Stan, how do you sharpen the sokozari, and for its purpose, how sharp does it need to be?
It must be sharp enough so that CERN calls you when they need atoms split...
How do you sharpen it? That has been well covered here on The Creek...
One of the things that concerned me when I first saw this post is the condition of the chisel face. It looks like it has had a lot of abuse. Here is a picture of one of my Narex chisels. Granted, it has not had much use, but this is what a new one looks like. The one in the OP's picture does not even look like it was made and machined to the quality that comes from Narex.
Narex chisel.jpg
I recently got a sokozari and can recommend it as being extremely useful for cleaning up mortises. It can flatten the bottom of a mortise, but is also useful for scraping out those stubborn bits of wood that hang in the corners. It saves the edges on your bench/mortise chisels.
I just sharpen it freehand, like it's a tiny router plane blade.
Not aware that John or anyone has addressed how to sharpen a sokozarai chisel on SMC. How many besides Brian even own one?
It does not need to be very sharp. Indeed, the steep bevel angle of cutting edge prevents it from getting ultra-sharp. The one in the picture is a common size, but they come longer/wider and shorter/smaller too.
The end-user usually modifies it for his purposes. For instance, for making shoji screen and doors with lots of small mortises, the cutting edge is typically ground down to a nub, and the bevel angle decreased until the cutting edge is quite sharp. But for most mortises, that degree of customization is not necessary.
The bottom of the foot is where most of the sharpening effort is focused, since the bevel is difficult to stone. I think the pics below will explain how it is done.
I have had this Koyamaichi (as I believe) sokozarai for several years.Not aware that John or anyone has addressed how to sharpen a sokozarai chisel on SMC. How many besides Brian even own one?
I was a bit taken aback that it came with a hoop (since removed).
Regards from Perth
Derek
You can absolutely mortise with a bench chisel (35*). Paul Sellers does it ALL THE TIME: https://youtu.be/q_NXq7_TILA
He also uses a paint can opener ($1?) to excavate waste.
So you know: you can still damage a narrower Narex mortise chisel if you twist it while it is buried in the wood. I have seen that happen more than once.
Simon
Uh.. I think the edge might have rolled when I hammered it...
Mortising should not be done with a bench chisel in my opinion. A bench chisel doesn’t self jig like a Mortise chisel does and will likely cause the user to make mortises that need to be fixed.
Its great to keep a minimal tool kit but opting out of Mortise chisels is not the best way to achieve that.
Mortising is not easy to learn, it took me a number of years working by myself and cutting mortises by hand to Mortise with consistency and confidence. I do not think it does any service to anyone to advocate the wrong tools for the job, just makes the trying a few months or years longer.