Mortise chisel and bit - buying advise needed.

[JonnyW]

Can anyone recommend good quality mortise chisel and bits?

I have a Clarke drill press that I have a mortise attachment for. I'm an 'occasional' mortise machine user, so I can't justify buying a dedicated machine.

The thing works a treat - after I'd made a table for the drill press with the guide etc fixed to it.

The thing that let it down drastically, was the cheap piece of sh*t bits that came with it. Bin material.

So any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Jonny

 

[deema]

Look on auction sites for
Clico
Robinson
Ridgeway
Wadkin

These are all normally English pattern with two flukes on the drill. As long as they haven't been over heated I.e. Blue in colour they will out perform anything IMO. You will need a mortice chisel sharpener probably a no 1 set again from the same makes again off an action site.

 

[RobinBHM]

I use these,

http://www.wealdentool.com/acatalog/Onl ... s_730.html

I buy the 1/2" sets for use in a joinery shop for morticing iroko and oak.

 

[blackrodd]

I see on the Clarke morticer attachment Original.Manual for the CMA 1B. the chisel collars are 3/4"
So bear that in mind when you buy any new chisel and auger sets.
The excellent ones that Robin showed are bigger I believe.
But before you splash out, I bought a cheap AXminster Tools morticer years ago when they were in the original shop in Axminster, just to make life a bit easier in my workshop.

I assumed the 3 chisels that came with it to be nasty and cheap but was pleasantly surprised that it worked so well
in oak elm and ash, softwood being a doddle, still using them now.
Technique is also a big factor, after setting up and squaring up the chisel with the fence, I start morticing with the chisel
in the middle, and only go in about 3/8" deep, then next cut beside the first, 3/4" then otherside of the first 3/8"deep cut
1 1/4"This saves the chisel getting jammed in the cut, and overheating the auger and chisel.
Most of these cheaper tools will work very well but nice and steady is the way for it to give good service for years.
Have you sharpened the chisels and augers you have now? What are you using to sharpen the auger and chisel now?

Are you making sure the 1x 16th" gap between the auger and chisel at the bottom is present?
Without a 16th" gap, This will cause many problems, overheating auger and chisels, and make the morticing very hard work.
HTH Regards Rodders

http://www.clarkeservice.co.uk/manuals/ ... /cma1b.pdf

 

[JonnyW]

Guys thank you for your responses. Really appreciated.

I used a mortiser a billion years ago. So thank you for the advise and tips. Especially the manual !!! The thing I got was one page long!!!!!

It'll slowly come back to me I'm sure.

Thanks again. I shall go shopping.

Cheers

Jonny

 

[Eric The Viking]

Oddly, although I have an Axminster set, I kept the 1/2" Clarke one* back and use it a lot.

The Axy ones aren't bad (good value for money, definitely), but all of them benefited hugely from being properly sharpened.

Since you're setting the tenon from the mortice chisel (one hopes!) the exact size doesn't matter, so treat it like a hand chisel back, and flatten, or at least polish carefully, each face, then use a sharpening bit to get the keenest edge you can. Also sharpen the auger, and set the clearance carefully (it varies with both the size of mortice and the wood your'e using, I find). There's a world of difference if the chisel particularly is razor sharp.

E.

*gave the adaptor and the other chisels away on Freecycle as truly dreadful.

 

[Doug B]

Jonny I have this set of Axminster chisels, they have a 19mm collar, they are about seven years old & have had very little use due to the fact the Axminster morticer I bought to go with them was complete & utter garbage self destructing on about its fifth time of being used.

If you want them for just the price of P&P just drop me a PM with your name & address.

 

[JonnyW]

Hi Doug. Thanks to the offer but I bought a couple of half decent bits, so thanks - appreciated

Rodders and Eric. Thanks for the comments. Really appreciated. I've not sharpened a man auger bit before, but will give it a go. I would love a dedicated mortiser - I may get one sometime in the future, but for now I'm going to pimp up my drill press. I think a custom table would help a lot. I just hate the constant undoing of he hold down so I can get the wood moved, but hey what can you do!

Thanks Rodders for the tips. I think I was digging in far too deep, so i'll try to be more patient next time.

Thanks again guys.

Jonny

 

[Eric The Viking]

Forgot to say - the square faces are supposed to taper very slightly out to the cutting edges, so there's clearance. Polish them, but don't attempt make them square or parallel ! Oh, and the sharpening bit with different sized inserts for centring works well for me. The posh kits come with a handy diamond plate, too.

 

[JonnyW]

Nice one Eric. Thanks for that.

Jonny

 

[JonnyW]

Hi Doug. I've pm'd you. I obviously never read you post correctly!! Hence me sounding like a very ungrateful brat!

So please accept my sincere apologies.

I'll take you up on that very generous offer.

Thank you.

Jonny