I’am a hobby woodworker, its good stress release. I am building the Classic Tool Chest from fine wood working 169. I wanted to cut the mortise for the through tenons by hand. I checked out several mortise chisels but did not like the large sized handles. I ordered a set of CF Falls mortise chisels from Traditional Woodworker.
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All three are ground bent slightly in the long direction. The cross section of all three are out of square significantly. The micro bevel on the 6mm was out of skewed by as much as 10 degrees.
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I selected these Mortise Chisels because of their shorter length and smaller handle size which I wanted. I checked out the other options at a local Lee valley store and with other woodworkers. The <!—-><!—-> <!—->C.S.<!—-> <!—->Falls<!—-> <!—-> seams to have those features. I expected the overall quality to be better, at least straight and square.
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I also found that the machining lines on the body of the chisel griped the sides of the mortis and made it almost impossible to extract even after light hits.
Have I missed something? Is this typical for mortis chisels?
Will
Replies
This is NOT the desired normal quality in a good mortising chisel....you will probably need to spend a lot of time tuning these up and hopefully they will hold their edge when you start using them. As they sound from your description this may also be a problem...not saying it will, just a worry. Were they less expensive than some of the others? You will be more satisfied with a better quality...I have a set of Marples Registered Mortise Chisels and they work very well...not the problems you went through. Check out http://www.barrtools.com, he makes a very fine shorter socket chisel set and says he also makes mortise chisels forged out of 1/2" stock.....these are VERY fine tools and I would like to have a set myself, but they will set you back $320 for 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and 1" aincluding a fine 6 pouch leather tool roll. I've found the price of true quality has usually led to true joy in the process or job at hand. Good luck......~Z~
By the time I paid for duties taxes, and brokerage fees (The real killer) I could have (should have) driven to <!----><!----><!---->Lee<!----> <!---->Valley<!----><!---->, and purchased the same three sizes of Sorby Registered Mortise Chisels (my second choice) and had enough left over for a good lunch. To send them back would have cost even more.
By the way, I did believe I was buying a quality tool if not the top quality. Lesson learned.
Thanks for the Barr Tools link. He looks like a real quality blacksmith. Unfortunately shipping to <!----><!---->Canada<!----><!----> tends to be prohibitive when you include all the hidden extras. So much for free trade!<!----><!---->
I had a Sorby chisel and it was a long time in my tool pouch apron till I finally sharpened it so many times that it became too short. It was a 1/2" bevel edge chisel and one of my favorites while it lasted. I need to get another to keep in my "bags" for the many deeds a simple 1/2"er can accomplish. The blue handle Marples I also have are just a bit too long to carry like that one chisel I had...you'll be happy with the Sorby tools, also. ~Z~
Edited 5/11/2005 7:44 pm ET by zorro
If you get them to ship by post,it's not much more than a Canadian order would cost.You pay the sales tax to the postman and that's all.If it's shipped by UPS then it costs a fortune.Fed-Ex is cheaper,but not as cheap as mail.There are no duty fees on
tools coming across the border.
Brent
Good point. Thanks
Will
I went through this same problem. I bought Lie-Nielsen mortise chisels and I am very happy with them. If you buy from the states then you need to know the cost [say $200 us.. factor in exchange about 250 can. add gst and pst on 250 , around 290 and a customs handling fee of $8.00 or so and possibly another can. postage handling fee of about 20.00 for the weight of the package. So you will spend around $320 can. for a set of $200 us. chisels. The chisels will be kept at your local post office and you will have to pay the taxes to them. If you buy Lie-Nielsens then you can have them shipped right to your door and only pay 1 tax because they come from NB. and you will also save the handling fees of the customs people. Peter
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