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Thread: Is this why people use mortise chisels?

  1. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by Steven Mikes View Post
    Thanks all for the great advice! I took the excuse to order the set of 3 Narex mortise chisels from Amazon I'll try sharpening them with a convex bevel.
    The wood is Poplar btw so not too hard, after reading your comments though I'm pretty sure I was just abusing it by twisting to try and clean the bottom of the hole.
    For cleaning the bottom of mortises a lock mortise or a swan neck mortise is very helpful.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  2. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    For cleaning the bottom of mortises a lock mortise or a swan neck mortise is very helpful.

    jtk

    Try this. Called a sokozari chisel.

  3. #33
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    Stan, how do you sharpen the sokozari, and for its purpose, how sharp does it need to be?

  4. #34
    It must be sharp enough so that CERN calls you when they need atoms split...

    How do you sharpen it? That has been well covered here on The Creek...

  5. #35
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    One of the things that concerned me when I first saw this post is the condition of the chisel face. It looks like it has had a lot of abuse. Here is a picture of one of my Narex chisels. Granted, it has not had much use, but this is what a new one looks like. The one in the OP's picture does not even look like it was made and machined to the quality that comes from Narex.

    Narex chisel.jpg

  6. #36
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    I recently got a sokozari and can recommend it as being extremely useful for cleaning up mortises. It can flatten the bottom of a mortise, but is also useful for scraping out those stubborn bits of wood that hang in the corners. It saves the edges on your bench/mortise chisels.

    I just sharpen it freehand, like it's a tiny router plane blade.

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Todd Zucker View Post
    Stan, how do you sharpen the sokozari, and for its purpose, how sharp does it need to be?
    Not aware that John or anyone has addressed how to sharpen a sokozarai chisel on SMC. How many besides Brian even own one?

    It does not need to be very sharp. Indeed, the steep bevel angle of cutting edge prevents it from getting ultra-sharp. The one in the picture is a common size, but they come longer/wider and shorter/smaller too.

    The end-user usually modifies it for his purposes. For instance, for making shoji screen and doors with lots of small mortises, the cutting edge is typically ground down to a nub, and the bevel angle decreased until the cutting edge is quite sharp. But for most mortises, that degree of customization is not necessary.

    The bottom of the foot is where most of the sharpening effort is focused, since the bevel is difficult to stone. I think the pics below will explain how it is done.


  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by Stanley Covington View Post
    Not aware that John or anyone has addressed how to sharpen a sokozarai chisel on SMC. How many besides Brian even own one?
    I was being facetious.. . I have only seen those in pictures....

    And just when we thought the subject had been properly worked out - Stan brings us a completely new type of chisel to argue about how to sharpen...

  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by John C Cox View Post
    I was being facetious.. . I have only seen those in pictures....

    And just when we thought the subject had been properly worked out - Stan brings us a completely new type of chisel to argue about how to sharpen...
    Maybe we should have competitive bidding for the popcorn concession (ッ)

  10. #40
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    Not aware that John or anyone has addressed how to sharpen a sokozarai chisel on SMC. How many besides Brian even own one?
    I have had this Koyamaichi (as I believe) sokozarai for several years.



    I was a bit taken aback that it came with a hoop (since removed).

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  11. #41
    You can absolutely mortise with a bench chisel (35*). Paul Sellers does it ALL THE TIME: https://youtu.be/q_NXq7_TILA

    He also uses a paint can opener ($1?) to excavate waste.

    So you know: you can still damage a narrower Narex mortise chisel if you twist it while it is buried in the wood. I have seen that happen more than once.

    Simon

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon MacGowen View Post
    So you know: you can still damage a narrower Narex mortise chisel if you twist it while it is buried in the wood. I have seen that happen more than once.
    You can damage basically any chisel that way :-)

  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Derek Cohen View Post
    I have had this Koyamaichi (as I believe) sokozarai for several years.



    I was a bit taken aback that it came with a hoop (since removed).

    Regards from Perth

    Derek
    Wow... somebody either screwed up or was too lazy to specify the right handle.

  14. #44
    Uh.. I think the edge might have rolled when I hammered it...

  15. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by Simon MacGowen View Post
    You can absolutely mortise with a bench chisel (35*). Paul Sellers does it ALL THE TIME: https://youtu.be/q_NXq7_TILA

    He also uses a paint can opener ($1?) to excavate waste.

    So you know: you can still damage a narrower Narex mortise chisel if you twist it while it is buried in the wood. I have seen that happen more than once.

    Simon
    Mortising should not be done with a bench chisel in my opinion. A bench chisel doesn’t self jig like a Mortise chisel does and will likely cause the user to make mortises that need to be fixed.

    Its great to keep a minimal tool kit but opting out of Mortise chisels is not the best way to achieve that.

    Mortising is not easy to learn, it took me a number of years working by myself and cutting mortises by hand to Mortise with consistency and confidence. I do not think it does any service to anyone to advocate the wrong tools for the job, just makes the trying a few months or years longer.

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