[OP]
Member
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Have you ever seen a Ray Iles mortise chisel? While cleaning my shop after Hurricane Harvey, I ran across mine.
It defines what a 1/2" pig sticker should be. Fortunately it is not damaged. If you need such a chisel, I can recommend it.
Yes, this is a bit of a gloat.
Member
I have a set and love them. If nothing else they prove that full bolsters work :-).Originally Posted by lowell holmes
Member
Me, too. Great chisels. With quality vintage pig stickers seemingly selling for nearly the same price, buying new, for me, just made sense. It was a good decision. They are massive, well made, and do their job. I like the beech handles, too.
Jeff
Contributor
I really looked at them a while back. What worried me was the steel they used and getting it sharp. Ended up with the LN sash mortise chisel in the size I needed.
Member
Tony,
Two points....It's a mortise chisel, a wedge, not a paring chisel. It doesn't need to slice your finger open at the slightest touch. It just needs to hold a kinda sharp edge through some slight abuse. The LN chisels are A2 and every bit as hard to sharpen as D2, in fact I can sharpen the Ray Iles on Ark stones, the LN not so much. I have the LN mortise chisels and they are great for cleaning out the mortise after chopping with the Ray Iles but for chopping most mortises there are better chisels for the job than the LN's.
ken
Last edited by ken hatch; 02-16-2018 at 10:50 PM.
Contributor
Glad you are finding your tools after the storm.
Your mortise chisel looks similar to my 1/2" Thos Ibbotson mortise chisel.
In a picture of it with a bunch of other chisels Patrick Chase thought it was a Ray Iles mortise chisel.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Member
Jim,
I think that is the beauty of the Ray Iles' mortise chisels, they are classic English oval bolster mortise chisels (pig stickers) but new off the shelf. There are some things that can't be improved and I think the pig sticker is one of 'em.
ken
Member
IIRC I asked if it was a rehandled/refinished RI. The handle color was obviously off :-).
Ken is right, though. The fully bolstered pigsticker is a traditional form that "just works", and not being able to tell them apart is a good thing in that regard.
Contributor
I always thought those English-style pig-sticker mortise chisels looked vaguely...sinister, somehow. Like they would make a great prop on a low-budget horror film.
They work great though - no worry about damaging the tool wrenching out the chips!
TedP
Contributor
Afraid mine came from Japan, via Okinawa....
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12mm ( 1/2"?) does have a bit of writing on the blade.
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Business end..
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Backside...
Spent $10 on it.....maybe too much?
Contributor
I have the 1/4" chisel. My wife says it is "scary looking".
Member
I'd go with "brutally simple" myself.
After all it's made to do one thing and only one thing well: Bash holes in things.
Member
I would add to this discussion (haven't seen it mentioned above) that when they first arrived, I was in love with the beech handles, as they are massive and well shaped, and I have big hands. I was at first, however, a little concerned about whacking them really hard. I am a large human, and have split handles before. That 1/2" chisel handle will really take a serious beating, and I am frequently whomping on it like never before and it has held up remarkably well. I am very impressed with these, and happy with my investment, as this is a lot more money, per chisel, than I am used to spending.
Jeff
Contributor
Jeff, I have the 1/4" and 3/8" RI's and the 3/8" is huge. The 1/2" is Huger (is that a word?
Regarding D2 (in the RI) and A2 (in the LN), I spent time testing the Veritas mortice chisels pre-production. I chops miles of mortices in PM-V11 and A2 versions. The PM shaded the A2, but I was really impressed with the A2. I gave up trying to use both steels until dull. Those railing against A2 are being influenced by what they read on the forums. It is a fine steel for mortice chisels.
Regards from Perth
Derek
Member
Derek,Jeff, I have the 1/4" and 3/8" RI's and the 3/8" is huge. The 1/2" is Huger (is that a word?
Regarding D2 (in the RI) and A2 (in the LN), I spent time testing the Veritas mortice chisels pre-production. I chops miles of mortices in PM-V11 and A2 versions. The PM shaded the A2, but I was really impressed with the A2. I gave up trying to use both steels until dull. Those railing against A2 are being influenced by what they read on the forums. It is a fine steel for mortice chisels.
Regards from Perth
Derek
I just went back and re-read the posts on this thread and I'm the only one that mentioned A2 so I assume you are referring to me. If you read my post I did not rail against A2 for a mortise chisel, in fact I mentioned I have a few LN. What I don't like about the LN chisels is they are sash mortise chisels and that applies to all sash mortise chisels, EOB mortise chisels work better for most mortises except for small not very deep ones and I did say the LN chisels are great for clean up after chopping. My post was in reference to an earlier post that stated "...What worried me was the steel they used and getting it sharp. Ended up with the LN sash mortise chisel in the size I needed." I said in my experience I can sharpen the D2 RI chisels on Ark stones, the A2 not so much.
Sorry for the long reply but I don't see any railing against A2 on this thread.
ken
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