My bench project is progressing slowly but surely being juggled with many other chores.
Currently the labor revolves around building the leg structures. The stretchers from front to back are 4x4 material.
The mortises & tenons are 1 X 2-1/2 X 3" deep.
Some of the mortises have been made by chopping only with a chisel and some have been made by drilling out a lot of the waste with auger bits first.
Yesterday and today the two methods were timed. Surprise! It took me about the same amount of time either way. The chisel only method also seems to end up with a little bit cleaner side walls.
Three 1" chisels were used during the mortising. Yesterday and today one of my beater chisels was given a try. It is one that came in a group bought on ebay.
Amazing how my sharpening skill has improved since my last attempt to use this chisel. It seems to work great on mortising.
My method with the chisel was the Vee method from the center making a deeper Vee progressively. With the auger bit a thin layer was removed with a chisel before drilling.
The chisel is marked W Mix & Co:
W Mix & Co Chisel top view.jpg
At the top of the bevel it is a bit more than 7/32" thick:
W Mix & Co 1%22 Chisel side view.jpg
The chisel is ~3-1/4" at the shoulder. That makes a good way to know the depth has been achieved.
With the auger first method there seemed more likely for the chisel to twist in the cut. It also seemed to need more side wall clean up.
jtk
Reply With Quote