Chisels for the hollow chisel mortiser

[Chris Pyle]

The hollow mortise chisels I have are the General International brand and the grinding is rough on the chisel and the bit. I'm working on sharpening them now but I was wondering what brands of hollow mortise chisels others have used.

I've seen M-Star, which I believe is what Lee Valley currently carries but they only go down to 1/4". I know Chris H. had a 3mm in his collection (which I'm guessing was a Koyabashi??). Does anyone know where the Koyabashi chisels are sold? Is it inappropriate to ask one of the tool vendors (Mandara, So, Suzuki or Stu) if they can source them?

Any other brand suggestions?

[Chris Pyle]

I'll take the lack of replies as indifference to the topic. Perhaps hollow chisels are just roughing tools and I should stick with the General International lineup until they wear out.

[djwong]

Hi Chris,
I don't own a mortiser, but Nakahashi's web site has a list of retailers, where to purchase their products.

http://www.ns-co.com/English/html/user_ ... wtobuy.php

[Chris Hall]

I use Star-M mostly, though I have a few others. The Taiwanese one that came with the Powermatic seem adequate so far, so you might want to run with the set that came with your machine for the time being. Wood river makes a hollow chisel sharpening set. If you plan to work a lot of hardwoods, you may wish to look at 'English pattern' hollow chisels, which have blunter chisel tips.

[Chris Pyle]

Thanks Chris and DJW, I just wanted to make sure what I had would be adequate for now. The problem I'm finding is the mortiser was purchased 2nd hand and despite the claims from the guy about it never being used, the chisels look like they were improperly sharpened or the factory botched the grinding.

I attempted using the 1/2" to see how bad of shape they are in and there was noticeably more resistance than what I felt at your shop Chris.

Basically, I think I was trying to avoid the work necessary to get these chisels in functioning condition but I ordered a lower grit stone #400 (my current lowest is #1000 and it takes a looooong time to remove metal). I'm going to give these chisels a thorough going over. I'm guessing there is no reason to go past a 3k stone with these?

Luckily the previous owner provided me with the wood river sharpening kit so I have something to work the inside mouths of the chisels.