Mortising Chisel/Bits questions

[Peter Hawser]

I have a Steel City bench mortiser. It's okay, but the stock bits/chisels needed a ton of work out of the box and even now cut so so. I'm getting into through mortises and might like a cleaner cut. Does anyone have experience with Lee Valley's bit/chisels? They have the premium bits at about $40 and up each and I have to imagine they are fantastic. I would probably not get the whole set, but if they are a big step up, maybe one or two. They also have more modestly priced bit/chisels, but I'm wondering if those might be similar to what I already have - rough and tons of mill marks.

Also, I know plenty of people clean up mortises with a chisel as do I, but does anybody have experience out there with mortise floats? I have been eyeing Lie Nielsen's and am wondering how those might work.

Finally, is it more than obvious that I am itching to make some kind of shop related purchase?

[Neil Brooks]

Nobody here will ever try to talk you out of a new purchase, but ... you knew that, already :)

If you search the forum, most will probably say that new hollow chisels should be honed and sharpened (cone-type bit, available at the WW stores).

Honing will make a HUGE difference, and is pretty much a must, but ... new LV chisels are simply more fun !

[Randy Dutkiewicz]

+1 with Neil on this one. My "new" chisels could barely slice butter, but after getting the cone sharpeners from LV and honing them, there isn't much they can't slice thru now. It's a matter of night and day when it comes to "out of box sharp" and "user honing".

[Jerome Hanby]

I haven't fired mine up yet (or even taken the Powermatic mortiser out of he box), but I ordered one of the LV premium chisels. Compared to the others that I've handled, it seem to be very high quality. I purchased the 1/2" unit, but I can see getting the rest once I get my mortiser online. From recommendations, I also purchased the cone sharpening jig to get teh chisel sharp and ready for use. That's for the inside, as I understand it, you flatten the outside faces just like you would for any bench chisel.

[Chris Kennedy]

I have a Steel City bench mortiser. It's okay, but the stock bits/chisels needed a ton of work out of the box and even now cut so so. I'm getting into through mortises and might like a cleaner cut. Does anyone have experience with Lee Valley's bit/chisels? They have the premium bits at about $40 and up each and I have to imagine they are fantastic. I would probably not get the whole set, but if they are a big step up, maybe one or two. They also have more modestly priced bit/chisels, but I'm wondering if those might be similar to what I already have - rough and tons of mill marks.

Also, I know plenty of people clean up mortises with a chisel as do I, but does anybody have experience out there with mortise floats? I have been eyeing Lie Nielsen's and am wondering how those might work.

Finally, is it more than obvious that I am itching to make some kind of shop related purchase?

I have the Steel City mortiser as well, and man, those chisels are not good. To be honest, I asked for recommendations and got many "sharpen them" responses. Yeah, no. I have sharpened and honed mine, outside and in, used the cone sharpeners, and they were definitely better than they were out of the box, but not great at all. I really like the look of the LV ones, and I would have bought the one I was in desperate need of, but they were out of stock at the time. I was making a planter, so the joinery was crucial and I just cleaned up the mortises with chisels.

I don't have the LV chisels, but just looking at the geometry of them, they have to better than the stock chisels. Before I get into another major project with it, I am buying the appropriate chisel from LV.

Cheers,

Chris

[Peter Hawser]

Thanks everyone and especially Chris. I agree 100%, they might have done better to not even include those chisels. I spent a lot of time on them too. I think I will order one of the low cost and one of the high cost LV and see what happens. I'll post what I find.

[Steve Bishop]

Does anyone know why Woodworkers Supply offers bits configured for the Steel City (and Delta) Mortise machines?
I don't see where the Steel City manual makes any mention of there bits being any different that the rest.


Steve

[Peter Hawser]

Does anyone know why Woodworkers Supply offers bits configured for the Steel City (and Delta) Mortise machines?
I don't see where the Steel City manual makes any mention of there bits being any different that the rest.


Oh, now I am worried... I knew I should have bought that beautiful floor stander when I had the chance!

[Steve Bishop]

The Lee Valley instructions on the Premium Hollow Mortise Chisels has a section on shortening the drill shank.
Could it be that simple?
I hope so.

Sent an email to Woodworker Supply asking about the difference, maybe they will shed some light.

Steve

[Chris Kennedy]

The Lee Valley instructions on the Premium Hollow Mortise Chisels has a section on shortening the drill shank.
Could it be that simple?
I hope so.

Sent an email to Woodworker Supply asking about the difference, maybe they will shed some light.

Steve

I doubt it. I should go back to the LV site and check, but working from memory, they were giving instructions to make certain that the clearance between the bit and the chisel were appropriate. I could definitely get the clearance between the bit and the chisel exactly as described in the manual using the Steel City stock chisels. I could be wrong-- as I said, I am working from memory.

Cheers,

Chris

[Ryan Baker]

There are definitely different sizes. I have an older set of Delta chisels that do not fit properly in my Jet mortiser. I can't remember off the top of my head what the difference was -- I think it was about the length of the drill bit. The delta bit was too short, I think it was. You should check before you buy.

I haven't used the Lee Valley bits, but they certainly won't be bad. If the Steel City ones are awful, get one of the LVs and see whether you think it is worth getting any more. SC probably is using junk steel to keep costs down.

[Cary Falk]

I have the Steel City moticer and these:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11153&filter=cone%20sharpner

I don't have any problems, I must be doing something wrong.

[Peter Hawser]

I have the Steel City moticer and these:
http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=11153&filter=cone sharpner

I don't have any problems, I must be doing something wrong.

Yes, either those or the LV Cones for a few bucks less are worth having no matter what chisels. Cary, are you saying your SC bits didn't come with awful mill marks and dull as a late night infomerical? :)

[Cary Falk]

Yes, either those or the LV Cones for a few bucks less are worth having no matter what chisels. Cary, are you saying your SC bits didn't come with awful mill marks and dull as a late night infomerical? :)

I had to sharpen mine but I don't think the bits are horrible.

[Larry Edgerton]

I use Clico and Fische brands. Both old names and good chisels.

They are chisels, so they of course need to be sharpened. Another thing I do that really improves the performance is to spend some time at the buffing wheel working on the drill bit polishing the {forgot the proper name} gullets that carry away the chips.

Larry

[Steve Bishop]

In the Lee Valley set they state the drill bits are between 8-3/4" and 11" overall.
I just measured my 1/4" Steel City drill bit and its 6 1/4" long.
I'm beginning to think the difference is just the drill bit length. I hope :confused:

Steve

[Dean Karavite]

I have been lurking here. I guess lots of people have the Steel City mortiser including me. I wrote LV and they said the maximum shank diameter of the Steel City is 5/8" so with their premium bits and the ones that are 3/4" and larger all have 3/4" shanks, so you would only be able to use their 5/8" chisels and smaller. I have to agree with that the stock chisels are pretty bad and needed way more attention than I expected. I haven't used it enough to know if all my time at the stones will last, but I doubt they will hold an edge for long. I wouldn't mind being wrong.

[Ken Platt]

I bought a set of the LV premium chisels, and they came sharp as anything, right out of the box. Really scarily sharp. The length of the drill bit part is very long and I'd imagine for most will need to be shortened, but it's just a question of cutting off an inch or so, and I did a few minutes of work with the grinder to smooth the edges of the cut. I can't speak to how much difference there is with the lower price LV bits, but LV premium bits are up to their usual (high) quality, bite the bullet and don't look back is my advice.

Ken