Mortise Chisels

[Sean Troy]

Should I be lubricating the chisels at all? thanks, sean

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Sean, I don't lubricate mine.....but I do use a cone diamond hone on the interior edges and a flat diamond hone on the outside edges. I want it sharp! In the morning I will finish laying out some mortises. These evening my eyes were tired so I didn't do the layout work but I did hone my 1/4" mortise chisel.....inside and out.

[Mike Henderson]

Are these hand tools, such as pigstickers, or chisels used in a mortising machine?

Mike

[John Coloccia]

Should I be lubricating the chisels at all? thanks, sean

A bit of paraffin wax never hurts. It can be bought at the local craft stores in a brick that will last a lifetime.

[Sean Troy]

They are for a mortise machine. They seem a little noisy.

[Russell Sansom]

I've tried paraffin on many occasions with great expectations. Unfortunately, it tends to smoke, burn, and leave a mess. Plus, I've had paraffin jam the bit. From my repeated attempts, I think it's a losing battle by a long way.

I think it's best to keep an eye on the temperature and pull the bit out for a cooling session whenever necessary. Compressed air helps considerably ( and takes care of that pesky drill shavings constantly clogging up the works thing), but I find it too inconvenient to bother with most of the time. A dedicated little copper air line and a quick-fitting would be a dandy way to go.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I can tell the difference when I use camellia oil on the outside of the chisels. I have one of those little wick-dispenser-bottle thingies, and swipe the sides every so often. Seems to go in smoother, and definitely reduces the friction when retracting. My PM719 uses a face clamp, not a hold-down clamp, so the extraction friction makes a big difference.

And, of course - Ken is dead on re: sharp. SHARP, not sharp.

[Steve Griffin]

I spray mine with Dri-Cote if noisy.

-Steve

[Neil Brooks]

Li'l beeswax on the drill bit doesn't hurt, either.

But ... aside from the proper gap ... sharpened and lapped is about the best improvement I've seen.

Re: the gap:

According to one test, a gap the thickness of a nickel—roughly 0.072” thick—results in operating temperatures roughly 40 or 50 degrees higher than if you increase that gap to 0.117” (the gap provided by the built-in spacer, on the Powermatic PM701 mortiser, used in their testing.

I have a 0.125” gage block that I will NOW use to set the gap between bit and chisel.

[Sean Troy]

These chisels are Delta and came with the machine. What are some of the after market quality brands? I do have compressed air right at the station and use it about every two pulls of the handle to keep the mortise clear. thanks all, Sean

[Neil Brooks]

Delta chisels shouldn't be bad, if properly honed and lapped.

If you haven't tried that, I wouldn't spend another penny, until I had.

To get materially better chisels is NOT a cheap proposition. Lee Valley and Clico come to mind, but .... we ain't talking about nickels and dimes, and ... the same suggestion -- honing and lapping -- would apply to them, too :)

[Sean Troy]

Could someone direct me to the correct honing and lapping tools? thank you, Sean

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I just set up my GI mortiser. I have the original chisels from Woodcraft that I bought when I bought the machine. Yesterday in preparation for today I used a cone diamond hone on the inside and a flat diamond home on the outside. I just cut 1/4" mortises in oak with ease. No lubrication. Proper sharpening is the most critical thing for good operation IMHO.

[Howard Acheson]

Rockler or some other woodworking store should have tapered grinding bits that fit into a hand drill or floor drill bit. These are used to hone the inside of the bits. As important--and maybe most important-- is to hone the four outside surfaces of the chisels. Use the same stones or sandpaper as you use to hone your plane and hand chisels. When they are polished to a mirror finish the chisels will much more easily enter the wood.

[Neil Brooks]

Sean,

A step-by-step can be found here:

http:[slash slash]sandal-woodsblog[dot com]/2010/02/04/preparing-a-hollow-mortise-chisel/

[russell lusthaus]

I use WD-40 to lubricate when my bits start to make noise. Works fine for me.

[Paul Canaris]

I touch a parafin block to the chisel when it is hot about every fourth cut and it helps quite a bit.

[Dave Cav]

Could someone direct me to the correct honing and lapping tools? thank you, Sean

Lee Valley Tools sells them in the same section as their hollow mortise chisels.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Rockler sells the sharpeners, cone-shaped diamond hones and regular diamond hones.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11153

Here's the flat hone I use...:
http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/store/Sharpening___Honing___Big_Diamond_Honing_Stone___b ig_diamond_honing?Args=

Here's the sharpener I use: http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2001840/616/Mortise-Chisel-Sharpening-KIt.aspx

Good luck!

[Sean Troy]

You've all been very helpful. thank you very much. I'll now have and keep sharp chisels. thanks, Sean

[Thomas L. Miller]

I'm in the process of building a Benchcrafted Roubo Bench. I have a Powermatic 719 mortiser. I just finished all the mortises for the legs using a 1/2 inch chisel/bit for all of them. It was purchased from Woodcraft and it cost about $13.00. the first thing I did was hone the outsides up to my 16000 Shapton stones. I then used the cheap WoodRiver sharpening kit for the chisel insides. The bit worked great. No burning, no sticking and the mortises were perpendicular with smooth walls and square corners. Sharp is a good investment!
By the way, the mortises were all 2 inches deep with one through mortise through a leg that is 3 1/2 inches thick.
Hope this helps,
Topm

[Joe Angrisani]

.....Proper sharpening is the most critical thing for good operation.....

Proper sharpening is the most critical thing in woodworking, period, if you ask me. :)

I once heard a guy say he used WD40 on his bench chisels when they got dull. Apparently it's an alternative to keeping them sharp, and allows razor-thin shavings without needing the razor part. Bet that WD40 did wonders when he got to the finishing stage. Probably fixed loose, squeaky belts on his car with it, too. :D

[Steve Griffin]

Proper sharpening is the most critical thing in woodworking, period, if you ask me. :)

I once heard a guy say he used WD40 on his bench chisels when they got dull. Apparently it's an alternative to keeping them sharp, and allows razor-thin shavings without needing the razor part. Bet that WD40 did wonders when he got to the finishing stage. Probably fixed loose, squeaky belts on his car with it, too. :D

I know you are being tongue and cheek, but hopefully no one does this. WD40 has messed up more machines than anything else--besides being more solvent than lubricant, it literally gums up the works as one of the most amazing sawdust and dirt attractants known to man. I suppose there is some use for the stuff somewhere in the shop, but not on mortise chisels.

-Steve