Looking at a project that includes making a mortise. New adventure that requires a good set of chisels. Started to look online but feel lost. I am at the point where I likely don't know what I don't know. Would appreciate any insights on what brand/type are a good investment (realizing I'm a weekend woodworker so trying to keep the price within reason…haha, whatever that means!). Sorry for such a basic question.
The narex mortise chisels arent bad but may need work out of the box. Mine needed to be ground down quite a bit to get to some good steel that will hold an edge. If your sharpening is up to snuff look at the narex. If you need something to go right out of the box ive heard good things about Ray? Ashley? Iles mortisers.
Years ago I bought a set of 6 "Pfeil Swiss Made" chisels. I'm been real happy with the quality but if I had to do it all over again I would have bought chisels with imperial sizes, not metric. They advertise 12mm is 1/2"; sorry it ain't. So if you're like me - one that works in inches and not millimeters - then avoid metric chisels.
The most important thing with chisels is really your sharpening setup. If you know how to sharpen, most chisels will be fine.
I have a set of the Narex bench chisels and one mortising chisel, and they're very nice. I prefer the rounded end handle style to the darker colored longer one.
By the way, you do not need a "mortising" chisel to make a mortise. Paul Sellers has a good video where he compares the two, and the bench chisel is actually faster.
As Jonah mentions, you don't need a mortising chisel, but boy are they rewarding to use. There's a little bit of technique that feels counter intuitive to me. Stef mentions the Narex, which is certainly the best bang for the buck and there's no hunting. You can break the bank quite easily buying modern pigstickers. An antique is likely just as good, if not better. When you've got the sharpening down pat, it's not all that much more work, given that you'll have to do significant work on the new Narex, as well. You're going to love chopping mortises.
Oh and Brit likes the Sorby's and I like the Butchers, if you go antique. Both solid.
If you have a drill press then you won't need mortise chisels, you can remove most of the waste with a Forstner bit and then finish up with bench chisels. A lot people like the Stanley Sweetheart chisels that you can get from Amazon at a reasonable price. You are going to need a mallet of some sort. Sharpening is key, no chisels come ready to use, sharpening is job one.
I'll be a broken record and suggest the four pack of Stanley SW re-issues as a great starting point. If it all possible, get your hands on as many different chisel types and sizes available, and see what feels right. Check out tangs vs. sockets, firmers vs. bench / paring, bevel edges, mortisers, etc. before laying down serious cash. And of course, be prepared to learn sharpening. It is the gateway skill to working with hand tools such as chisels.
I certainly wouldn't argue against getting some better chisels, but your current chisels if you get them sharp, will chop a mortise just fine. The only difference really is how often you need to sharpen. If you don't learn to sharpen well, the new chisels won't magically chop mortises for you.
So in short, sharpen up the chisels you have and have a go at chopping a mortice. It will take a few to get decent at it and chop them square, but that's the price of admission.
I appreciate all the information. Looks like further investigation on Narex and Stanley will be a good starting point. I know how important sharp tools are for quality as well as safety. That is another uncharted territory. Looks "easy" on videos but expect the learning curve on technique is steep.
It's not so steep not to get started. It's not easy to get them square and clean but it is fairly quick to learn to get them functional. Not knowing any better the first mortises I chopped were 45 degree angled through the 3-1/2 width of a 2×4. The middle of the mortises were off a good 1/8" or more but chopping from both sides meant the tenons fit in straight with a tight fit after some paring. It's fun to beat on some wood with a mallet and make some chips.
In looking at Narex and the Stanley, the former is a bit lower in price and seemed to have very positive reviews. What size chisels are the most used? I realize this depends on the project, but am trying to determine if the 4 chisel (I think the largest in one option is 12mm or about 1/2inch) while cover most uses. There is another 6 piece set that goes from about 1/4 inch to over an inch. Still need to check into what I need for sharpening.
Thanks for the link. I found what appears to be a simlat set for about $85, although are metric (not sure if that is an issue):
Narex 6 pc set 6mm (1/4"), 10 (3/8"), 12 (1/2"), 16 (5/8"), 20 (13/16") , 26 (1 1/16") Woodworking Chisels in Wooden Presentation Box 853053
I'm going to double down on a couple of the comments, while adding my own take.
I certainly wouldn t argue against getting some better chisels, but your current chisels if you get them sharp, will chop a mortise just fine. The only difference really is how often you need to sharpen. If you don t learn to sharpen well, the new chisels won t magically chop mortises for you.
So in short, sharpen up the chisels you have and have a go at chopping a mortice. It will take a few to get decent at it and chop them square, but that s the price of admission.
This is a really good starting point. A sharp chisel will do wonders and a lot of the difference in chisels is the quality of the steel. Better steel holds an edge a lot longer and keeps you working instead of always sharpening.
If it all possible, get your hands on as many different chisel types and sizes available, and see what feels right. Check out tangs vs. sockets, firmers vs. bench / paring, bevel edges, mortisers, etc. before laying down serious cash.
This is the other side of the equation. Chisels that don't feel right in your hand just won't perform as well. The better chisel makers use different sizes of handles to keep the tool better balanced-i.e. smaller handles for narrow chisels and larger handles for wider ones. After you've used a well balanced chisel, you won't want to go back to anything else. I have some Two Cherries chisels that are near perfect for me in this regard. Good feel, great steel and near perfect balance.
As far as metric vs imperial measure, it should be a non-issue. Once you are into a project enough to be working with chisels, you should be working to mark and fitment, not to a measurement. The chisel widths are never exact, anyways, there is always a bit of +/- tolerance, so a supposed 1/2in chisel will rarely measure exactly 1/2in.
The last thing I would offer is to skip the sets and buy one or two high quality chisels in the sizes you need and will use and then add to them with the same brand and style as other needs arrive. What you will probably find is that the sizes in a set will not match up with what you use. I started with a set of 5 chisels and only used 3 of them at all, 2 far more than the others, and found that there were a couple sizes that were needed that were not in the set. The way I work, the most used chisel sizes are 3/8, 1/8, 1/2 and a wide chisel for larger paring tasks. (I use a vintage 7/8, but could use anything in the 3/4-1in range) You will have a hard time finding those sized in any set offered by a manufacturer.
Someone else may use a different group of sized the most because they work differently. That is why I say to buy one at a time. If you frequently need a 1/2in chisel, then spend the money on a good 1/2in chisel instead of a lower quality set. As you have budget and need, you can gradually add chisels until you end up with a group that is appropriate for how you work, doesn't have sizes you don't need and is better quality than you would have started with. It's the difference of getting the tools that work instead of taking the sizes a manufacturer wanted to package together and making them work.
You don't say what chisels you have now. Unless they are very lightweight or dedicated paring chisels they will likely work for you to make " a" mortise. Is your goal to make things or buy tools?
Looking at a project that includes making a mortise. New adventure that requires a good set of chisels. Started to look online but feel lost. I am at the point where I likely don t know what I don t know. Would appreciate any insights on what brand/type are a good investment (realizing I m a weekend woodworker so trying to keep the price within reason…haha, whatever that means!). Sorry for such a basic question.
After many years putzing around with garage sale chisels, Lee Valley ran a special on Narex chisels. I bought the full set and have been happy with them ever since. This past weekend I finally got around to making them a good home. While you may not be able to tell from the photo, the one's with the least amount of logo left are: 1/4, 3/8, 5/8, 3/4, 1" and 1 1/2. Your results may vary. They have chopped and pared many projects over the years, hold an edge well and are comfortable to use. I'm considering the mortise set, but these do the job when I need them to.
I'm wanting to continue to develop my shop, without just buying items to add tools, but to allow me to enjoy working on new skills. I see a good set of chisels as another investment in creating a shop where I can work on appropriate techniques rather than just trying to find a way to work around when I find I'm lacking a quality tool to tackle a job. I really appreciate everyone's insights. Gives me a lot to consider. As always, thank you LJ!
After looking at many options, I finally made my purchase and the chisel set arrived yesterday.
Have been reading on sharpening and seems like a honing guide would be in my best interest. I've looked at reviews, and most are mixed. Any suggestions on a good honing guide for a beginner would be greatly appreciated. Am thinking I may try sandpaper on a floor tile rather than a stone but still need to do more reading on that.
One way is to get the cheap eclipse style honing guide and modify it to work a little better following this video:
Highland Woodworking has that style guide.
The other way is to pony up for the Veritas MKII or the Lie Nielsen. I've seen the most good reviews for the Veritas, but also a few where people don't like it. I've never seen a bad review of the Lie Nielsen, but not that many total reviews.
Of course, there is also the free hand method from Paul Sellers and others:
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