Cheap Mortise chisel?

[steven c newman]

Since I work with mainly reclaimed pine and such, and chop a LOT of mortises by hand, I have basically worn out the 1/4", AND 5/16" chisels in the shop. Not much of a loss, older, made in China, chisels. I stopped in Lowes the other day, and picked up a Stanley "Fat Max" 1/4" chisel. Ineed to find the "right" angle to put on the blade. I plan on smacking this chisel around, so the tang goes all the way through the handle and ends in a steel cap. $8 for this little guy, with a BIG handle on it. Should keep my hands from getting smacked as well. Any ideas? Yes, I COULD have spent some $$$ on a "real" mortise chisel, but things just don't work out that way around my little shop. :eek:

[Derek Gilmer]

Leevalley has narex czech edge mortise chisels for around $15 each. All the reviews I've seen so far have been very positive. I'm planning on ordering a few soon.

http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?cat=1&p=66737

[David Keller NC]

The difficulty with the Fat Max chisels, at least the ones that I had for doing everyday, around-the-house stuff that I didn't want to use my good woodshop chisels on, was that they were too soft - way too soft. If your chisel is anything like the ones that I had, I would put a 35 degree bevel on it overall, with a 10 degree micro-bevel on the end. With a 45 degree effective cutting angle, it'll be useless as a paring or dovetail chisel, but the edge stands a better chance of staying together when used as a mortise chisel.

If at some point you decide you wish to spend more, I would recommend the Ray Ilses moritse chisels from Tools for Working Wood. Yes, they're pricey, but they're made out of D2 steel, which is unbelievably hard and tough. That means that you need to sharpen it far less than inexpensive tool steels, and as a result, the chisels will last far longer.

[steven c newman]

So, a nice steep angle works best? As for the "Made in China" ones this will replace, I've gotten about 20+ years use out of them. They are about an inch shorter now, than when they were new, so all that grinding new edges may have softened them up. When there is some work done in this shop, it is on the nature of one or two weekends a month, when it is warm outside ( no heat), so not a lot of work getsdone otherwise. However, when the shop is being used, it's all day long, all the weekend. I'll see what angle is on this "new" chisel, and re-grind as needed. Back is nice and flat, though. PS: Chisel was made in England......

[James Owen]

I have to second David's vote for the Ray Iles mortise chisels. They are properly made (geometry, heat treatment, etc), and because they're D2, hold an edge FOREVER.... You won't regret having a couple in your tool set.

[Harry Goodwin]

I have several varieties of chisels and have no probem with my yellow Stanleys. Most fat max stuff I have liked. I view some of my better chisels as a pain due to their hardness or being brittle. so it like most thing in the eye of the beholder. in actual use my Narex are greater part of the chisel stable. Harry

[John Coloccia]

I generally would recommend either a pig sticker like the one mentioned, or drill out the waste and pare with whatever you have or just bought. This is a fine technique. You can use a piece of wood as a guide block to keep everything flat and straight. I'm really not sure why this doesn't get more mention. I jut happen to think that those are the two easiest ways of doing it by hand.

[steven c newman]

I have drilled out the waste on some things, but, when the grain makes a drill bit "slide" off target, leads to a larger than needed mortise. Since most of what I work with is just old Pine, and a shoe-string budget, one tends to simplify thingd a bit. Anymore, I just mark out the sides and ends of a mortise, and start to chopping it out. The last table I built had 16 mortises to chop out. I think it took about 45 minutes of laying them out, chopping them out, fitting the tenons, and any other clean up. All by hand, mind you. Just that that "old" chisel started to bend a bit. Stopping to straighten the bloody thing back out added a few minutes to the job. Fat Max is about twice as thick, maybe it won't bend.

[Terry Beadle]

One comment: It concerns me that you are hitting the chisel hard enough to bend it. This shouldn't be the case even with the cheapest chisel. The chisel should be sharp, very sharp but no diamond paste required. If you can get your hands on David Charlesworth's video on using chisels for precision jointery, you'll see him use a firm lite tap. No bigger hammer techniques. Old pine can have some challenges, especially if it's old growth from a barn that's been heat treated in the Alabama sun.

Perhaps you are going for production and not perfection but I still think a less aggressive technique will give consistant results...even given pine's unpredictable nature.

[steven c newman]

One comment: It concerns me that you are hitting the chisel hard enough to bend it. This shouldn't be the case even with the cheapest chisel. The chisel should be sharp, very sharp but no diamond paste required. If you can get your hands on David Charlesworth's video on using chisels for precision jointery, you'll see him use a firm lite tap. No bigger hammer techniques. Old pine can have some challenges, especially if it's old growth from a barn that's been heat treated in the Alabama sun.

Perhaps you are going for production and not perfection but I still think a less aggressive technique will give consistant results...even given pine's unpredictable nature.

The bending comes from the prying out of chips in the mortises. Hammer is a brass mallet. I hit the chisel four times per cut, after going the length of the mortise, I clean out the chips. Some chips take a little more prying than others. Chisels are kept sharp, even a touch up as needed as I go. Not really taking "big" bites, just about like what one does cutting hinge mortises. Most of the mortises are about 1/2-3/4" deep, not too deep.

[Terry Beadle]

Mr. Newman, I'm relieved ! Bending from prying...bummer. That must be a low quality steel for sure.

Have you looked at using a japanese bottom cleaning chisel? They cost about $20 but then you wouldn't have to use your cheap chisel to bend the chips out.

Another trick I've seen on some older chisels is the top of the bevel side has been rounded so as to pivot smoother during prying. I see this mainly on the pig stickers from England.

[steven c newman]

I gave up prying with a chisel, after that chisel bent. I have an old flat bladed screwdriver to do any prying now. Of course, IF the chisel was bent the right way, it MIGHt make a bottom cleaning tool. I also have a 1" wide chisel ( from the same set) that hasn't shown any bending. Very sharp, easy to use as a paring chisel. Different steel in the same set?