Only one mortise chisel?

[Jack Dover]

You don’t have to buy a tool to cover every possibility.

What a bold and daring statement. You have quite the nerve to say it! Be careful though, I remember a guy saying similar things at a woodworking show and nobody has seen him ever since.

[Matthew Cashman]

There was some commentary about mortise vs. bench chisels. Another point: sharpening and sharpness. Chopping mortises is hard on your edge, and I'd rather beat up a mortise chisel that only needs to be kind-of sharp than abuse the bench chisels, which are sharpened at a lower angle and kept, generally, much sharper.

Although, if one had 5-6 sets of bench chisels, as seems not too uncommon around here...

[Edward Weber]

Although, if one had 5-6 sets of bench chisels, as seems not too uncommon around here...

One set that never gets used
One set that needs sharpening
One mismatched set
One cheap set
One daily use set

Any of this sound familiar

[Jim Koepke]

A put together set of bevel edge chisels for paring with sizes from 1/8" to 1" by eighths of an inch.
A group of firmer bevel edge chisels for light mallet work, various sizes.
A group of square sided chisels for medium to heavy mallet work.
A selection of random short/butt chisels.
A selection of 4 or 5 mortise chisels
Three chisels with 90º bevels.
Then all the other random chisels in the accumulation of chisels in the shop.

jtk

[Tom M King]

I don't even know how many chisels I have. There are two toolboxes full, and probably a whole set on the dashboard of my truck.

[Daniel Culotta]

...and probably a whole set on the dashboard of my truck.

Please don't ever have a wreck! Chisel missiles...

[Edward Weber]

I was only (partially) joking

I have a few (cough) sets as well, they all have a purpose. That's may story

[James Pallas]

Sometimes people think the thickness of the chisel is to jig along the mortise, and it is, but it also supports perpendicular to the mortise with the wide side. Its easier to bell the mortise with a bench chisel. For myself I prefer a mortise chisel and one longer than a bench chisel. Easier to see if you’re cutting straight down. Sometimes those antique pig stickers have been sharpened to butt chisel lengths.
Jim

[Andrew Seemann]

One set that never gets used
One set that needs sharpening
One mismatched set
One cheap set
One daily use set

Any of this sound familiar

Well,
One set for only hand pressure or light wood mallet (vintage 750 style, various brands),
One for a wood mallet and/or mild abuse (Two Cherries),
One for beating on with a rip hammer (1960's Stanley plastic handle),
One in the site box (1960s Buck Bros? plastic handled),
One to lend out (Irwin Marples),
One backup (Record Marples, blue handle),
One in reserve (Millers Falls?),
One additional collection/conglomeration of miscellaneous type and sized chisels (mortice, sash, paring, firmer, swan, etc.). Two types and 3 sizes of mortice chisel. Need to pick up a 1/2" pigsticker one of these days.

Really not sure how you could get by with less than 8 sets

Oh, and a couple sacrificial ones for chipping glue off the bench and wood with nails.

And that new Sweetheart 750 set is taunting me, along with a set of Ashley Iles.

[steven c newman]

Hmm..just the ones that work, for the task at hand...
Mortise Work, almost done.JPG
YMMV

[Luke Dupont]

Even I have... 3 sets of chisels? Despite my desire to be a minimalist...

- Modern set of 8 Stanley Sweetheart bevel edge Socket Chisels
- Five vintage firmer chisels... love the steel in these things
- Japanese chisels... an assortment of normal and butt-sized ones, mostly western bevel edged style, but with larger bevels than the stanleys.

Sometimes I want a mortise chisel, but given that I can't do too much chopping in an apartment anyway, I stick with firmers and bench chisels.

I've come to like the Stanley Socket Chisels the least. They're okay, but I prefer both the vintage firmers and the Japanese chisels more, both for their form factor and steel. The stanleys tend to twist a lot when chopping due to the shallow edges on the side (the bevels going down quite far). I don't like shallow edges on bench chisels for this reason, and even like firmer chisels a lot. You only need one or two chisels for dovetailing anyway, and you can, in fact, cut dovetails with firmer chisels. Just angle the chisel...

Not sure why every bench chisel has become a specialized dovetail chisel. Just buy a dovetail chisel if that's what you want... The whole point of bench chisels is to be a "jack of all trades." That includes chopping mortises. That includes paring. That includes dovetailing. That includes shaping. If you have the space and money for half a dozen sets of chisels, that's awesome! Maybe you don't even need bevel edged bench chisels then? Just firmers, dovetial chisels, paring chisels, and mortising chisels?

[Jim Koepke]

The stanleys tend to twist a lot when chopping due to the shallow edges on the side (the bevels going down quite far). I don't like shallow edges on bench chisels for this reason, and even like firmer chisels a lot.

My set of paring chisels all have shallow edges on the sides. For me this is preferred for this set. (these are Buck Bothers socket chisels)

Another group of bevel edged chisels has higher edges on the sides. These also do light work with a mallet. (this set is mostly Witherby)

The point is, some chisel designs may work better at specific tasks than others. Yes, one can pare waste from a dovetail, but a bevel edged chisel with shallow edges does it easier.

jtk

[steven c newman]

Was getting ready to do a bit of work, this morning...
A Busy Tuesday. tools sharpened.JPG
So gave them all a quick refresh...had 10 mortises in Maple to chop, after all....