Long series mortice chisel and bit supplier?

[Doug71]

I bought an old floorstanding Record/Ridgeway morticer off ebay a while ago, I didn't realise at the time it works best with the long series bits. I could do with some different sized bits but the only ones I can find are the good quality Japanese ones at £100+ per set. Anyone know of any cheaper options?

Thanks, Doug

 

[deema]

eBay is a good place to start, clico, ridgeway are quality mortise chisels and bits.

 

[RobinBHM]

I think most chisel / bit sets come with long bits to cut down.

Ive bought thr budget ones from wealdon and axminster thag are like that.

I found the wealdon 1/2" sets come with a bit shank that is an odd size, so worth checking it fits your collet.

 

[Doug71]

Sorry my question was maybe not very clear.

Where most mortice chisels are about 4" long the ones that this one needs are more like 7" long, think some of the old wadkin machines used the same.

For a long half inch chisel and bit it's about £130 from somewhere like Scott and Seargent, they only seem available in top quality.

If it's going to cost me over £500 to buy four different sized chisel and bits it will be cheaper to buy a new Morticer!

Cheers, Doug

 

[heimlaga]

I have two of those long series bits for my Naula motiser. Then nobody would sell them in Finland anymore to the rest are short.

As a general rule those cheap chisels you have been looking at are only good for longline sinkers. I would not waste my money och cheap chisels and bits however thempting they might be. Not even for hobby use. Japaneese Star-M are the only new ones that do their job in my oppinion.
I think cheap chisels and bits are the main cause for the bad name that hollow chisel mortisers have gotten on the net.

If the fence on your mortiser table gets in the way of the bit holder when using short bits you place another piece of wood under the workpiece. That is how I do it on my Naula mortiser. Most industrial mortisers have such high fences so it is all common practise.
Short chisels and bits are generally cheaper than long ones even from a reputable maker.

 

[custard]

I would not waste my money och cheap chisels and bits however thempting they might be. Not even for hobby use. Japaneese Star-M are the only new ones that do their job in my oppinion.
I think cheap chisels and bits are the main cause for the bad name that hollow chisel mortisers have gotten on the net.

+1

Morticing machines are like spindle moulders, the tooling generally costs more than the machine.

You can get some second hand decent tooling on Ebay, alternatively at least buy good new tooling in the one or two sizes you use most frequently.

Good luck!

 

[Doug71]

I thought about packing under the workpiece but the fence is only about 10mm higher then what the packing will be so will need to make that higher, would also need to extend the clamp up.

Looks like I am stuck with buying the expensive ones, I learnt along time ago that it generally pays to buy the best you can so guess it's not a bad thing.

Thanks for all the help and advice,

Doug

 

[RobinBHM]

It seems a bit if a design fault if you cant easily use a standard chisel and go down to its full depth.

A long chisel increases the risk of bending as it tries to follow the grain, especially small sizes.

 

[ColeyS1]

Armadillo use to manufacture long mortice bits. They did have a few niggles but came in handy when a longer bit was required. Looks like these people now sell the armadillo range http://www.gerrymet.co.uk/acatalog/Arma ... ystem.html might be worth dropping them an email to see if they also do the chisels.

Coley

 

[Doug71]

Well I spent the morning tinkering with morticer (this is why I am always behind with work!), adding a higher fence etc so now I can use the shorter/standard bits.

RobinBHM you are correct, I have a long 3/8" chisel which just goes where it wants in the timber, the holes don't always line up because it bend too easily.

Coley thank you for the link, they do the exact bits I am looking for at a decent price

Doug

 

[ColeyS1]

We're they on the website Doug? I couldn't see them.

Coley

 

[Doug71]

Coley, I didn't see any Armadillo brand but they have the NH Japan chisels and bits in long series, I have some standard length ones in that make, excellent quality. http://www.gerrymet.co.uk/acatalog/Mort ... ts-p2.html

Doug

 

[custard]

Robin's right, are you absolutely sure there's nothing funny going on with your morticer?

Surely no manufacturer would design a machine that can only use long pattern tooling. Maybe a previous owner has put some kind of spacer in place to raise the head, or the head has alternative positions and it's on an alternative "high" setting. Before I spent money on tooling I'd check through the manual and compare the machine with photos of other examples of the same model to see if you can spot differences.

Just a thought.

 

[Doug71]

When I bought morticer it came with a 7/8" long series bit in. Soon discovered I had to buy a bush 1 3/16 od (I think) to 13/16 id so standard smaller chisels would fit but this was easily available. I then put a new 1/2" chisel in and found it was too short.

I spoke to record and they said it was an obsolete model but sent me a copy of wrm 200 instructions as it's almost the same.

It all seems original inside but could have been messed with.

I thought it was strange that a standard chisel would not bottom out, but a long one is spot on. I have had an old multico morticer and a Robinson, sure they both took shorter bits okay. I wondered if it was designed so that if you were doing something deep like a door mid or bottom rail you could use a short bit but when you needed full depth you used a long bit?

After making an extended fence etc for it today it works with standard bits so am happy(ish) now, just hasn't turned out to be the bargain I thought it was.

Doug

 

[ColeyS1]

That's worth knowing regarding the nh brand chisels. I've tried the expensive brands and never thought them worth the extra money compared to Chinese ones.
Have you got any pics of your morticer ? It sounds a beast !!!!

Coley

 

[dkaardal]

I also buy the NH Brand chisels and bits - I used to get them from Lee Valley when I lived in Canada, and after a fair bit of searching around I found that getting them from Gerrymet was the best deal over here in the UK.

Looking at their site again, I see they do carry the long reach chisels and bits as well.

I'll be honest though, I tend to just use one or two sizes. I'd just as soon make a second pass with a smaller chisel then keep a bunch of different sizes lying around. Of course I do this as a hobby so the extra 30 seconds or so per mortise doesn't cost me much. I might think differently if time was money.

Regards,

Donovan.

 

[Doug71]

Ok so I'm feeling a bit stupid now. Looked at morticer again today and found two nuts that if you loosen allow you to lift the head up and down

Now works fine with any length bit.

Thanks for all your help guys, next time I ask a stupid question just ignore me.

Doug