you mention. you can wail away at it,all day long, no problem. i like the big handle, comfortable to hold for the long haul. keith

  4. #19
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    Just for fun, download "Mortise by Hand" from Popular Woodworking and then read "The Maynard Technique".

    Then chop some mortises using Paul Sellers method with a bevel edge chisel.

    You will be surprised.

  5. #20
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    Thanks everyone. Lowell, I have read all of those articles and feel comfortable with chipping a mortise. I am just looking for more comfort.

  6. #21
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    Prashun,

    I did not have you in mind when I made the post. I was thinking some of the readers probably had never seen the article and when I read it some years ago, it really stuck with me.

  7. #22
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    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    Easiest way to find out what fits YOUR hands? Go out and buy some "Play Do" and mold it to fit your grip. Use that as a pattern for your handles.

  8. #23
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    I have a question about English style mortise chisels. Don't these pig-stickers have tapered sides? It appears they are more suited for blasting out big, deep mortises, not for making perfectly square sides. Is this true and does it make a difference in the finish quality of the mortise side walls? That is, do these require clean up paring?

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    I have a question about English style mortise chisels. Don't these pig-stickers have tapered sides? It appears they are more suited for blasting out big, deep mortises, not for making perfectly square sides. Is this true and does it make a difference in the finish quality of the mortise side walls? That is, do these require clean up paring?
    The taper is full width on the side away from the bevel. As the chisel is driven into the work, the bevel drives it toward this side breaking out the waste to the full width of the chisel.

    As to finish quality of the side walls, mine are usually pretty good. Once the joint is assembled nobody will see it anyway. If a perfectly smooth side is wanted for the mortise then a paring chisel and a few strokes will have it looking fine.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  10. #25
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    Mar 2007
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    Kingston, ON, Canada
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    I've a set of Veritas mortiser chisels and find them excellent in most regards... except for the same issue I have with every chisel I own: that the handle is a bit large for my small hands. Simple to correct; rework the original handles and voila, the fix is done.

    The Veritas pig-stickers are excellent both in terms of quality and value, especially in PM-V11.
    Marty Schlosser
    Kingston, ON, Canada
    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apexwoodworks/
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  11. #26
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    When I bought my Ray Iles Pigstickers, I bought 3 of them, 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2. I have a Narex 1/8" pigsticker as well.

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    I have a question about English style mortise chisels. Don't these pig-stickers have tapered sides? It appears they are more suited for blasting out big, deep mortises, not for making perfectly square sides. Is this true and does it make a difference in the finish quality of the mortise side walls? That is, do these require clean up paring?
    English pigstickers like the RIs are tapered from back->top, as are the Veritas chisels. They're both constant-width from tip->bolster. The amount of taper is ~1 deg, so the change in width due to rotation is insignificant at 0.015%. They can both cut straight, uniform mortises.

    The Narex chisels are another matter, as those are tapered from tip->bolster as well. It takes a little more care to cut a straight mortise with those.
    Last edited by Patrick Chase; 10-18-2016 at 9:17 PM.

  13. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by Prashun Patel View Post
    I have a question about English style mortise chisels. Don't these pig-stickers have tapered sides? It appears they are more suited for blasting out big, deep mortises, not for making perfectly square sides. Is this true and does it make a difference in the finish quality of the mortise side walls? That is, do these require clean up paring?
    We could argue about the heavy English joiner's mortise chisels, and about various tapers, but if you are not getting a nice clean mortise right off the chisel something is very wrong. As Patrick suggests a small taper has not much affect on mortise quality.

    When using a mortise chisel, it is finesse and technique that result in speed. "Blasting", "bashing","abuse" etc, are counterproductive.

  14. #29
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    Thanks guys. Thanks, Warren. I think that's the light slap in the face I need.

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