Expirementing with mortise chisels
Felix B.
>Few weeks ago I purchased 3/8" Hirsch mortise chisel from Lee Valley. I must say that a picture on LV's site does not do justice regarding how massive the chisel is.
Being home with a flue and on medication, I decided to take it easy and � give it a shot :) After some minor honing I did two mortises in red oak, about 2" long and 1.5" deep. The 12 oz. mallet is quite useless on the chisel of that size; I had to get the 18 oz-er. Since I did not see any damage done to the tip of the blade, I figured it's probably too new to notice.
Later, for the academic interest, I purchased 1/4" wide Sorby registered mortise chisel from the same place. It's a bit smaller in size and I wanted to know if it holds the edge as good as Hirsch did. I cut one mortise in cherry about 1" deep and the cutting edge was already noticeably damaged! Just for the heck of it I did the same exercise with good old Marples (1/4" wide also) and it still had a better looking tip then Sorby when I was done.
I did another mortise in cherry board with Hirsch and it still looked like I just honed it.
Did any of you have the same experience with Sorby mortise chisels or is it a fluke?
Thanks and happy woodworking,
Felix