Is it worth buying mortise chisels or not?

[Anonymous]

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[Midnight]

But I always feel deeply sceptical when you get that so uncritical admiration for LN and other names

I'd suggest that the next time you feel like trying to trash a company's reputation, you should at the very least do some homework first.. or better yet, invest some hands on time with some of their products..

Lie Nielsen have earned a reputation that's second to none for quality of product and customer servise... they've earned that reputation the hard way and strive to maintain it whatever the cost...

 

[deirdre]

Yes OK sweeping statement. Nowt wrong with that! But I always feel deeply sceptical when you get that so uncritical admiration for LN and other names - in most aspects of life too, not only woodwork.
[...]
I am unlikely ever to have a L&N tool experience as they are much too expensive (unless someone gives me one - I'd give it an objective and unbiased bashing I promise!)

If you ever really used an LN, you'd probably find, as I did, that the other tools in the shop were lacking. Personally, I'm replacing all my older tools with LN where LN makes a replacement version.

 

[Jake]

Devotees indeed.

I think you are being unfair here in the extreme. The criticism is of the type of tool being produced, not of the quality of the tool that has been produced to the chosen design, measured against the criteria of that chosen design. TLN does not have a monopoly of opinion on what kind of mortice chisel is the best, and plenty of people seem to agree that pig-stickers are the better pattern.

 

[Tony Spear]

I,ve got a couple of Sorby traditional mortice chisels like Alf's and I love 'em.

I cut my mortices mainly on the Rat which obviously leaves rounded ends, but then put a well sharpened chisel in the right place, give it a good bash or two and lo and behold neat square ended mortices!

 

[Mittlefehldt]

Hi all,

I am considering buying a couple of mortise chisels.

There are two issues here:

What are the recommendations for morise chisels. I am looking at Two Cherries, Ashley Iiles, and so on. Any recs?

Also, I am also considering to get a bench morticer as I am going to make several chairs and need to generate a lot of mortice joints.

So is it worth buying morice chisels (I have a set of bevelled chisels as is) considering I do plan to but bench morticer? :?

Some guidance from the experts would be appreciated.

Thanks.

To get back to the original question, I would ask how many mortises,do you plan to do, and once this project is done will you be doing more in the future?

If you plan on doing a lot of them maybe the bench mortising machine thingy is what you want, particularly if you have little hand tool experience. PErsonally I think they are a lot of money to gather dust in your shop if you are not doing this all the time. I personally have three Hirsch chisels which look suspicsiously like the two cherries and I would not hesitate to reccomend those.

I am almost done a project that required 42 half inch X 2.5 inch X 2 inch deep mortises, I had done some mortising prior to this with another chisel which was okay but not great. With the Hirsch chisels the first one I did took, and don`t laugh Alf, 35 minutes. The last six took less than an hour, I got faster as I went and those massive chisels really eat the wood.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I have a widish selection of mortice chisels but will speak of my experience with two types, since these reflect opposite ends of the spectrum.

For some years I used Japanese mortice chisels. These cut well but, as I discovered, were not really suited to hardwood since they were small and required more energy to hammer in spite of holding a good edge.

These days I use the Japanese mortice chisels to straighten the end of mortices made on a router (yes, I do that type as well ).

The ones I currently use are the Oval Bostered Mortice type. I have bought unhandled ones quite cheaply on eBay and enjoyed re-handling them myself. Here are some (mostly Sorby, Ward, etc)

The noticeable difference is their greater heft and length. They do a much better job on hardwoods and, in addition, are easier to keep straight.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

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[deirdre]

Jake -- actually, I like pigstickers for mortise chisels, I just thought the one poster was being unfair.

 

[Alf]

Coo, leave you lot unsupervised for a couple of days and all **** breaks loose...

I'd love to know if anyone out there has used OBMs and subsequently preferred the other varieties. Without stirring you up too much, for preference... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

 

[BrianD]

Wow, the passion flows! :roll:

And here I was, just asking a simple question - well so I thought :shock:

:lol:

It's just a chisel or two after all - OK I'll duck about now! (hammer)

 

[Anonymous]

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[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

I'd love to know if anyone out there has used OBMs and subsequently preferred the other varieties. Without stirring you up too much, for preference... :wink:

Cheers, Alf

Well, I did get a vintage Stanley "tool" (circa 1950) after the OBMC, which "some" might use for morticing, but not I ... I think I'll stick with the chisels ..

Regards from Perth

Derek :lol: :lol:

 

[Philly]

Hah, nice one Derek :lol:
Been watching this thread with interest (I find the toolteam burnouts on other forums quite ghastly :evil: ).
I haven't used pigstickers, only Japanese mortise and the Lie-Nielsen mortise chisels. For the record I find the Japanese type to be excellent, with none of the chipping problems you can get with the bevel edge chisels. And the L-N mortise chisels are great, beautifully made and work like a dream. I find that the "pigstickers with really wide blades guide better" story is a bit untrue-most mortise chisels are the same wide for the first inch or so. And thats the most that you would use it in a cabinetmaking scenario! Now, if I was building a timber framed house........
But to get back to the ORIGINAL question-if you are going to cut a few mortises then there are plenty of good benchtop models available that are a similar cost to a set of mortise chisels. In the real world a benchtop model is going to be a lot more use UNLESS you want to be a "I work only with hand tools" person. :lol: Spend ten minutes cutting one by hand then ten minutes cutting the other 20 on the benchtop model and see which is relevent for your working methods or how much spare time you have.
Hope this is of use,
Philly

 

[Jake]

there are plenty of good benchtop models available that are a similar cost to a set of mortise chisels.

My set of six pig-stickers cost me £20. As a non-neander, I wish I could find a bench morticer for that!

 

[Philly]

Ha! Nice one Jake. Had my eyes open for a long time for a set but they seem to of dried up in Dorset :lol:
a £100 will buy you an entry level one and £150 a very good one.
Cheers
Philly