I just picked up 3 Marples protouch chisels, wasted my time to sharpen the 3/8" one and then proceeded to put chisel to wood; namely red oak. Before getting more than 4 sides of a mortise started the chisel's edge was so nicked that I could see it without my reading glasses! That's saying something. BTW, I sharpened it on 3 diamond stones and then up to around 5k+ papers. I used the Lee Valley honing guide...
I've got a Sears chisel, 3/4" that holds an edge for quite a while. What's up with these Marples?
I hope the steel is MUCH tougher in their other line. I can't believe that my old sears chisel goes on and on with a sharp edge and I literally wiped out the Marples edge (ground exactly the same way as the Sears) in a few moments. I ran over to Sears to see what they have but there are no 3/8" and they didn't have a separate 1/4" in stock so I'll consider a better Marples or something else at Lee Valley.
Here is what one reviewer said about the Bluechips: " Don't be fooled. This chisels are not worth their price. I was given a set two years ago. I never used them until three months ago. I was using my old reliable set. I took this chisels out of the box and went to hone them. Come to find out, the still is severly deformed. The facets are totally out of place and you can not get a smooth bevel on them---There's NO WAY you could double bevel these. I reground them myself to as square as possible. No sooner than I did that, the half inch chisel started breaking the corners! I did not blue the steel as I use a Tormek sharpening system. Plus, I was using them without a mallet---by hand! Cheap metal, cheap craftsmanship, poor quality! "
sounds like he had almost the same problem I did: the edge fell apart.
Bay Area Dave wrote in news:uN%Pb.4735$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr29.news.prodigy.com:
Dave, If you want some SERIOUS chisels, drive on up to Alameda, and visit The Japan Woodworker. Make certain you bring your high limit credit card, though. They are rightly proud of their tools.
On the other hand, your grandchildren will be trying to decide who gets them when you're gone....
I have a set of the Marples Blue Chip and I'd rate them as "o.k.". A reasonable value for the money, but they definitely require a bit more diligent work to use regularly.
I subsequently purchased these:
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got the 6 piece promotional boxed set).
They are MUCH higher quality than the Marples, and for $100, I think an even better value. These promotional chisels aren't polished, but they are made with the same steel as the "regular" two cherries chisels. If you want a shiny chisel you can pay $65 more.
Why were you using a standard bevel-edge chisel to chop mortises in the first place?
FWIW, I've been using Blue Chips for several years now without any real complaints. I also have some nicer chisels, but I've gotten about what I expected from a $20 set of chisels.
I also have had the same experience . It should be noted that the honing a ngle should vary according to the hardness of the material they are used on , oak for instance would require a greater angle than say pine . In particular mortise chisel edges really take beating that is why they are more robust in design.
One other consideration is the old saying what you loose on the roundablouts you gain on the swings , personally one has to weigh using a softer material and consequently sharpening the tool more frequently against using a harder material and sharpening it less frequently but the proceedure taking half the day .
My SET of Marples blue chips ran me at the time $25 from Highland hardware [it used to be somewhat of a specialty with them]. The UK pound is currently higher against the dollar so I would expect them currently to be 10 to 15% higher....mjh
I've been looking at just buying a couple of chisels from Japan Woodworker. My limited set of 1/4, 1/2, and 1" of cheap stanleys have seen only use of the smaller two. And they are better suited to glue line scraping than mortising.
What does one need to spend on individual chisels to get a good mortising chisel? $30 $50 $150?
I have a 6mm mortising chisel from E.C. Emmerich (ECE) and am very plaesed with it, although before the initial honing i had to re-grind the bevel because it was slightly skewed, but 5 minutes on a coarse cheap waterstone mended that. It cost me 23.50 EUR, including 16% VAT.
For "general" use i wouyld recommend cheap chinese HSS chisels as seen here:
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(if you want really wide ones) here:
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take an edge very well, are very sturdy and keep their edge exceptionally well. They look a bit strange (especially the broad ones), so you are not going to impress someone by their exceptional beauty, but they are extremely useful and handy. Wish i had a complete et of them and also that smaller sizes (most narrow is 12.5mm) were available.
Just a couple of comments. Are these chisels actually mortising chisels? If not, you might consider picking up a set of them for that purpose. That said, you can get a special on a four chisel unpolished Two Cherries bench chisel set in a wooden box for $75 at:
Chuck, did you miss the part where I mentioned that my old Sears chisel performs the same cuts with nary a blemish?? I decimated the edge on the Marples in just a few moments. I didn't even get past 3/16" deep into the wood. That's pretty pathetic.
No they weren't mortising chisels. But they have a metal top, mentioned on the package as being able to withstand mallet blows and the "occasional" hammer blow! Besides, if I were to want to make a hinge mortise, I can't believe I need to use a beefy mortising chisel instead of a bench chisel.
I bought a set of the Blue-handled Marples at HD 6 years ago, when I started my first classical guitar. I found them to work just fine on mahogany and rosewood: sharpen them just once before each project. Even used my 1" chisel last summer to install a sliding door in the bedroom. My intent was to "sacrifice: it to the job, and replace it with a new one later. After using it to chop/chisle/pry on spruce, ply, oak and particle board, it had one tiny nick. Recently, I took a stone to it and after 30 minutes I am once again using it on my guitars . . .
Uh, no ... because you didn't say that. You said you have a 3/4" Sears chisel that holds an edge nicely, but that you were using a 3/8" Marples for cutting a mortise.
I don't know about you, but I don't use a 3/4" chisel to cut a 3/8" mortise or vice versa.
I have several recent-vintage Stanleys that I keep ground to fairly steep angles. They work great for pounding into things. I keep my Blue Chips sharpened at pretty low bevel-angles. Guess what? They don't work so great for pounding into things. But they do work well for paring cuts.
When I made the rocking chair at Homestead Heritage, The class used nothing but blue handled Marples chisels. The chair has 42 M&T joints, all hand made. :-) I wonder how we managed that. There were 10 chairs made in that class.
Having said that, I have purchased some mortise chisels. I tend not to use them because the bench chisels are always out and always scalpel sharp. I learned to keep the stones out on the bench when working, and it is easy to touch up the edge when required. We learned to sharpen chisels and plane irons without grinders or honing jigs at Homestead Heritage. I've started using files to clean up the edges on damaged chisels ala The Furniture Doctor (George Grotz). I really think it is more a matter of technique than some realize.
If I were chopping mortises in mesquite though like you do, I'm sure my attitude would change. Has anybody here tried Jim Cummings instructions for tempering chisels with propane torches. I think I will try it on one of my really soft chisels (old Stanley Defiance) and report back.
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