Terry Hatfield
04-04-2010, 5:14 PM
I've been preping to start on the dining table/china cabinet/chairs project this weekend. Sorting lumber and cleaning the shop etc.,.. One thing that I knew was considering that I am going to build 10 dining chairs and of course that are all white oak with a million motises that I needed to get the mortiser ready to go. I ordered some of the Janapese chisels from Lee Valley because I had never been very happy with the stock Delta chisels that I have been using. Even after sharpening and messing with them a bunch, they just didn't perform very well especially in this very hard white oak. Norm makes it look easy. I usually just make a mess. :D
Well, the chisels came a couple of days ago and it didn't take long to see the LV chisles are quite a bit different than the Delta ones. The frist thing I noticed was how the chip ejection slot was milled in the chisel body. The LV is on the bottom of the photo. Much more area for the chips to escape on the LV. Chips wedged inside the chisel body has been a constant issue with the other chisels. The drill bits included in the chisel sets are virtually identical between the LV and the Delta with the exception of the LV being fluted all the way up to the chip ejection hole which I am sure makes a big difference in the performance. Speaking of the drill bits, the LV are too long for my Delta mortiser but cutting them off was a simple procedure. Hacksaw, file, done.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/51138790.jpg
The next thing I noticed was how the inside of the chisel body was machined. The Delta is round on the insiide and the LV is acutally machined square and the sides are very thin compared to the Delta. You can also see that the angle of the grind is much different from the LV to the Delta. LV actually sells sharpening cones that are made for this specific angle as the standard ones won't work with this angle. I bought those as well as I'm sure I'll need to at least touch them up at some point during this process.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/2942388.jpg
Here is my mortising setup...
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/38518488.jpg
I am using the Rockler Dust Right hose attached at the gate that I use for the drum sander with just the regular Dust Right handle on the hose. I simply laid it on the back of the mortiser and turned the chip slot toward the nozzle and it captures nearly every chip. Very cool!!!
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/28095082.jpg
Here are a couple of mortises. Here's just the end of a very long 3/8 mortise that I was making to get that chisel setup properly. Once everything was properly set it was amazing how easy the mortiser made these plunges. The old bits were always a 2 hand operation. The LV's are one hand and very easy compared to the Delta chisels. The mortise is very celan with very little roughness in the side walls.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/87532023.jpg
Here's on in 1/4". Also amazingly little effort to make the plunge and the mortise looks pretty sweet to me anyhow.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/40066809.jpg
All in all I am super pleased with the bits. They are here...
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=53252&cat=1,180,42240,53317
I am looking much more forward to making 10 chairs now that I have these chisels in my mortiser!!!
Thanks for looking. Hope everyone had a great Easter!!!
Terry
Well, the chisels came a couple of days ago and it didn't take long to see the LV chisles are quite a bit different than the Delta ones. The frist thing I noticed was how the chip ejection slot was milled in the chisel body. The LV is on the bottom of the photo. Much more area for the chips to escape on the LV. Chips wedged inside the chisel body has been a constant issue with the other chisels. The drill bits included in the chisel sets are virtually identical between the LV and the Delta with the exception of the LV being fluted all the way up to the chip ejection hole which I am sure makes a big difference in the performance. Speaking of the drill bits, the LV are too long for my Delta mortiser but cutting them off was a simple procedure. Hacksaw, file, done.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/51138790.jpg
The next thing I noticed was how the inside of the chisel body was machined. The Delta is round on the insiide and the LV is acutally machined square and the sides are very thin compared to the Delta. You can also see that the angle of the grind is much different from the LV to the Delta. LV actually sells sharpening cones that are made for this specific angle as the standard ones won't work with this angle. I bought those as well as I'm sure I'll need to at least touch them up at some point during this process.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/2942388.jpg
Here is my mortising setup...
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/38518488.jpg
I am using the Rockler Dust Right hose attached at the gate that I use for the drum sander with just the regular Dust Right handle on the hose. I simply laid it on the back of the mortiser and turned the chip slot toward the nozzle and it captures nearly every chip. Very cool!!!
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/28095082.jpg
Here are a couple of mortises. Here's just the end of a very long 3/8 mortise that I was making to get that chisel setup properly. Once everything was properly set it was amazing how easy the mortiser made these plunges. The old bits were always a 2 hand operation. The LV's are one hand and very easy compared to the Delta chisels. The mortise is very celan with very little roughness in the side walls.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/87532023.jpg
Here's on in 1/4". Also amazingly little effort to make the plunge and the mortise looks pretty sweet to me anyhow.
http://terryhatfield.com/album/4/40066809.jpg
All in all I am super pleased with the bits. They are here...
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=53252&cat=1,180,42240,53317
I am looking much more forward to making 10 chairs now that I have these chisels in my mortiser!!!
Thanks for looking. Hope everyone had a great Easter!!!
Terry