Mortising chisels

[James Mittlefehldt]

I use the NArex bevel edge bench chisels from Leeer VAlley and I am happy with those I have not seen mortise chisels from them though.

To the original poster Lee Valley sells Hirsch mortise chisels, I have three of them and I am happy with them. You should be able to mail order them in the states.

[Will Brauneis]

I was in your position about a year ago when i first started my hand tool collection and i was on a tight budget too. The guys here recommended i get the Ray Iles mortise chisels sold by toolsforwoodworking.com. They are a little pricey 67$ for a 1/4" but i checked the couch cushions and scraped together enough for one. In my opinion they are outstanding! The D-3 steel holds an edge forever and they are built heck for stout. No matter what chisel you get i would definitely buy the best you can because they will last a lifetime.
I would also recommend checking ebay you should be able to get some for cheep but they might take a bit of work to get them back to working shape. If you do a lot of heavy mortising i would recommend the English pig sticker type but if you do shallow mortises i would go with the smaller sash type.

That's my 2 Cents
Good luck on the chisel hunt!

[Tim Sgrazzutti]

Have you tried eBay?? Oval bolstered mortise chisels without handles are pretty common and inexpensive. Derek Cohen has a tutorial on his website on re-handling them. I had good success with this, YMMV.

[Ray Knight]

If budget is a major issue, then absolutely try the Narex mortise chisels as sold at Highland. Metric sizes, well machined, hone to shaving sharpness easily, nice handles, edge seemed to hold up for my brief trial use. and all for $14 - about $18 each. One of the major WW magazines gave narex chisels a good thumbs up. They are Eastern european sourced (Czech if I remember correctly), not Chinese. Ray

[David Keller NC]

Well, let me repose my original question: Does *anybody* out there use new mortise chisels? Or is it that everyone but me knows the secret password to utter at flea markets and antique malls that opens a hidden door to the mortise chisel room?

Marc - I use new mortise chisels. I've a fair number of antiques, but they are mostly superb condition very old (some 18th century) collector's items, and I just don't wish to use them except very lightly simply to assess their design.

So I started with the L-N mortise chisels. Very nice, but the design is, in my opinion, inferior to the traditional British pattern with an oval cross-section handle.

For that reason, I sold my L-N set and bought the Ray Iles from Tools for Working Woods. Yes, they are quite expensive, but they are also superb tools. I polished the backs and honed the bevels when I got them over a year ago, and I've yet to even have to strop them. And I cut all mortises by hand with these chisels.

Since your budget is very tight, I would recommend that you consider the Ray Iles, but simply purchase 1 or 2 for now. Assuming you build furniture-sized objects (rather than smaller projects), I'd get the 3/8" size first, or perhaps the pair consisting of the 1/4" and 3/8". Another option would be to purchase the 1/4" size, and the 1/2" size. The 1/4" can be used for stock widths from 1/2" to 7/8" (you really don't have to use the "1/3 of the width of the stock" rule), and the 1/2" can be used for larger projects like doors, workbenches, etc...

[Byron Black]

I can recommend the Narex chisels. Matthew from Workshop Heaven (A UK tool dealer) has started stocking these, and rates them very highly, as do a number of forum members for a UK forum. They are affordable, and very stout and should do what you need.

[Tony Shea]

As one other person stated above, the Hirsch mortise chisels that you're referring to are available over at the Lee Valley website or through their catolague. I was in the same situation not long ago and ended up going with a 1/4" and 3/8" Hirsch pair. I am not at all disapointed. They hold an edge very well and are really solid and large chisels. The backs were completely flat and needed only a small amount of work to get them in perfect condition. I decided on these as I was also on a budget and heard pretty good things about these. If I had to do over again I would probably make my 1/4" mortise chisel a smallerish type though, maybe the Lie Nielson model. The Hirsch's are just massive.

Having said all that I almost wished that I had saved up for a bit longer and picked up the Ray Isles from TFFW as these are some seriously fine examples of some quality chisels. These are tools that are going to last a lifetime therefore you might as well buy some of the best you can afford. The RI mortisers get amazing reviews and I had the opportunity to handle some of my buddy's. The oval handle is actually a nice feature in lining things up and feels a little more natural in the hand.

Any of the chisels I pointed out would be fine for your purposes and am sure you'll be happy with them all. Just pick the ones that fit your budget and start making some chips.

[Rick Rutten]

I have the Narex bench and mortise chisels. I started with a four chisel bench set because it got good reviews and best buy from PWW. After that I determined I should have few moritse chisels. I did some research and found the Narex to still be a cost effective option for someone just getting their feet wet in the hobby. I don't really know enough to buy used chisels. I got mine through Highland WW. A total of seven chisles for not too much. Thier current mortise chisels are 3 for $40 or you can get them ala carte.

They seem to hold up pretty well. I have bashed up several projects without incident. A light resharpening is all that has been needed so far. If spend more time in the hobby then I can look to upgrade. For someone just getting started they are a resonable investment to help me learn.

Rick

[Greg Portland]

I have the Hirsh mortise chisels (purchased from Lee Valley). One important note is that the sizes are -metric-. Also, these are long, beefy mortising chisels (over a foot long). For regular bench mortising use they may even be too long / unwieldy. However, they are great for pounding out very large mortises.

[Harry Goodwin]

I own the narex set from highland and I think they are great partcularly the cost. Harry

[Don C Peterson]

I glanced through the replies and I too like the vintage chisels for the most part, but when it comes time for mortising, nothing I've tried holds a candle to the Ray Iles English Mortise chisels from tfww. They are on the spendy side of the aisle, but IMO they are worth every penny.

I've had mixed results from ebay on chisels. They tend to get bid up in price to the point you might as well just buy new. I've come across much better finds at estate sales, but more often than not, those are a waste of time too because the good stuff usually goes fast (assuming there's any good stuff to be had). Since you are on a tight budget my advise would be to either save up for one Ray Iles chisel or be patient in your search for vintage chisels.

For mortising you don't need a "set", get a 3/8" and that will do nearly every mortise you need, I rarely grab the 1/4" but it is nice to have for those occasions...