Mortice chisel selection

[Beardo16]

Hi Guys

I was wandering what mortice chisels people have.

Currently looking at the Robert Sorby chisels but wandering if there are any others worth considering.

Thanks Adam

 

[Ironballs]

I have the Kirschens, pretty solid, can take a hammering, hold a good edge and do the job well

 

[Philly]

I have a few Lie-Nielsen ones and they're very good, too.
Philly

 

[tja]

I recently got three french Goldenberg oval handled pig stickers, 6, 8 and 10 mm. in one buy from a dutch old tools dealer (DucoTools) who'd apparently been on a trip to France recently, as he also had some Brunon mortice chisels (round handled) and a Peugeot oval handled one up for sale. I've only used the 6 mm. one for now, but the others will be put to use soon. It seems to do the job, but it's the first time I handled a pig sticker, so I have no ground for comparison.

Take

 

[dunbarhamlin]

Pigstickers. LNs feel dinky to me.
Ray Iles makes nice D2 pigstickers, or vintage ones can be had for but little outlay.

 

[Peter T]

Pigstickers. LNs feel dinky to me.
Ray Iles makes nice D2 pigstickers, or vintage ones can be had for but little outlay.

Ray Iles are the best.

Even I can make good mortices with them

 

[woodbloke]

LN's here, don't use them much but they are good - Rob

 

[EdK]

The Ray D2 ones - solid and tough. Think that there is some good blurb here : http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merc ... _Code=TBMC

Ed

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

My God, you guys are impossible! There you in the land of oval bolstered mortice chisels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :lol:

Hard to find in Oz. Some I bought in the UK, some from eBay without handles ... Always looked for blades about 7 1/2" long.

I have a couple of Ray Iles (1/4" and 3/8"), and they are indeed excellent. Nevertheless, I also have a bunch of mainly Ward and a few Sorby, and they are wonderful. In fact, unless you feel the urge to buy new, and even if you work with highly abrassive and hard wood (as I do), the laminated steel of these vintage chisels will more than do the job.

1/2" and 1/4" Wards flanking a 1/4" RI

Assortment of sizes ..

Recent article on M&T: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furniture/ ... rtice.html

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Beardo16]

Thanks for all the responces guys.

I did have a look at the LN's but they do seem pretty pricey. I do understand they are LN though so quality is not an issue.

Ragarding the Kirschens, i dont know how some people use them. They are huge and i feel they are too big. Certainly the handle could be made smaller in my opinion.

Regarding the Ray Iles where would i get these from in the UK?

Again thanks for the responces, i have been pondering over this for some time now.

Adam

 

[EdK]

Adam - he has a shop : http://www.oldtools.free-online.co.uk/

Also like others say they go on eBay pretty cheap (£10 + ?)

I bought 2 from Ray and they are goood Prob add to them either from Ray or from eBay in the future.

Email him or call - I think that he takes a while to respond to email (if you are in a rush).
Thanks
Ed

 

[Alf]

Classic case of the grass being greener, I think, Derek. I have old, mainly Ward, OBMs and they do an excellent job.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Hi Alf

Great to have you back!

Best wishes and

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[TobyB]

I was looking for some too - wondered about the Ray Isles, but a lot of money for something I'm not sure I'll use that much - going for something cheaper (yes, I know I may end up buying the quality option later, but thought I'd see how much I used them in reality) ... CI Fall ones from Workshop Heaven ... which will rehandled and fettled by them ... workshopheaven.blogspot.com ... and a set of 5 for the cost of a couple of RI's seemed very reasonable ...

 

[matthewwh]

Classic case of the grass being greener, I think, Derek.

Cheers, Alf

If you mean Derek 'from the land of scrummy hardwoods, Goldfield burrs, HNT Gordon and Colen Clenton' being jealous because we don't pay international shipping for mortice chisels, then I'm inclined to agree.

I'm currently working on the C.I. Fall morticers, which now have much better handles and the blades are going to have been touched by the hand of Scottish knifemaker Chris Grant. I've managed to keep the prices the same on the bevelled firmers but the morticers will be a bit more spendy than the stock ones as there is a lot more work going into them. Nonetheless they will work beautifully and be significantly cheaper than any of the other brand new offerings that work properly.

I'm also talking with Ray about stocking his morticers in the near future.

For me it's a testers selection of a couple of John bull English morticers (pigsticker is such an ugly expression for an incredibly capable tool), a couple of Sorby sash morticers and various prototypes based on C.I. Fall's and A.I.'s and my new baby; a huge Victorian floor standing cast iron morticing lever press by Haigh of Oldham. All of the cheaper chisels I have tried have been abominable, rectangular rather than trapezoidal, soft, ugly and generally not worth bothering with.

The best advice seems to be either to buy old ones and put some hours into getting them functioning correctly, spend a fortune, or ..... gap in the market! With a bit of luck they should be ready in time for Christmas.

 

[Alf]

Cheers, Derek. Glad to see you're still offering up lots of practical solutions and how-tos. When are you going to do a book?

Matthew, just been catching up on your blog about the CI Falls. Sounds interesting, although it's a tragedy you have to start with a Swedish chisel. Although my one example of same is a Berg (with a tacky plastic handle that actually I find, um, perfectly comfortable...) and it does take and hold a lovely edge. I shall watch with interest but with my card details at a safe distance for my own good.

Cheers, Alf <chiselaholic>

 

[Evergreen]

I have two antique OBM chisels - the third from the left is a 3/8 inch James Howarth and the fourth from the left is a 1/8 inch Thomas Ibbotson.

I don't use them often but their oval handles make alignment for chopping easier than a round handled chisel.

 

[mickthetree]

I've picked up a couple of OBMCs cheap from a famous auction website :wink:

They have been really useful and the 5/8ths one would be pricey new I would think!

However both have had curved backs.

I'm not sure if they are supposed to, I assume not as one would want them to cut the ends of the mortice flush once the material has been removed, but to flatten these would be a heck of a lot of work.

I assume it comes from the previous owners only sharpening the ends. Not sure there is enough of the laminated back steel left to correct this without seriously reducing the length first.

Having said that, they have both been very useful in cutting the mortices for my garden gate.

 

[matthewwh]

Hi Mick,

If you polish the surface of the primary bevel to a reasonable standard (it doesn't have to be perfect) and dip the surface in lemon juice for a few minutes you may be able to see the line where the two steels meet. Not all old morticers are laminated, the more recent they are the more likely it is that they are high carbon steel throughout.

 

[mickthetree]

Hi Matthew

Thanks for that.

As it happens the lamination shows on the sides of the chisels and on the face of the primary bevel as well after cleaning it up.

Fairly thick, but tapers off in thickness towards the top of the blade.

Taking into account the banana shape of the blade overall I think the only way to get a flat back would be to grind an inch or maybe more off the end. Or cut it and regrind it I suppose.

Dont need them for a while yet, but would like to get them sorted. I thought about maybe sending them off to Ray and getting them rehandled at the same time, but might just be cheaper to buy one of his shiny new ones