Paul Sellers has a video in which he compares the cutting of a mortice with a bevel edged chisel and and with a dedicated mortice chisel and he concluded that the bevel edged chisel worked just as well. And it did, for him.
I know you can cut mortices with standard chisel. That was all I used for many years. Then I got into making them with a router, a few simple jigs and some spiral upcut bits and this works fine too. It is also very noisy and messy. Then after cutting the mortices you have to either square the ends or round the tenons. So some of the time saved in the routing is lost in the rounding. I did have a small chisel morticer but I got ride of it. I just did not enjoy using it.
In recent times I have got hold of some Narex mortice chisels and have been using them, admittedly only in soft timbers. I would have to say that if all you have to do is a few mortices for a small table, then the mortice chisel method is not far behind the time taken for routing and is a lot less noisy. Also in comparison to using a bevel edged chisel, I find it easier and more accurate.
The Narex chisels come with a 30 degree bevel. I have touched up this to 35 degrees, but I dont really suppose in soft wood that this matters much. The edge holds well enough. They are bigger than a normal BE chisel and this feels better in my hand when I am thumping them with a mallet. But it is the shape of the blade which I have come to appreciate. The blade is tapered ever so slightly from tip to top. Also the back is a bit wider than the front. So it does not matter how much I thump them into the the mortice they do not jam. Also because they are thicker there is little tendency for them to twist in the mortice and I get nice clean sides. Anyway, for me there is no doubt that the ease of working, speed and general accuracy lies with the dedicated mortice chisel over the BE. And unless I am in the mood for noise, the total experience is more relaxing than using a machine.
It would be nice if these Narex chisels were available in Australia but they can be got from America cheaply enough. I got a full set of BE and mortice chisels (about 13 or so in total: I am not going outside to count them) for the cost of 2 or 3 Lie Neilsen chisels. I have no doubt that the LN are better and at some stage I fully intend to get some. But really, I dont need them. These Narex cut just fine.
I know you can cut mortices with standard chisel. That was all I used for many years. Then I got into making them with a router, a few simple jigs and some spiral upcut bits and this works fine too. It is also very noisy and messy. Then after cutting the mortices you have to either square the ends or round the tenons. So some of the time saved in the routing is lost in the rounding. I did have a small chisel morticer but I got ride of it. I just did not enjoy using it.
In recent times I have got hold of some Narex mortice chisels and have been using them, admittedly only in soft timbers. I would have to say that if all you have to do is a few mortices for a small table, then the mortice chisel method is not far behind the time taken for routing and is a lot less noisy. Also in comparison to using a bevel edged chisel, I find it easier and more accurate.
The Narex chisels come with a 30 degree bevel. I have touched up this to 35 degrees, but I dont really suppose in soft wood that this matters much. The edge holds well enough. They are bigger than a normal BE chisel and this feels better in my hand when I am thumping them with a mallet. But it is the shape of the blade which I have come to appreciate. The blade is tapered ever so slightly from tip to top. Also the back is a bit wider than the front. So it does not matter how much I thump them into the the mortice they do not jam. Also because they are thicker there is little tendency for them to twist in the mortice and I get nice clean sides. Anyway, for me there is no doubt that the ease of working, speed and general accuracy lies with the dedicated mortice chisel over the BE. And unless I am in the mood for noise, the total experience is more relaxing than using a machine.
It would be nice if these Narex chisels were available in Australia but they can be got from America cheaply enough. I got a full set of BE and mortice chisels (about 13 or so in total: I am not going outside to count them) for the cost of 2 or 3 Lie Neilsen chisels. I have no doubt that the LN are better and at some stage I fully intend to get some. But really, I dont need them. These Narex cut just fine.
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