Through mortise and tenons

[Pat Barry]

Ken, we can choose our own methods of work & I respect yours. Paul Sellers tap, tap tapping with a light round mallet just doesn’t do it for me. There is nothing gentle or mild about mortising. Ian Kirby describes violent blows, full arm swings! Let it rip! The chisel will travel deep and a forceful pull will lever out stubborn chips. Fast, furious and satisfying. Warren describes club like mallets - remember, this is the Neanderthal forum😉

I have a nice palm sized roundish rock that I like to use for mortice chopping. Have no idea about the weight but it stays on the bench nicely because its not too round. Feels better, more natural, than a metal hammer.

[ken hatch]

I have a nice palm sized roundish rock that I like to use for mortice chopping. Have no idea about the weight but it stays on the bench nicely because its not too round. Feels better, more natural, than a metal hammer.

Pat,

If you are not kidding, I like, not that I would do it that way but, I like and it makes me smile.

ken

[ken hatch]

Ken, we can choose our own methods of work & I respect yours. Paul Sellers tap, tap tapping with a light round mallet just doesn’t do it for me. There is nothing gentle or mild about mortising. Ian Kirby describes violent blows, full arm swings! Let it rip! The chisel will travel deep and a forceful pull will lever out stubborn chips. Fast, furious and satisfying. Warren describes club like mallets - remember, this is the Neanderthal forum

Mark,

As always with woodworking, what ever blows your skirt and YMMV. I'm not much in favor of the Conan approach to anything in life, be it cars, airplanes, women, dogs or woodworking.

ken

[Mark Rainey]

Mark,

As always with woodworking, what ever blows your skirt and YMMV. I'm not much in favor of the Conan approach to anything in life, be it cars, airplanes, women, dogs or woodworking.

ken

I am not in macho activities either Ken, but maybe the mortising substitutes for shoot um up video games which I cannot seem to get into.

[ken hatch]

I am not in macho activities either Ken, but maybe the mortising substitutes for shoot um up video games which I cannot seem to get into.

Mark,

I hear you

ken

[steven c newman]

IF you ever drop in on a Youtube show called Traditional Chinese Woodworking....the "host" puts on a little show & tell, about chopping a mortise, and a through one at that......and will put most of you to shame doing it. Worth the watch...IF you dare...

[lowell holmes]

Bevel edge chisels will chop mortises. Any hammer will do, but a mallet is better.

[Kevin Perez]

I haven’t done through mortises, but I have done blind mortises using Paul Sellers’s method and bench chisels. It worked great and was a lot of fun. The tip on practicing first is key to get your confidence up. Just work carefully and work from both sides. You’d be surprised how well the chisel tracks square. I’m looking forward to my next project when I can do it again!

[Jim Koepke]

I have done blind mortises using Paul Sellers’s method and bench chisels. It worked great and was a lot of fun.

If you want some real fun, spring for an inexpensive mortise chisel like a Narex in the size you use most. If you do not like it, it would likely be easy to sell at little loss.

If as my suspicions lead me to believe, you like it, then you may want to acquire the sizes you use regularly.

Driving a chisel is fun. Whacking a mortise chisel is way more fun.

It is like the difference of driving a sedan or a truck.

jtk

[Kevin Perez]

If you want some real fun, spring for an inexpensive mortise chisel like a Narex in the size you use most.
jtk

I actually own a Sorby mortise chisel in 1/4" in addition to my bench chisels. It is not a pig sticker, but halfway there from a bench chisel. I have used it for mortises as well with good results, too. I guess maybe I need to go full bore and try something more "Neanderthaly."

[ken hatch]

I actually own a Sorby mortise chisel in 1/4" in addition to my bench chisels. It is not a pig sticker, but halfway there from a bench chisel. I have used it for mortises as well with good results, too. I guess maybe I need to go full bore and try something more "Neanderthaly."

Kevin,

Almost any chisel can work to chop mortises. For some mortises, different woods, different width and depth, different types of chisels will be easier to use. I expect your Sorby is a sash mortise chisel that was made to do shallow, fairly narrow mortises. A true pig sticker comes into its own chopping deeper mortises, once you use one it is hard to go back.

ken

[Warren Mickley]

Kevin,

Almost any chisel can work to chop mortises. For some mortises, different woods, different width and depth, different types of chisels will be easier to use. I expect your Sorby is a sash mortise chisel that was made to do shallow, fairly narrow mortises. A true pig sticker comes into its own chopping deeper mortises, once you use one it is hard to go back.

ken

Any chisel can make a shallow mortise. A sash mortise is helpful when the mortise is deep and not too long. It is much easier to manipulate the sash mortise because it does not so much fill up the cavity.

[Mark Maleski]

Any chisel can make a shallow mortise. A sash mortise is helpful when the mortise is deep and not too long. It is much easier to manipulate the sash mortise because it does not so much fill up the cavity.

Warren, which of the two (pigsticker or sash mortise) do you prefer for relatively shallow mortises on a Chippendale chair? (Even a through mortise joining the rails to the stiles could be considered “shallow,” given the morticing is approached from both sides of the stile.). I have always used a pigsticker, but your post has me questioning that. Perhaps I’ll find a sash chisel and give it a try on my next chair.

[Warren Mickley]

Warren, which of the two (pigsticker or sash mortise) do you prefer for relatively shallow mortises on a Chippendale chair? (Even a through mortise joining the rails to the stiles could be considered “shallow,” given the morticing is approached from both sides of the stile.). I have always used a pigsticker, but your post has me questioning that. Perhaps I’ll find a sash chisel and give it a try on my next chair.

Of course the chisel you are used to will give good results.

In the 18th century mortise chisels were sort of intermediate between the sash mortise chisel and the joiner's mortise chisel. They were probably a bit lighter at the beginning of the century. The two forms, sash and joiner's, originated in the 19th century at the same time that machines were starting to be used for making mortises. (Some were foot power.) I don't know which of these tools were used by which trades in the 19th century. Charles Hayward said that sash mortise chisels were used for cabinetmaking, but I can't think of other references.

I prefer sash mortise chisels for furniture. I would recommend them, but I would not go so far as to suggest that someone replace their joiner's mortise chisels if things are working out for them.

[John Kananis]

I have a set of those Sorby sash mortise chisels and they work well for me. I've seen so many threads on pig-stickers that I'd love to try one but as I said, the Sorby chisels work just fine and I never had a problem with the sides not being square to the flat.