david weaver
I can't comment on what follansbee does in terms of clean work, it all looks pretty coarse and i figured that's how he intends for it to look. I have never had trouble getting clean mortise sides with a fresh RI chisel, and that is by no means implying that anyone has to buy one to find out if they can get the same experience as me.

I have been all over the board in cost of tools, and have cut mortises for dais with a stanley bench chisel that I got for $10.

I personally mark the mortise out and cut it and don't worry that much about the sides. They don't look hairy on any of mine, but whatever they are, I'll worry about changing them the first time I see a failure in a piece of furniture.