Smoking morticer chisel

[Austin Branson]

Greetings, oh sage ones.
I use a chisel morticer, amnd have recently cut about 150 1/2 inch mortices in oak. Thechisel now smokes very badly in use, as there is a build-up of resin/dust which is literally boiling and giving off a lot of acrid smoke.
What can I do to clean it off?
Many thanks,
Austin

 

[Spindle]

Hi

After that amount of use it may well require sharpening, clean the gunk off with a wire brush and then re sharpen.

Regards Mick

 

[Karl]

It's blunt and needs sharpening. Easy enough to do with an appropriately sized file. Sharpen the chisel too - if you haven't got a bit to do the internal face, at least lap the outside on your diamond stone (or oilstone, wet n dry or whatever your sharpening medium may be).

If heat is building up in the bit itself, I wouldn't be surprised if it sheared sometime soon and you'll find yourself buying a new bit.

Cheers

Karl

 

[matthewwh]

Sharpen it.

If the problem continues after sharpening then you have probably cooked it - replace the drill part.

 

[caroleb]

Agreed it is blunt, but can I ask what the general concensus is for sharpening mortice chisels is? Do I really have to fork out £50 odd for a guided countersink-alike to sharpen them, or is there a genius other method?

TIA

Caz

Edit - Sounds like the OP may not have a sharpening kit for mortice chisels, so I don't feel too bad for asking; can I use one of the conical drill mounted carborundum stones I have, or are they likely to build up too much heat? Again -thanks.

 

[glynster]

Axminster do a kit especially for sharpening mortice chisels but its a bit pricey at £40 http://www.axminster.co.uk/morticing-ch ... pening-set

I watched this recently on cleaning resin off blades - seems decent and the same would apply to any drilling or cutting tool http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/videos/ ... ades-bits/ but I havent tried it yet

 

[custard]

If you're in the habit of boring 150 mortices in oak then you should bite the bullet and get the countersink sharpening doo-hickey, it makes sharpening a chisel really fast and consistent. Personally I'd be sharpening the chisel every thirty or forty mortices and the auger every twenty or thirty mortices...maybe more frequently if they're in a tough timber like oak.

However, if that was a once in a blue moon event then you can wrap some wet and dry around a piece of dowel and sharpen the inside (and only sharpen the inside) of the chisel that way. You need to maintain the angle inside the chisel (within reason), and a conical carborundum stone may or may not do the job, plus if you sharpen one side the chisel more than the others the chisel will be prone to twisting as it engages the workpiece.

Good luck.

 

[matthewwh]

Similar stuff here: Blade-and-Bit-Cleaner.

 

[RobinBHM]

I used to use one of those mini grinding wheels that are mounted on a 1/4" arbor. In a set there is usually a ball shaped one. I shaped it the exact angle of the chisel using a diamond dressing tool. A slow speed in a cordless is sufficient. It was a bit of improvisation at the time when I urgently needed to finish a job and ended up using it for many years before buying a proper set.

If you need to clean off resin build up, I find thinners such as acetone works very well on spindle tooling.

 

[caroleb]

I have rather a lot of mortices (mortii?) to cut in hardwoods over the next few weeks, and although I do have a ready supply of new old stock Wadkin 3/4" chisels, I should like to be able to sharpen them efficiently. I am a bit of a tightwad and have never paid topwhack for a sharpening stone of any sort, so am reluctant to start now. Problem is that mortice chisel sharpening kits turn up far less often then decent sharpening stones. Ergo I guess I will have to just buy one much the same as you guys.
Do any of you use a small slip stone to sharpen the auger bits, or is it a file all the way?

Regarding bit cleaner ; I have bought Axminster and CMT bit cleaners, and whilst they both worked they didn't come close to poundland oven cleaner. This is the cheapest, nastiest caustic oven cleaner you can get - usually an aerosol rather than pump action, and stinks like hell. Bubbles on contact with, well - anything really. And I think I was advised to only leave it on for a short period and to be careful not to pile too much on the weld (braize?) section of the bit/blade. But it does work extremely well.

HTH

Caz

 

[KevM]

+1 for oven cleaner for clearing resin build up.

 

[custard]

Do any of you use a small slip stone to sharpen the auger bits, or is it a file all the way?


Caz

Personally I use a file and a slip stone on the spur, but I can't see any reason not to use a slip stone throughout if that's what you've got. Little and often is better than major re-engineering when it's billowing smoke!

 

[Racers]

I use Mr Muscle window and glass cleaner, it needs a soak and brass brush but its very safe to use.

Pete

 

[BRYAN]

Its fair to say the chisel and bit must surely be blunt but,do make sure that in giving extra welly to make blunt tools cut that you have not forced the bit in the chuck to slide up and make contact with the chisel.

Bryan.

 

[Austin Branson]

Folks, many, many thanks for all your responses. I have cleaned all the crud off using oven cleaner, and the auger does look pretty blunt. Surprisingly (having read your responses), the chisel still seems fairly sharp. I have only ever used a saw doctor to sharpen these things - can I simply use a file to sharpen the auger? Any particular methods that I need to understand, please?
Regards, and again - many thanks,
Austin