Mortise chisel

[Richard Dooling]

Here's an idea I finally followed through on for squaring up router cut mortises. I'm sure I'm not the only person who ever thought of this but I haven't seen it before. Probably shouldn't whack it too hard - I'm afraid I could split the tip, but it seems to work pretty well if I take it easy.

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[Michael Faurot]

That's brilliant!

I've been wanting a cornel chisel, but just haven't needed one enough to pay $50-$75 for one. For about $10 I can get a mortise chisel from Harbor Freight and then turn my own handle to fit it.

[george wilson]

I do not advise buying CUTTING TOOLS from HF. The cutting edge may bend into a fish hook shape. They do not use steel with a decent amount of carbon in them.

[Frank Drew]

I'll defer to George on the quality of HF tool steel, but in general I've found that it's much easier and quicker to round the tenon corners than to chop the mortises square. YMMV.

[george wilson]

I don't make a lot of furniture,but last year I made a big dining table.I just milled out the mortises in the legs with the milling machine,and chiseled the round corners square. This was in beechwood.I used regular chisels with no need for anything heavier,like a real mortising chisel,since I wasn't chopping the mortises out.

[Richard Dooling]

Actually I kind of just felt like following through on an idea I had. I find just using a mortising or firmer chisel is more than enough to square off a router mortise. Plus this is maybe the eighth time I've turned anything so that was fun. I like the final shape this handle ended up with. Still I made it, so I'll darn sure use it.

Now to see just how much of a beginner I really am, look at my hammer post:eek:.

It's all learning and it's good for me (and therefore my family!) and in the end that's what matters. I can buy furniture and tools - that's not what this is about. It's not about the stuff, it's about . . . something else.

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[Jim Koepke]

It's all learning and it's good for me (and therefore my family!) and in the end that's what matters. I can buy furniture and tools - that's not what this is about. It's not about the stuff, it's about . . . something else.

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Some unknown quantity that keeps us going back to the shop even if the super bowl is on.

jim

[Mike Henderson]

I'll defer to George on the quality of HF tool steel, but in general I've found that it's much easier and quicker to round the tenon corners than to chop the mortises square. YMMV.
I'm with Frank. I round off the tenon rather then try to square the mortise.

Very quick and easy with a chisel. The strength comes from the faces of the tenon and not the ends. And since it's going to be hidden in the mortise, you don't have to make it beautiful.

Mike

[Scott Pearson]

I have done something similar. I wanted to make perfectly square holes for ebony pegs. So I bought a couple of motorized mortise chisels thinking I would buy a powered mortiser someday.

It works very well to define the hole but since I was not removing material with the mortise chisel it would not go very deep, just enough to define the hole. I then cleaned them up with a bench chisel.

Still never have bought a powered mortiser. Good luck using it to clean up and square your mortises.

Scott

[george wilson]

Rounded mortise ends should be fine. I just find it quicker to make the mortise squared up. Round ends might make the mortise less liable to develop cracks if it is near the top end of a table leg or similar.

[Michael Faurot]

Some unknown quantity that keeps us going back to the shop even if the super bowl is on.


Forgot to turn off the lathe? ;)

[Jim Koepke]

Forgot to turn off the lathe? ;)

In that case, the super bowl may have been on the lathe?

jim

[Richard Dooling]

I gave this old thread a bump 'cause while I was drooling over the new skew block plane on the LV site I came across this:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=65380&cat=51&ap=1

Much smarter approach than mine and with a very specific purpose in mind.


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[Will Brauneis]

I like that great idea! I think where that chisel would come in real handy is if you drilled out your mortises. It would take take care of the left over material on both sides and square up the end all in one fell swoop.

[Richard Dooling]

Well that's what I thought but the chisel plugs up too easily. I think LV has the right idea. It's only good for very shallow cuts.

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[Wes Grass]

Plugs up? That's easy to fix. It just needs a chip extraction device inside to keep it clear. Something resembling an Archimedes Screw would probably work ;-)

[Tri Hoang]

Just use the 'real' mortise chisel to square it up but make sure you've the exact size. The square ones are for wimps!:D

It's indeed faster to square the mortise up than to round out the tenons. If you really want to fit a square peg in the round hole then cutting up the corners on the bandsaw may be faster.

[Richard Dooling]

Sadly this tool has languished due to high expectations and poor performance. Rob Lee has shown me the light though, and now I can see using it for very shallow square holes.

Wes I did find that I could clear the chips with a rod, but that added another step and since -surprise- a standard mortise chisel works so well I just told myself to stop channeling Rube Goldberg and get back to work!:D

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[Wes Grass]

If that rod were spring loaded ...