Mortise Chisels?

[Bruce Page]

I’d like to get a good set of mortise chisels and retire my Stanley's (gasp) to my junk box.
Any recommendations? What should I look for?

[Brian Buckley]

Bruce,
I have enjoyed my Lie Nielsen mortise chisels.

Brian

[Seth Poorman]

Bruce
I saw a set of Lie Nielsen mortise chisels last week on the web,but I cant remember where I saw them , they looked great and the set was about $325.00. Its between these or a set of Japanese chisels for me.....:)

[Scott Thornton]

Lie Nielsen's are great...Sorbey's are also excellent and probably a little cheaper...

[Roy Wall]

Ray Isles mortice chisels ......

Stout, thick, good chisels!!! Joel in Manhattan sells them.....money back guarantee if you don't like - no questions ask - so you can't go wrong trying......

[Seth Poorman]

Heres a pic of the Lie Nielsen Mortise chisels. Lie Nielsens web site sells them for $305.00 and they come w/ tool roll..or you can purchase them separately.

[Andy Fox]

I ordered one 3/8" Hirsch mortise chisel from Lee Valley. Just the mass of the handle sets it into the wood.

[Alan Turner]

I have used the Hirsh, and they are fine. Very heavy. I have not tried the LN's. The Ray Isles, from toolsforworkingwood.com are fabulous!!! I can do 3/4" deep mortises in three easy passes.

[tod evans]

bruce, here`s what i`ve been beating on;
40661

i`m pretty fond of the german steel so i`d recomend either two cherries or hirsch.....02 tod

[James Carmichael]

A 10mm (3/8") Two-cherries from ToolsForWoodworking (Joel Moscowitz) does the job for me. I believe the Hirsch is equivalent

As Joel says on his site, 1 is all you need.

[Hank Knight]

Bruce, I agree with Roy wall. The Ray Iles oval bolstered mortise chisels from Joel at toolsforworkingwood.com are great. I've had a set of Sorby registered mortise chisels for years and I never liked them. I ordered several old English mortise (oval bolstered mortise chisels) and I liked them but the steel was not up to modern standards. When Joel announced the new Ray Ilse OBM chisels, I ordered three. They are by far the best I've ever used. They are very heavy duty. The design it time proven and works - they are very powerful and wil flat out chop a mortise in no time. And the modern D2 steel is tough and holds an edge for a long time. They are expensive, but worth every penny in my book. Order a couple in the sizes you use most often and see if you don't like them. I have no association with Joel; I'm just a happy customer.

My $.02.

Hank

[John Downey]

Hi Bruce,

I'm a couple hours east of you, if you'd like to test drive a set of LN mortise chisels. The only others I've used are a Sorby sash chisel (ok, not the best) and an old heavy sash chisel, so I don't have a whole lot of basis for comparison. If I were buying now, I'd probably by a couple singles from different makers (say LN and Iles) but thats just 'cause I like variety. Could hardly go wrong with any of the premium makers like LN, Iles, Hirsch, etc.

John

[Bruce Page]

Thanks for the great info everyone. Now I just have to decide how much I’m willing to spend. :eek: