Only one mortise chisel?

[Jason Sellers]

I’ve seen it suggested by several woodworkers that you can get by with a single mortise chisel, e.g., 1/4 or 5/16. I’m interested in building shaker style furniture, and there are many 1/2 mortises. Many tables have a 1 1/2 leg, so that would be a 1/2 mortise using the rule of one third. That seems so common to me that I’m confused why some suggest that you only need one chisel? Are they going over the mortise twice, as in one side with the 1/4 and then the other side? Or do you just cut an undersized mortise bc 1/4 is strong enough?

[Jim Koepke]

There are a lot of different theories proposed in woodworking as in other endeavors.

In some circles folks suggested instead of the 1/3 rule for M&T sizing using the 1/2 rule. The M&T would be half the width of the pieces used.

Some suggest all planing work from scrubbing to jointing and smoothing could be done with a single plane. For some it is a #4, some like a #5 or a #7.

For me one vehicle, a pick-up truck, is all that is needed. Others like to have multiple vehicles from sports car to SUV.

Cutting a 1/2" mortise with a 1/2" chisel will be easier than cutting it with a 1/4" chisel.

IMO, the 5/16" mortise chisel is so common because 4/4 lumber probably measured in the 15/16" range when surfaced.

Narex mortise chisels are economical when they are not "Out of Stock."

jtk

[Jason Sellers]

IMO, the 5/16" mortise chisel is so common because 4/4 lumber probably measured in the 15/16" range when surfaced.


Thanks, Jim. But I guess why I’m confused is that some, e.g. Chris Schwarz, say that a 1/4 or 5/16 chisel is all you need. I understand that 4/4 is a common size, but aren’t legs sized 1 1/2 and up also a very common size? Particularly for mortises, aren’t those typically seen in table legs which are thicker than 4/4? So then why the 5/16 suggestion?

[Charles Guest]

I’ve seen it suggested by several woodworkers that you can get by with a single mortise chisel, e.g., 1/4 or 5/16. I’m interested in building shaker style furniture, and there are many 1/2 mortises. Many tables have a 1 1/2 leg, so that would be a 1/2 mortise using the rule of one third. That seems so common to me that I’m confused why some suggest that you only need one chisel? Are they going over the mortise twice, as in one side with the 1/4 and then the other side? Or do you just cut an undersized mortise bc 1/4 is strong enough?

I generally think of the famous "1/3 Rule" as applying to the rail and not the leg in the example you've cited (there are exceptions!). If you chop a half inch mortise, you're going to be cutting a whole lot of barefaced tenons on your rail stock, or have shoulders lacking in enough depth to do their job. You really do need four shoulders for rack resistance, and cosmetically to cover any bruising of mortise arrises. If you're rail stock is to be almost always 7/8" thick, then you'd want a 5/16" mortise chisel, a 1/4" chisel for 3/4" thick rail stock. When people drag a piece of furniture across the floor when they move it, and they will, the shoulders at the top and bottom of your rail tenons become crucial as the legs are frankly being put through hell. Happily, these shoulders don't depend on rail thickness per se.

If you plan to make large tables you're probably going with through mortises which will be bored out and pared so the selection of a mortise chisel is moot -- they are not made that large. You use regular bench chisels to clean up after the mortise waste is drilled out by power or hand, whichever you prefer. These are more an exercise in timber framing than they are cabinetmaking.

[Ben Ellenberger]

I only have a 1/4” mortise chisel. If you mostly make cabinet/side table-sized things, that is usually the right size. When I make larger mortises, I just use a bench chisel that is the right size.

I would always use a chisel sized to the mortise. If you are just making a few, a bench chisel works fine. If you are going to be doing a bunch of pieces that require bigger mortises, then it may be worth getting a mortise chisel specifically for that size.

[Jason Sellers]

That’s also been confusing me. In some places, I see it’s 1/3 of the mortised piece, and in other places, 1/3 of the rail! I guess it makes most sense for mortised piece though, bc you wouldn’t want thin walls…

[Alan Schwabacher]

Think of it this way: if a mortise is much more than 1/3 the thickness of the thing you're putting it in, the walls begin to get thin enough to be weaker than the tenon and might compromise the strength. If the tenon gets much less than 1/3 the stock thickness, it gets weak enough that it may compromise strength. So I'd think of a tenon 1/3 the stock thickness as a rough minimum, and mortise 1/3 the stock thickness as a rough maximum. Very rough, as 1/2 seems close enough. You are fine as long as both tenon and walls are large enough for the strength you need.

[Charles Guest]

The chance that a mortise wall is going to blow out is remote as long as you're not mortising where the grain is running wildly off the edge. Stock selection is always key. The chance that the system of rails will be subjected to racking is almost assured. You need shoulders. I'd rather have a rail fail than a leg. A leg might have all sorts of things running into it: aprons, drawer blades/drawer rails, lower rails. A leg could carry six or eight tenons (of course with corresponding mortises) of varying sizes, easily, depending on the piece of furniture. If you'd rather have that fail than one of the rails you'd be completely bonkers. The fatter the tenon, the bigger the chance you induce failure in the leg if something catastrophic happens.

[Edward Weber]

Many people prefer to use one tool for everything and this is their choice but as Jim pointed out there are different approaches.
IMO it really depends on what type of work you do. You can get by with a 1/4", or 5/16" chisel but when you move away from standard 3/4 stock into heavier timber or larger M&T joinery, you really need the start using larger chisels. When your mortises are 1/2", 3/4" or more, you will appreciate a larger chisel for many reasons.

[Charles Guest]

Once you're past 1/2", you're looking at 'registered' or basically straight-sided firmers and not mortise chisels that are thicker than they are wide. A mortise over 1/2" wide is really a candidate for drill-and-pare.

[Andrew Seemann]

I’ve seen it suggested by several woodworkers that you can get by with a single mortise chisel, e.g., 1/4 or 5/16.

Well, in theory, a skilled woodworker could build the USS Constitution with nothing but their grandfather's jack-knife, but that doesn't mean it would be enjoyable or smart:)

You could get by with only one size mortice chisel if you only make one size mortice or only make a few mortices here and there. If you make a lot of mortices and in a lot of different sizes, you probably would want more than one size of mortice chisel.

[Warren Mickley]

I’ve seen it suggested by several woodworkers that you can get by with a single mortise chisel, e.g., 1/4 or 5/16. I’m interested in building shaker style furniture, and there are many 1/2 mortises. Many tables have a 1 1/2 leg, so that would be a 1/2 mortise using the rule of one third. That seems so common to me that I’m confused why some suggest that you only need one chisel? Are they going over the mortise twice, as in one side with the 1/4 and then the other side? Or do you just cut an undersized mortise bc 1/4 is strong enough?

A Shaker table would have legs about 1 3/4 square and have mortises that are about 5/16 wide and 1 1/2 inches deep.

A Shaker cupboard door would have stiles and rails that are about 7/8 thick and have usually through mortises that are about 5/16 inches thick.

Paneled doors that have mouldings on the frame members often do not have the mortise centered in the stile.

I have six mortise chisels, 1/8 to 7/16 by sixteenths, but I would encourage you to buy a single mortise chisel and learn to use it well before buying more.

[Rob Luter]

I’ve seen it suggested by several woodworkers that you can get by with a single mortise chisel, e.g., 1/4 or 5/16. I’m interested in building shaker style furniture, and there are many 1/2 mortises. Many tables have a 1 1/2 leg, so that would be a 1/2 mortise using the rule of one third. That seems so common to me that I’m confused why some suggest that you only need one chisel? Are they going over the mortise twice, as in one side with the 1/4 and then the other side? Or do you just cut an undersized mortise bc 1/4 is strong enough?


I have two, a 1/4" and a 3/8". I'll usually focus on what size the tenon stock is and use the 1/2 rule. A 1/2 inch thick table apron gets a 1/4" mortise and tenon. If it's a 3/4" thick apron, I use a 3/8" mortise and tenon. 5/16" would work for both I suppose.

[Derek Cohen]

I mostly use 1/8" or 3mm, 1/4' or 6mm, and 3/8" or 9mm.

https://i.postimg.cc/T1VfXNL8/2.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Jason Sellers]

Thanks for replies, everyone. There are lots of other threads answering “what mortise chisels do you use” so I want to be clear that I’m asking something slightly different.

I’ll try and rephrase it: Why do woodworkers like Chris Schwarz say that all you need is a 5/16 mortise chisel when table legs 1 1/2 inch are common, and you should size to 1/3 the width of the leg, I.e., 1/2?

One person said that the mortise should be sized to the TENON stock, so in that case, it would make sense that you could get by with 5/16.

Another person said that in Shaker furniture, they would use a 5/16 in a 1 1/2 leg. So that makes sense too.

If both of those people are correct, then I understand why Chris Schwarz would say that all you need is a 5/16, but please correct me if I’m wrong…

[Tom M King]

I don't know how many I have, but I'm sure it's more than one.

[steven c newman]

479656
My little collection...skinny sash mortise chisels up to 12mm...

last project was a "Shaker" style table....and I used the 8mm one....a 6mm was used to scrape the mortise floor...and a 24mm Bench was used to clean the walls..

YMMV..

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks for replies, everyone. There are lots of other threads answering “what mortise chisels do you use” so I want to be clear that I’m not asking that.

I’ll try and rephrase it: “Why do woodworkers like Chris Schwarz say that all you need is a 5/16 mortise chisel when table legs 1 1/2 inch are common, and you should size to 1/3 the width of the leg, I.e., 1/2?”

One person said that the mortise should be sized to the TENON stock, so in that case, it would make sense that you could get by with 5/16.

Another person said that in Shaker furniture, they would use a 5/16 in a 1 1/2 leg. So that makes sense too.

If both of those people are correct, the. In that case, I understand why Chris Schwarz would say that all you need is a 5/16, but please correct me if either of the above are wrongÂ…

Jason, if you keep strictly to the 1/3 Rule, then you need a range of sizes. 5/16” might be closer to the ideal in a 1 1/2” leg. However, with wider legs, there are also ways to use narrower mortices, such as double mortices. This could give a 1/4” chisel a wider range. 1/4” tends to be a closer fit for medium sized work, especially frame-and-panels. Personally, I use a 1/4” more than any other.

It really comes down to the size of the work you mostly do.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Edward Weber]

Thanks for replies, everyone. There are lots of other threads answering “what mortise chisels do you use” so I want to be clear that I’m not asking that.

I’ll try and rephrase it: “Why do woodworkers like Chris Schwarz say that all you need is a 5/16 mortise chisel when table legs 1 1/2 inch are common, and you should size to 1/3 the width of the leg, I.e., 1/2?”

One person said that the mortise should be sized to the TENON stock, so in that case, it would make sense that you could get by with 5/16.

Another person said that in Shaker furniture, they would use a 5/16 in a 1 1/2 leg. So that makes sense too.

If both of those people are correct, the. In that case, I understand why Chris Schwarz would say that all you need is a 5/16, but please correct me if either of the above are wrongÂ…

I can't say why these people you cite say what they say. Only that, in their experience, that's what works for them.
If your woodworking takes you to a wider array of interests, beyond a single genre of furniture, a single mortise chisel, regardless of width my simply not be practical.
I suggest not to over think it too much, as there is no single correct answer.
Specific M&T sizing varies by application, region, culture and woodworker. As the M&T size changes, thin and deep or wide and shallow. it may require a different size chisel properly fit to the task.

[Jason Sellers]

When people drag a piece of furniture across the floor when they move it, and they will, the shoulders at the top and bottom of your rail tenons become crucial as the legs are frankly being put through hell. Happily, these shoulders don't depend on rail thickness per se.


Interesting. I couldn’t understand why shoulder thickness would matter before, but this makes sense. Thank you.

[Jim Koepke]

I suggest not to over think it too much, as there is no single correct answer.

Edward mentions a good truism by which to live and work.

It makes more sense to size the mortise to the tenon stock than the mortise stock. Imagine trying to make a tenon 1/3 of the size of a 4X4 on material that is only 3/4" thick.

If a tenon is on 1" thick material a 5/16" mortise and tenon will work fine.

There is also nothing wrong with using a heavy firmer chisel to cut a mortise. Some folks swear by cutting them with a bevel edged chisel.

jtk

[Jason Sellers]

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful replies. I have a much better understanding of this now.

[Stephen Rosenthal]

There is also nothing wrong with using a heavy firmer chisel to cut a mortise. Some folks swear by cutting them with a bevel edged chisel.

jtk

Or you can drill out the mortise and pare the sides with a bevel edged chisel. There are many solutions. You don’t have to buy a tool to cover every possibility.

[Ben Ellenberger]

Or you can drill out the mortise and pare the sides with a bevel edged chisel. There are many solutions. You don’t have to buy a tool to cover every possibility.

Especially as you get to larger mortises, this makes more and more sense. Anything up to 1/2” I would just chop. If I was making a mortise larger than that I would probably drill out most of the waste and use a bench chisel to remove the rest.

[Jim Koepke]

Having used both methods, drilling and paring vs straight chopping a mortise including sizes up to one inch, they seem to take me about the same amount of time.

Chopping seems the less tedious.

As always, 479659

jtk

[James Pallas]

For anything smaller than 1/4” I use a bench chisel. I have 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8 mortise chisels. Anything larger, which is seldom, i drill and pare. I don’t think you need to split hairs over it. I do tend to use doubles on things like dining tables that are heavy and can get some rather severe twisting loads or on drawer blades that get heavy twisting from heavy drawers hanging on them.
Jim

[Scott Clausen]

Paul Sellers seems to prefer using a bench chisel, me I like a mortice chisel. I only have two, they are mm but I think equate to 1/2" and 1/4". Never felt a need to buy more but once the need arrives I will get more. I say as long as you get close to the 1/3 rule than that is close enough.

[George Wall]

Thanks for replies, everyone. There are lots of other threads answering “what mortise chisels do you use” so I want to be clear that I’m asking something slightly different.

I’ll try and rephrase it: Why do woodworkers like Chris Schwarz say that all you need is a 5/16 mortise chisel when table legs 1 1/2 inch are common, and you should size to 1/3 the width of the leg, I.e., 1/2?

One person said that the mortise should be sized to the TENON stock, so in that case, it would make sense that you could get by with 5/16.

Another person said that in Shaker furniture, they would use a 5/16 in a 1 1/2 leg. So that makes sense too.

If both of those people are correct, then I understand why Chris Schwarz would say that all you need is a 5/16, but please correct me if I’m wrong…
Chris Schwarz makes that recommendation in his Anarchist Tool Chest book, where he is trying to list what he considers to be the minimal toolkit. Basically, he describes a toolkit that would fit into the ATC that he later explains how to build.

As part of that, he is making the assumption that most people reading his recommendations are chopping most (not all) of their mortises in 4/4 stock, where either a 1/4" or 5/16" mortise chisel will be most useful. For cases where a wider or narrower mortise is needed, there are alternatives like using a standard bench chisel or boring with a brace-and-bit. But for most woodworkers he is targeting, such cases are less common, and so would not benefit from buying a whole set of 5 or 6 mortise chisels, most of which could easily go unused. Implicit in his suggestion is that if the hobbyist who has already mastered the 1/4" mortise does run into a situation where they are faced with chopping a bunch of 1/2" mortises, then that is probably the best time to purchase a 1/2" mortise chisel. Joel Moskowitz makes a similar suggestion in his blog at TFWW.

[Richard Coers]

There are laws of nature you can't ignore with wood, but there are no laws in joinery or number of chisels you can have.

[steven c newman]

We'll find out....because I'll need to do Haunched Tenons next week....Have a Frame & Panel Chest to build.....Raised panels fitted into grooves, and the tenons not only fit into the grooves, but, they extend down about another 1/4" deeper than the groove. Should be loads of "FUN" by hand.....:D

[Thomas McCurnin]

I was taught that mortise chisels, except for really deep mortises more than 2" or so, are unnecessary. The thicker frame resists racking and bending while levering out chips, which is really not an issue with 90% of all mortises. I have a set and honestly there is no difference in the cut or the time spent chopping them out. Save your money unless you are timber framing.

Paul Sellers' Opinions on the Subject: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_NXq7_TILA

[Edward Weber]

I have a set and honestly there is no difference in the cut or the time spent chopping them out. Save your money unless you are timber framing.

Mortise chisels are thicker to withstand repeated striking, I was never under the impression the cut quality would be any different.
Timber framers typically hog out the bulk with an auger bit and use a heavy firmer chisel to clean the walls. It's just an efficient way to work unless you like chopping.

Everyone has their own philosophy on this

[Warren Mickley]

Mortise chisels are thicker to withstand repeated striking, I was never under the impression the cut quality would be any different.
Timber framers typically hog out the bulk with an auger bit and use a heavy firmer chisel to clean the walls. It's just an efficient way to work unless you like chopping.

Everyone has their own philosophy on this

Mortise chisels are somewhat thicker than they would need to be to resist the forces. The reason they are thick is that they are self jigging: the chisel is held straight by the previous excavation. A thin chisel is much to free to wobble around and wander. The thickness is what yields precision.

I watched Paul Sellers make a mortise with a bevel edged bench chisel. I got the impression that he did not have a lot of experience making mortises by hand.

[Derek Cohen]

More in agreement with you than not, Warren. I do believe that Sellers has a large amount of experience, however he seeks to appeal to an audience of beginners rather than traditionalists. He would rather that they spend on his courses than on tools.

Here is a video of his using both types of chisels for morticing ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_NXq7_TILA&ab_channel=PaulSellers

And another by Peter Follansbee ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1bo6NVYCc0&ab_channel=Lie-NielsenToolworks

We would all be interested in your comments.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Mark Rainey]

cosmetically to cover any bruising of mortise arrises.

An important point Charles.

[Thomas McCurnin]

What infuriated me was the mortising chisels I bought were made in Germany, so they got be good, right? And were advertised as imperial sized, but ...

The mortise chisels were consistently oversized, e.g., wider than their imperial counterparts. Not much, but wider enough that the mortise chisel would not fit into bench chisel's hole, so I spent an hour with the set on diamond stones and a caliper to get them right.

I don't use them much, and I seem to get a smoother cut with a bench chisel. If one uses the age old technique taught by Sellers, and in turn taught to me at the school where he taught, one is only taking out about 1/8th inch of material at an angle and levering it up, hardly enough to bend any chisel. Again, if one limits the amount of material to about an 1/8th, the chisel never turns or racks on me. Finally, using two sets of chisels simply means that I have to make twice the trips to the diamond stones during the course of the day.

But there is certainly nothing wrong with using mortising chisels to cut a mortise, if one likes using them.

And yes, his philosophy is that older used tools, if properly tuned and sharpened perform as wells as the modern Veritas and Lie Neilson brands. I particularly enjoyed a couple of his videos where he took a $5 chisel and turned into a razor sharp instrument of death to wood in about 20 minutes using only his hands and diamond stones, with no fancy jigs. He is old school.

[Edward Weber]

Mortise chisels are somewhat thicker than they would need to be to resist the forces. The reason they are thick is that they are self jigging: the chisel is held straight by the previous excavation. A thin chisel is much to free to wobble around and wander. The thickness is what yields precision.

I watched Paul Sellers make a mortise with a bevel edged bench chisel. I got the impression that he did not have a lot of experience making mortises by hand.


For the most part, yes but this is not true of all mortise chisels.
Some, like Narex, have slightly tapered sides to avoid binding. You can not rely on the previous cut to automatically register the nest. The bulk of the chisel is there to withstand striking while chopping down accross the grain, not to ensure alignment or "self jigging".
As I said, everyone has their own philosophy on this.

[John Kananis]

My sorby mortise chisels are designed the same way and they cut straight. You register the back of the chisel in order to cut forward, not the front. They're still thick though...

Edit: to lend a little clarity to my statement, the chisels may be tapered but still run true and straight due to their mass. Imho of course

[Richard Hutchings]

I have the Narex mortise chisels and they are definitely not what I expected. My first attempt making a rather large mortise in white oak was barely usable. My expectation of the chisel taking care of things was wrong. I've had better luck with bench chisels. That said, I need to use them more and learn how to use them properly. I was given a lot of good advice here. I think, on that particular mortise I would have been better off using the drill and pare method.

[Edward Weber]

I have a set of Narex and all I can say is to just register the back, don't rely on the sides. Use them much as you would any other chisel. I always score the layout of my my mortises for a clean opening, it also serves a bit of a guide to keep you from wandering which many people seem to do with these chisels.

[steven c newman]

Hmm..
479838
Hmmm..
479839
Hmmm...
479840
Hmmm...
479841
Hmmmm.
479842
YMMV...

[Richard Hutchings]

Hmmm..Hmm... I have the brown handled one 9:)

[Scott Clausen]

Chopped a lot of mortises while making a traditional window this weekend. I do prefer a mortise chisel but regarding size, it is important to select a size that matches the sash pane profile. This means you may need more than one size and possibly a mix of imperial and metric to get a good match.

[Tom M King]

Every replacement, exact reproduction sash I've made here has 3/8" and 1/4" mortises. The stiles and rails get 3/8", and where the muntins and glazing bars mortise into the stiles and rails, but any intersection of muntins and glazing bars get 1/4". I wouldn't want to cut all those 3/8" mortises with a 1/4" mortising chisel, so I guess I'd have to carry more than one size of mortising chisel. :eek:

[Jack Dover]

I’ll try and rephrase it: Why do woodworkers like Chris Schwarz say that all you need is a 5/16 mortise chisel when table legs 1 1/2 inch are common, and you should size to 1/3 the width of the leg, I.e., 1/2?


Because they need readers or ads revenue will never come.

Seriously though, Chris said it in the context of people just getting started. The explanation is that we tend to work with one, maybe two, rarely three different standard thicknesses: 3/4", 7/8" or 1" and 1 1/2". Within a single project all mortises are usually the same width assuming this particular piece was designed by somebody experienced. Just fyi, in timberframing only one mortise width is used throughout the project, and framers usually own just a single chisel. So most of the time only one chisel gets most of the work, Chris calls it a "jack chisel". Same logic is applied to other tools sets: bench chisels, plow plane irons, etc. Indeed it's possible to build all the projects with just a single plane, two bench chisels and one mortising chisel, but personally I would rather have a set that sits unused most of the time than not having the right tool when it's needed. Even if it's once a life time situation.


One person said that the mortise should be sized to the TENON stock

This, as well as "rule of thirds", is just a mnemonics, a "rule of thumb". It's a bit more complicated than that.

The actual rule is "to weaken both members as little as possible". After a certain size the "rule of 3" doesn't work: on thick and wide members excavating one third of thickness will weaken mortised part too much. To prevent this a double tenon is employed (my preference is a 1/4" double tenon over a single 1/2" tenon when possible). On small pieces an absolute difference between 1/3 and 1/2 is negligible, and a 1/3 tenon might be too thin. And as you correctly noticed, on different thickness pieces the rule might be not applicable at all: when mortising a 1" rail into 3" stile, what should be my basic unit, the rail or the stile? The answer is neither, most probably I'd size my tenon and mortise to 3/4".

There's quite a detailed overview of the M&T sizing in the "Modern Joinery" by Ellis, which was advertised by Chris in his LAP blog. Ironically, it calls for a good variety of the mortise chisels and contradicts his earlier advices, but whatever, it's just an opinion, not a law.

[Jack Dover]

You don’t have to buy a tool to cover every possibility.

What a bold and daring statement. You have quite the nerve to say it! Be careful though, I remember a guy saying similar things at a woodworking show and nobody has seen him ever since.

[Matthew Cashman]

There was some commentary about mortise vs. bench chisels. Another point: sharpening and sharpness. Chopping mortises is hard on your edge, and I'd rather beat up a mortise chisel that only needs to be kind-of sharp than abuse the bench chisels, which are sharpened at a lower angle and kept, generally, much sharper.

Although, if one had 5-6 sets of bench chisels, as seems not too uncommon around here... :)

[Edward Weber]

Although, if one had 5-6 sets of bench chisels, as seems not too uncommon around here... :)

One set that never gets used
One set that needs sharpening
One mismatched set
One cheap set
One daily use set

Any of this sound familiar

[Jim Koepke]

A put together set of bevel edge chisels for paring with sizes from 1/8" to 1" by eighths of an inch.
A group of firmer bevel edge chisels for light mallet work, various sizes.
A group of square sided chisels for medium to heavy mallet work.
A selection of random short/butt chisels.
A selection of 4 or 5 mortise chisels
Three chisels with 90º bevels.
Then all the other random chisels in the accumulation of chisels in the shop.

jtk

[Tom M King]

I don't even know how many chisels I have. There are two toolboxes full, and probably a whole set on the dashboard of my truck.

[Daniel Culotta]

...and probably a whole set on the dashboard of my truck.

Please don't ever have a wreck! Chisel missiles...

[Edward Weber]

I was only (partially) joking

I have a few (cough) sets as well, they all have a purpose. That's may story

[James Pallas]

Sometimes people think the thickness of the chisel is to jig along the mortise, and it is, but it also supports perpendicular to the mortise with the wide side. Its easier to bell the mortise with a bench chisel. For myself I prefer a mortise chisel and one longer than a bench chisel. Easier to see if you’re cutting straight down. Sometimes those antique pig stickers have been sharpened to butt chisel lengths.
Jim

[Andrew Seemann]

One set that never gets used
One set that needs sharpening
One mismatched set
One cheap set
One daily use set

Any of this sound familiar

Well,
One set for only hand pressure or light wood mallet (vintage 750 style, various brands),
One for a wood mallet and/or mild abuse (Two Cherries),
One for beating on with a rip hammer (1960's Stanley plastic handle),
One in the site box (1960s Buck Bros? plastic handled),
One to lend out (Irwin Marples),
One backup (Record Marples, blue handle),
One in reserve (Millers Falls?),
One additional collection/conglomeration of miscellaneous type and sized chisels (mortice, sash, paring, firmer, swan, etc.). Two types and 3 sizes of mortice chisel. Need to pick up a 1/2" pigsticker one of these days.

Really not sure how you could get by with less than 8 sets:)

Oh, and a couple sacrificial ones for chipping glue off the bench and wood with nails.

And that new Sweetheart 750 set is taunting me, along with a set of Ashley Iles.

[steven c newman]

Hmm..just the ones that work, for the task at hand...
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YMMV

[Luke Dupont]

Even I have... 3 sets of chisels? Despite my desire to be a minimalist...

- Modern set of 8 Stanley Sweetheart bevel edge Socket Chisels
- Five vintage firmer chisels... love the steel in these things
- Japanese chisels... an assortment of normal and butt-sized ones, mostly western bevel edged style, but with larger bevels than the stanleys.

Sometimes I want a mortise chisel, but given that I can't do too much chopping in an apartment anyway, I stick with firmers and bench chisels.

I've come to like the Stanley Socket Chisels the least. They're okay, but I prefer both the vintage firmers and the Japanese chisels more, both for their form factor and steel. The stanleys tend to twist a lot when chopping due to the shallow edges on the side (the bevels going down quite far). I don't like shallow edges on bench chisels for this reason, and even like firmer chisels a lot. You only need one or two chisels for dovetailing anyway, and you can, in fact, cut dovetails with firmer chisels. Just angle the chisel...

Not sure why every bench chisel has become a specialized dovetail chisel. Just buy a dovetail chisel if that's what you want... The whole point of bench chisels is to be a "jack of all trades." That includes chopping mortises. That includes paring. That includes dovetailing. That includes shaping. If you have the space and money for half a dozen sets of chisels, that's awesome! Maybe you don't even need bevel edged bench chisels then? Just firmers, dovetial chisels, paring chisels, and mortising chisels?

[Jim Koepke]

The stanleys tend to twist a lot when chopping due to the shallow edges on the side (the bevels going down quite far). I don't like shallow edges on bench chisels for this reason, and even like firmer chisels a lot.

My set of paring chisels all have shallow edges on the sides. For me this is preferred for this set. (these are Buck Bothers socket chisels)

Another group of bevel edged chisels has higher edges on the sides. These also do light work with a mallet. (this set is mostly Witherby)

The point is, some chisel designs may work better at specific tasks than others. Yes, one can pare waste from a dovetail, but a bevel edged chisel with shallow edges does it easier.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Was getting ready to do a bit of work, this morning...
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So gave them all a quick refresh...had 10 mortises in Maple to chop, after all....