Mortiser chisels???

[Rick Potter]

I am starting this to avoid stepping on Stew's mortiser thread.

I have the original model Delta benchtop mortiser, and would like to upgrade the Taiwan chisels to better quality.

What brand mortiser chisels are good quality? Is there a ranking order? Maybe price to quality recommendations?

Rick Potter

[Kent A Bathurst]

LV. Period.

"Cry once"

"You get what you pay for"

"Insert another trite saying here"

[scott vroom]

LV. Period.

"Cry once"

"You get what you pay for"

"Insert another trite saying here"

"Harbor Freight = more $ for beer"

[Kent A Bathurst]

"Harbor Freight = more $ for beer"

Scott.......Dude...........

HF for mission-critical specialized tools? Seriously?

You are a braver man than me, Gunga Din.

[scott vroom]

Scott.......Dude...........

HF for mission-critical specialized tools? Seriously?

You are a braver man than me, Gunga Din.


LOL, Ok Ok, LV it is but that means downgrading to PBR :D:D:D

[Kent A Bathurst]

LOL, Ok Ok, LV it is but that means downgrading to PBR :D:D:D


Reasonable trade-off.

"You want good tools, it's gonna cost you."

I'll add that to the inventory of trite phrases.........................

[Stew Hagerty]

I am starting this to avoid stepping on Stew's mortiser thread.

I have the original model Delta benchtop mortiser, and would like to upgrade the Taiwan chisels to better quality.

What brand mortiser chisels are good quality? Is there a ranking order? Maybe price to quality recommendations?

Rick Potter


No sweat Rick. I appreciate the information. I'm sure the chisels that come with whatever I choose are not going to great even with sharpening.

[Tom M King]

If you already have some that work, I'd tune them up. Whatever brand you use, keep one of the flat extra fine diamond files (the ones with the colored plastic handles, but I can't remember which is the xfine right off) next to the mortiser. Hit all four of the outside flats of the chisel with the diamond file once in a while, to keep them nice and flat. Burrs turn up to the outside after a while, and make it harder to withdraw the chisel. Also, this serves to sharpen some, and will put off having to resharpen anything like as often. Keep the working face of the diamond file flat to the side of the chisel.

[Peter Aeschliman]

...but that means downgrading to PBR

Downgrading? Heathen! Heretic!!

;)

[Mike Cutler]

Rick

I have the Delta 14-651 bench top mortiser.
I'm certain the LV's are really nice, but then so are the Clico's. Clico's would probably be about the best, but they have a different internal hone angle, and I haven't found a honing cone that matches their angle. I haven't looked in a few years either though.
Truth be told though, I use the stock chisels that came with the mortiser, except for the 1/4", it's a Woodcraft brand. I broke the OEM 1/4".:(
I have done hundreds and hundreds of mortises with this thing, in some hard, nasty tropical wood, with no issues, nice clean shoulders, clean edges, repeatable. The secret is in the sharpening. Lee Valley has a honing cone for the inside angle of your chisels, and a diamond plate sharpener. After these, I then move on to waterstones for the final hone. The two of those, with the waterstones will put an edge on those chisels that is "scary sharp". I constantly cut my hands with the chisels with just the slightest touch.They're bench chisels with four sides to me.
The bit also needs to be sharpened. Out of the box I think they sharpened it with a concrete block at the factory. It will make a world of difference once the bit is sharpened and honed.
The LV's will probably hold an edge longer, but it's getting them sharp that makes the difference regardless of whomever makes them. They all have to be sharpened and honed for use, repeatedly

LV's ,with their sharpening tools, would definitely get you where you want to go if the OEM's just aren't cutting it for you.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Stew,

Once sharpened, I have used the chisels that came with my mortiser with great results. Again the trick is getting them sharp, inside and out and sharpening the bit.

[Alden Miller]

+1 for the Clico chisels. I have a Delta Mortiser also and replaced the stock chisels with Clicos. I believe Clico sells a hone for their chisels too.

-Alden

[Jesse Busenitz]

I just bought the cheaper set from LV, and they definitely needed some honing both inside and out.

[Rod Sheridan]

Downgrading? Heathen! Heretic!!

;)

Can you buy real beer in the USA?:p


OK..........Just joking, you guys have some really good craft beers..........Rod.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Can you buy real beer in the USA?:p

OK - that is gonna leave a mark.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Scott.......Dude...........

HF for mission-critical specialized tools? Seriously?

You are a braver man than me, Gunga Din.
After more beer, you won't care about the chisels :D

[Rick Potter]

I have a nice credit card size diamond sharpener, extra fine, works great on the chisels. I guess what I need to get now is the hone cone, and try to do a better sharpening job on the ones I have, before buying more.

Any suggestions on how to sharpen the bit?

Thanks guys,
Rick Potter

[Mike Cutler]

Rick

For mine I use a small set of ceramic rods I got at Woodcraft, and the diamond plate/waterstone. I use these on my wife's Hoof knife too. It's tedious the first time.
Work the leading edge of the bit with a small triangular ceramic rod, and a perfectly round one. Try as best you can to hold the bit perpindicualr to the diamond plate to get a really nice single edge on the bit, by honing the bottom surface of the leading edge.
You need to touch up the flutes and hone the outside of the first 1/4" or so of the bit. Kind of like a brad point bit, to help clear debris during use.
If you have a drill press you trust for runout, within reason, chuck the mortise drill bit in the jaws and while it's spinning very lightly touch the very tip. MIne used to "wozzle" on center untill I touched them up. They're wicked sharp too.;)

[Bradley Gray]

Anyone know of a source for 1/8" or 3/16" hollow chisels and bits?

[Bryan Cramer]

I like the Rockler chisels. They are mid priced and preform much better than the original ones.

[Edward Oleen]

Okay: now we know that Lee Valley has the very best sets, and has sharpening "stones", and that HF has some, of dubious quality, and that beer is good, and that Clic makes chisels and...

My question: how do you sharpen the bits??? Or any brad point spur bit? There used to be a guy about 35 miles from me do did some magic if you crossed his palm with silver and gold, but he had the temerity to shuffle off this mortal coil, and his wife turned out to be just as unpleasant as he was pleasant and dumped the stuff he had - I never saw it - to some scrap collector about three weeks before I knew he was no more.

I can't find anyone else.

How do you people manage?

[jack forsberg]

Anyone know of a source for 1/8" or 3/16" hollow chisels and bits?

Nakahashi make a 3mm set.

http://www.ns-co.com/English/html/products/detail.php?product_id=9

LV/ Smchmidt's sale the star M brand and is not the best Japanese pattern bits. the English pattern flat bottom take far more power to push through but leave a flat bottom.

http://www.ns-co.com/English/html/upload/save_image/07241054_500e004338c40.jpg


http://www.ns-co.com/English/html/upload/save_image/07111541_4ffd20242b9ab.jpg

dove tail bits






http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMlgxNjAw/z/dD8AAOSwEK9T8ORz/$_57.JPG

hones /reamers for the Clico British pattern. You also need special files for the inside corners.

https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/store/item/EE-6359600

https://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/prodimg/ee/big/EE-6359600_big.gif

[Bradley Gray]

Thanks Jack The 3mm would be perfect for the small shoji I am working on. Have you ordered from Nakahashi? I couldn't find a price or order method.

The dovetail chisels look awesome also!

[jack forsberg]

Thanks Jack The 3mm would be perfect for the small shoji I am working on. Have you ordered from Nakahashi? I couldn't find a price or order method.

The dovetail chisels look awesome also!

I have not and there is no NA out let so you would order direct. here is the English site.

http://www.ns-co.com/English/html/products/detail.php?product_id=16

The star M brand is the one that both Smchmidt's and bobby at woodworker tools works and lee valley sale as high grade Japanese pattern bits is the same company and these bits have be made for some 50 odd years by them. as to the web site states that star Mare described as "Standard line up" with this build


Manufactured from the finest and select Japanese carbon steel best suited for these tools.
The original Japanese Pattern Disign. chisel have finely polished cutting bladeswith sharp pointed and releaved inside corners for stress free clean cutting. The bits have a brad point, one cutting lip and one spur for straight cutting and superb chip ejection.
Conbination of material, design and craftmanship ensures superior performance in soft and hard woods.
Complete specifications to fit most chiselmorticers in the world market.
Complete size coverage (3mm to 36mm) to ensure that entire user needs are met.
These best perform
ing tools have been imitated thoughout the world, but never been duplicated in performance

The newer british pattern tooling has only been in manufacture sense 2005 and is not the the garbage that most often makes its way to the US. They are described as production bits

These Hollow Sguare Mortise chisels & Bits are specially designed for full automatic post and beam production lines.Chisels are made of special alloyto prevent breakage from excessive stress under high volume production lines.
Bits have 2 cutting lips, 2 flutes and 1 brad point and HSS tipped for prolonged tool life.
Complete range of specifications for MIYAGAWA, HEIAN, SHODA, NAKAJIMA, SHINX, and TOA Pre-cut lines.

here is closer look at the bit


http://www.ns-co.com/English/html/upload/save_image/07241108_500e03b554e56.jpg

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/attachments/f79/116860d1410683948-hollow-chisel-new-tooling-japan-hn.jpg
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/attachments/f79/116861d1410683990-hollow-chisel-new-tooling-japan-hn1.jpg

as far as i can tell the British pattern bits are called a Heian AZ chisel sets. But i had to look on the Japanese site and translate.here is what the Japanese site has to say about the tooling.

It is a high-spec model that corresponds to the severe cutting conditions in the factory pre-cut.
Compared with third-party, boasts the "stability that can be used with confidence over a long period of time" and "smooth skin off."
We have gotten good reputation from users like that has good compatibility with difficult-to-cut materials of kiln-dried wood, lumber collection, simultaneously processing the laminated wood and solid wood. Adopts special alloy steel case, we have significantly reduced the cracking of pre-cut processing. Since the cone is adopted high-speed steel, almost no drop off and chipping of the cutting edge compared with carbide, and has realized the smooth cut skin. Trouble is very small even in harsh environments in both case-cone, You can use it with worry over a long period of time. In addition, re-abrasive is also excellent, because it can be used over a long period of time, it will contribute significantly to the cost of your company.

[jack forsberg]

Thanks Jack The 3mm would be perfect for the small shoji I am working on. Have you ordered from Nakahashi? I couldn't find a price or order method.

The dovetail chisels look awesome also!

just got the 3mm bit from japan . thats it next to a 1/4"
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll29/oldtool1/chisel%20004_zpsfe2rdfeb.jpg (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/oldtool1/media/chisel%20004_zpsfe2rdfeb.jpg.html)

just so you can tell how small this is that's an 18 gauge brad nail

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll29/oldtool1/chisel%20006_zpsst06rwtr.jpg (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/oldtool1/media/chisel%20006_zpsst06rwtr.jpg.html)


http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll29/oldtool1/chisel%20007_zpsvcksdaku.jpg (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/oldtool1/media/chisel%20007_zpsvcksdaku.jpg.html)

not cheap @$200 usd

[Lee Schierer]

Stew,

Once sharpened, I have used the chisels that came with my mortiser with great results. Again the trick is getting them sharp, inside and out and sharpening the bit.

I concur. I also polished the outside surfaces which made them perform even better.

[Bradley Gray]

Thanks, Jack. The 3mm bit looks awesome! How did you go about ordering from Japan?

[Cody Colston]

I purchased a set of Lee Valley Japanese chisels back in 2010 for my Delta benchtop mortiser after reading a review by Terry Hatfield. They performed head and shoulders above the Delta chisels that came with the mortiser. Here's the link Terry posted with his review. Hopefully it's still good. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...80,42240,53317 (http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=53252&cat=1,180,42240,53317)

Note: the chisels are too long for the Delta mortiser but the shank is easily cut to size with a hacksaw.

[Alan Lightstone]

I got a four piece set of the Fisch Mortiser Chisels. Certainly not cheap, but seem extremely high quality. I'm no expert with a hollow chisel mortiser, though, as it's a new tool for me.

As everyone has said, sharpening is the key.

[Rick Fisher]

Can you buy real beer in the USA?:p


OK..........Just joking, you guys have some really good craft beers..........Rod.


Yes!!! there are some specialty shops that sell imported..

[dave nichols]

I have Clico's and they work great, also have the honing tool for them, haven't used it yet.

[Frederick Skelly]

I have Powermatic's set. They retail at about the same price as LV's. I probably would have bought LV's but at the time PM had a 15% off sale and that broke the tie for me. They have been excellent tools!
I too polished the inside, sides and cone-sharpened them.
Couldn't be happier.