Narex Mortise Chisels

[Jim Foster]

I do not have any mortise chisels and I am thinking about getting a Narex Mortise chisel as an inexpensive way to introduce myself to mortising by hand. Does anyone have experience with the Narex Mortise chisel? I was going to get the 1/4". I know I can buy some great ones from Ray Iles or LN, but for now I wanted to get several for as little investment as possible that are serviceable.

Also, I have a 10" grinding wheel. Would a hollow grind with a 10" wheel be acceptable for a mortise chisel? Or is it critical to have a flat bevel?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I really like my Narex mortise chisel. It's not a RI or LN, but it's darn nice for the money. It's akin to a traditional "pigsticker", in that's it's trapezoidal in cross section, and get's really thick by the handle end. Really thick. These aren't sash mortise chisels. The sort of oval handle does help you feel the angle of it, too.

I think a 10" hollow grind would probably be okay - I had to grind out a nick and went with a six inch wheel and it's been alright, but the traditional way to sharpen these things (as far as I've been told) is with a shallow primary bevel (I think the Narex come at 20 or 25 degrees - and this makes a really long bevel, given how thick these are) the shallow bevel lets the chisel penetrate pretty deeply as you drive it in. Then you do a secondary bevel with a fairly steep angle - I've been using something a hair less than 35 - (I don't know for sure - I've been freehanding them lately) this gives the edge some toughness, so it doesn't break down as you drive it into the wood with some force, or if you make any prying with it.

So the point of this is you probably won't need to put these on a grinding wheel for a while, until the secondary gets pretty large.

I'd almost prefer a flat grind on these, however, as it makes the levering action (which I probably do more than I should at times) a little easier.

[Jerome Hanby]

I've got the Narex Mortise chisels. Ordered them from LV when they first put them online. I actually used the 1/4" one right of the box for some light clean up at the bottom of a mortise and it worked pretty well. I sharpen mine on my WS3000 and they are sharp as blazes. I'm not chopping out mortises with them on a regular basis, so I can't say how well they would hold up in that environment, but so far I like mine fine.

Only thing I'm not totally p[leased with is the finish on the handles. It's not as "nice" as the finish on the Narex bench chisels that I have. On the other hand, these are tools you strike with a mallet, so the finish is really a minor concern.

[Andrew Teich]

I have the ones from Highland so they are metric but they seem just fine. I've only chopped 2 mortises so far in 2x6's and they needed resharpening as the edge was ragged. You can also remove the size and brand information from the blade with lacquer thinner. Here is a video from Highland and Shannon Rogers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoPBFPBW_3A

[Roy Lindberry]

I do not have any mortise chisels and I am thinking about getting a Narex Mortise chisel as an inexpensive way to introduce myself to mortising by hand. Does anyone have experience with the Narex Mortise chisel? I was going to get the 1/4". I know I can buy some great ones from Ray Iles or LN, but for now I wanted to get several for as little investment as possible that are serviceable.

I have the metric set of Narex Mortise Chisels and have been happy so far. That said, I've only chopped about four mortises with them - and I don't have any hand chopping experience before this to compare to. But I'm pretty happy at this point.


Also, I have a 10" grinding wheel. Would a hollow grind with a 10" wheel be acceptable for a mortise chisel? Or is it critical to have a flat bevel?

Again, I'm not an expert. But from what I've read, and my little experience, I'd say that you don't even want a hollow grind on mortise chisels. The hollow grind leaves less material at the edge and increases the chance of breakage when levering out waste. Instead, just hone a micro bevel on the edge and start chopping. Many old mortise chisels actually show a convex "grind" on the edge because it both strengthens the edge and helps the mechanics of levering out waste. At least, that's what I've read.

[Shaun Mahood]

I've got one (3/8") that I've used quite a bit - I've busted up the back end but I'm not sure if that's normal or from sloppy mallet work. I figure I've used it for about 4 - 8 hours (hammering and chopping with the same chisel, all on ash) and it's been great at holding an edge. Although it's the only mortise chisel I've ever used, it's worth the $10 many times as far as I'm concerned.

[Ryan Mooney]

Pretty happy with them here as well. I bought the set from LV when they first came out and have used only two of them so buying as needed probably would have been smarter :rolleyes: I did find that they both held better after grinding back from the edge a smidge and increasing the angle at the tip slightly. I've cut about 40 small mortises with the 3/8 in lyptus which is a moderately unfriendly wood and after the initial break in it held an edge pretty well with only a light touch up at the end of each mortise.

No problems with the end yet (knock wood), although I use a fairly soft plastic mallet most of the time (yeah so sue me, I like the way it lands.. now if only it wasn't falling apart..).

For the price they're pretty hard to beat imho.. Yes I'm sure Ray Iles and LN are undoubtedly nicer, but if you don't have any they're definitely usable and useful tools (and I paid close to the same price for the entire set as one Ray Iles cost - not that I'd turn those down if I had the chance.. no sir! :p)

[Dave Cav]

I've got the LV set, too, also purchased when they first came out. I mostly use them for clean up work but I'm satisfied with them. They're a very good value for the money.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

FWIW, Roy showed a technique in the recent season of Woodwright's shop which is something I've used quite frequently in the past - after getting a bunch of chips filling the mortise, take a stout knife, and slice them down the middle. Keeps them from getting stuck along the sides, and they get free much better. Saves your chisel from teh damage levering can impart.

[Jim Belair]

FWIW, Roy showed a technique in the recent season of Woodwright's shop which is something I've used quite frequently in the past - after getting a bunch of chips filling the mortise, take a stout knife, and slice them down the middle. Keeps them from getting stuck along the sides, and they get free much better. Saves your chisel from the damage levering can impart.

Great idea! I'll definitely try it next time.

Thanks
Jim B

[Brandon Craig]

I would definitely recommend the Narex mortise chisels-- you probably only need a couple of them. I have the metric equivalents of 1/4 and 1/2, purchased from Highland. The metric ones are also prettier because they have the unstained beech handles, whereas the standard ones have the dark stain on them. Yes, aesthetics are important. :-)

I've used the Narex mortise chisels somewhat frequently for a few months---they came in handy for chiseling out all the mortises on my Roubo workbench. They are stout, feel good, and sharpen well. Well worth the price.

[Jim Foster]

I just ordered several from LV. Hopefully I'll be chopping a mortise this time next week.

[Jim Foster]

I got the Narex chisels in yesterday. Played with the 1/2 inch for few minutes, back was pretty flat, spent ten minutes flattening it, needs a bit more polishing, but it's flat.

Sharpened the edge at 35 degrees and banged it into some hard White Oak. The edge folded a little, and I'm curious if it's common to hone the edge at 37.5 or 40 degrees? I've still got some work to do to get it broken in and get the whole set ready to use.

Confession; I was only going to get two sizes, but TAS (tool acquisition syndrome) got the best of me and I got the whole set. Glad I did because I need at least 3 of the sizes, and the whole set delivered was close to the price of one premium priced chisel. The packaging was well done and the chisels arrived in very good shape.



220157

[Ryan Mooney]

Sharpened the edge at 35 degrees and banged it into some hard White Oak. The edge folded a little, and I'm curious if it's common to hone the edge at 37.5 or 40 degrees? I've still got some work to do to get it broken in and get the whole set ready to use.

I didn't measure it, but I've been honing the tip a little steeper on the one I've been using heavily and it seems to be holding somewhat better than it was (I hesitate to call it a micro bevel at this point as its moved somewhat past that :D). They also seemed to have less chip out/bent edges once I'd sharpened off the first little bit of steel, so that may all be some combination of my technique improving, the chisel edge getting slightly steeper and getting into the "better" steel back from the tip so ymmv.

I've only sharpened two of them so far, keep planning on giving them a once over in the evening but haven't spent the time...

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Other folks have mentioned having issues with the initial edge - I didn't have any problems with most of mine, but did have some issues with the 1/2" which I used for the first time a few days ago - I think I ended up grinding it back just a hair and rehoning it, and it's performed well since then.

I hone my secondaries a bit larger on these chisels than I do on others - it's not really a microbevel, and more a secondary bevel - I think on my 1/4", which I use frequently, the secondary bevel measures almost an 1/8" across it face now. I think a little more meat on the bevel may help.

So I'd say give it another go - I be tempted to just rehone the 35ish degree bevel until the edge is sharp and see what happens. Certainly hard oak is going to be a little slower going than some other species of wood, however.