# Mortising chisels?



## TCCcabinetmaker (Dec 14, 2011)

Ok I have tons of chisels, but what I don't have are mortising chisels. In the past I would not have needed mortising chisels because though I have done it, it wasn't a staple in what I do, but as it is now, it's becoming more common, and well the bench chisels just don't perform the same way. SO does anyone know where one would find reasonably priced mortising chisels?


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## BrandonW (Apr 27, 2010)

The Narex mortise chisels work great, in my opinion, and they are pretty darn inexpensive. You can buy the standard sizes from Lee Valley or the metric sizes from Highland Hardware. Depending on your work, You can probably get by with just a 1/4" and a 1/2".


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## TCCcabinetmaker (Dec 14, 2011)

Well some of the pieces are larger pieces so who knows.


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## JSilverman (Mar 31, 2011)

I wouldnt call them inexpensive, but I like my Lie Neilsen mortice chisels. I bought them when doing a set of dining room chairs that needed A LOT of mortices…. opted to go that route rather than a power hollow chisel morticer. It was more work but I enjoyed the process.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

Look for some old W. Butcher cast steel jobbies. Probably won't be able to buy in sets, but singles can be found.
Great steel, and well made.
Reasonable and mortising just don't go well together.
Bill


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

yeah, you just need a couple of sizes : 1/4" or 5/16" for 3/4" 
frames and something bigger for major joints. You might
want to use a smaller-sized mortise chisel that puts your hands
closer to the work for the smaller mortises. The big 14" 
long mortise chisels are great for big joints but oversized 
for some work just in terms of handling.

For bigger joints you might want a big chisel in the 1/2"-5/8" 
range.

I have some sash mortise chisels about 11" long and a couple 
heavy duty Sorby ones about 14" long. The Sorby's are 
about twice the weight of the smaller Marples.

I made a real heavy duty mortise chisel myself following
instructions in a FWW article. I used a length of 1/2" x 1" 
oil hardening tool steel. That was before ebay and
the only sources I knew for mortise chisels only sold
the registered ones.


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

The best mortising chisels IMO are the Ray Iles chisels which you can get from Tools for Working Wood. Here's the link. Why not buy the one you need now and add to them as you need different sizes.

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com//Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-MORT.XX&Category_Code=TBMC


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## rkober (Feb 15, 2012)

I second Brandon's post. I just got a set of the Narexs from Lee Valley for Christmas. I spent some time with the stones but felt they shaped up well. Not having used actual mortise chisels before, I was amused at well they do what they are made for.


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## BrownDog (Mar 2, 2012)

All advice you have received is good. I have full sets of both the Ray Iles and Narex mortise chisels and a set of very nice Japanese mortise chisels. The Ray Iles are substantially higher quality and virtually indestructible, hold an edge very, very well, etc. The Narex require some initial work to sharpen but function fine and I like them. My Japanese set is also very high quality and takes and holds an edge very well. Lie Nielsen mortise chisels would be very good as well. I have their bevel edge chisels and they are very high quality.

It all comes down to what you think you need, now and in the future, and your budget.

If you only need one or two chisels to do a particular project now and don't have a large budget or don't want to invest $65 (for a Lie Nielsen) or $75 (for a Ray Iles) in one chisel then buy a Narex or two or, if you are in an area where vintage tools are readily available, search for a good vintage chisel or two.

If you want to begin collecting a set of high quality chisels that will last your lifetime buy a Lie Nielsen or Ray Iles (or a quality Japanese) chisel or two and pick the rest up as you need them.

If you have an expansive budget buy the entire Lie Nielsen or Ray Iles or a quality Japanese set. Any of these will outlast you and do all the mortising you are likely to need done.


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## TCCcabinetmaker (Dec 14, 2011)

Thanks guys I'll look into it


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## NJWiliam (May 16, 2011)

I love the Ray Iles mortise chisels. I'd also suggest starting with narrower chisels, since widening the mortise sides is pretty easy, but a wide mortise chisel won't work for a narrow mortise.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

You might also want to check out using hollow mortising chisels. Rockler sell a handle that fits hollow mortising chisels with a 3/8" shank. To use them, you just drill a hole and hammer the mortising chisel to form a square hole that can be enlarged to suit. I don't mortise often, so I'm going to use the chisels I have in that fashion as I have another use for the motor from my mortiser.


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## mamell (Dec 24, 2015)

I wanted to mention something about mortises with a chisel and didn't really find a thread that seemed to fit what I have to say so I arbitrarily picked this thread..
So anyway.. I've been doing this awhile now and find that with age my hands shake quite a bit especially when I'm starting my cuts so they tend to wander a bit and end up rather ragged so what I do now to get started after marking the lines and cutting a shallow knife wall is to carefully chisel down about 1/8th inch the length of the mortise to give me a much more defined wall to work with instead of just banging away right off. I was having a problem with the shaking and really messing up nice wood, but this shallow channel gives me a nice guide and lets me go ahead and hammer away. 
I'd like to say I'm not getting old, but that would indicate that there might be flies breeding somewhere on my body and I'm not quite ready to go there yet..
I'm just using off the shelf chisels made by the Zikzak corporation..They seem to work just fine..


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)




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## bondogaposis (Dec 18, 2011)

Ray Isles are my favorites. You only need a few sizes. Tools for Working Wood have them.


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## conifur (Apr 1, 2015)

I got a set of the Norex 4 of them for less then one Ray Isles, 55$ from Amazon.


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## BubbaIBA (Nov 23, 2011)

The English oval bolstered mortice chisel, aka a pig sticker, is a work of art that was refined over many years. Most other current production "mortise" chisels are sash chisels like the Robert Sorby, heavy duty sash like the Narex or Lie Nielsen chisels. While sash or heavy duty sash chisels will work for heaver and deeper mortises they lack some of the refinements of the pig stickers such as a oval handle that orients the chisel square to the mortise, the wide sides to keep the chisel square in the cut, and the long bevel to help levering out waste without damage to the ends of the mortise.

Japanese mortise chisels because of the very hard steel lamination shouldn't be used to pry or lever out waste and also are designed to be used on soft woods.

Of the chisels mentioned I have all except the Narex and will use chisels other than the pig stickers on occasion. The Lie Nielsen mortice chisels and the Japanese mortise chisels are good for chopping the last mm or so of the end square. I will also use the Lie Nielsen chisels for cleaning out the fuzzies in the mortise. I will sometimes use either the Japanese mortise chisels or the Sorby sash for chopping "button" mortises in the aprons but for any mortise deeper than 18-20mm the Ry Iles come out to play.

One last thought, I have several vintage pig stickers, they are OK but with the cost of used pig stickers, the burn rate of buying used chisels and the time spent re-handling most of 'em, the Ray Iles chisels are a bargain.

As with all things wood…..YMMV.


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## Brit (Aug 14, 2010)

I agree with BubbaIBA. I had bought a couple of I. Sorby vintage pig stickers in good condition and then I just happened to log onto ebay when another five I. Sorby chisels became available on a Buy It Now. As luck would have it, they were sizes that I didn't yet have. They were also in good condition, so I snapped them up in a heartbeat. It took me a couple of days to clean them up and sharpen them to my liking, but I ended up with a set of seven I. Sorby Punch brand chisels with plenty of life in them ranging from 1/8" to 1/2" and I only had to re-handle the one in the middle. The trapezoidal shape means they never get jammed and their size/weight means they just eat wood.




























I was extremely lucky to end up with a great vintage set but if I hadn't lucked out, I would have bought a set of Ray Iles by now.


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## theoldfart (Sep 9, 2011)

^ Brit's luck also benefitted my pig sticker group , he sent me a couple of duplicates!

Stickers are hard to beat (pun intended) when it comes to mortises. I have a set of Narex in my traveling chest and they work ok for smaller mortises but …....

My set


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