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English Mortise Chisels by Ray Iles

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Ray Iles | Exclusive Importers in the USA
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Code: MS-MORT.XX
 1/8" ($134.95) In Stock
 3/16" ($79.95) In Stock
 1/4" ($87.95) In Stock
 5/16" ($89.95) In Stock
 3/8" ($109.95) In Stock
7/16" ($119.95) Not available
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 1/2" ($127.95) In Stock
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MS-MORT.XX
We've wanted to sell real English mortise chisels since Tools for Working Wood began. The challenge, of course, was to make a tool as good or better as the old mortise chisels and not go broke trying. More than a year ago Ray Iles sat in my living room and stared at my collection of old mortise chisels for an hour, all the while musing on how hard the old tools were to make. Ray is a master edge tool maker and has been doing it since he was a teenager. Ray remembers living in Abraham Darby's house (now a museum) in Coalbrookdale as a boy, when his father worked as a foundry manager. This was before his father, Ashley Iles, set up Ashley Iles Edge tools. I offered to build Ray a time machine to go back in time and bring a few of the old-timers' back with me. Ray said he would think about it. He thought for a year. We cajoled him. We said if anyone could do it, he was the one (which was true). We offered to buy the entire production run. Then one day a small package arrived in the mail. It was the real McCoy. Ray figured out how to do it. He said the entire project was really interesting because it posed so many production challenges. So here you have it. Our major contribution to this joint venture was enthusiasm and a little research. Ray did all the work. It was worth it.

The last time anyone offered a real English-style mortise chisels was in the early 1960's. There are companies still making sash mortise chisels, and heavy duty sash mortise chisels, but the real thing has been elusive for awhile. Ray has nailed down the essential features of the tool. His chisel is mostly indestructible. It's designed for the ultimate bashing with a heavy wooden mallet. The ferrule-less beech handles transmit a huge amount of force directly into the heavy steel bolster. You can really see Ray's attention to detail and skill as a craftsman in the handles. They're oval, so you will automatically hold the chisel aligned with the mortise without even thinking about it. Traditionally, the best handles were tapered and proportional to the tool size, which made them a lot easier to hold. It just feels right. The oval shape gives a lot more strength in the pulling direction but still remains comfortable.

The sides of the chisel form a slight trapezoid, so that if your chisel isn't perfectly aligned with the cut you won't damage the sides of the mortise, and more importantly, there is a lot less of a chance for the chisel to get stuck. You just push the chisel in the mortise a little and it loosens up. Lighter sash mortise chisels are ground parallel but that's because they are designed for shallower mortises in window sashes which are usually in soft wood. Some manufacturers say that that parallel sides make it easier to guide and align the chisel with the mortise but in fact the alignment of the mortise is determined by the first stroke of the blade into the wood, long before the sides of the chisel can have any effect.

The primary bevel on the chisel is ground to a very narrow 20 degree angle. This of course is not a strong enough angle to hold up to vicious chopping, but it's historically accurate because the narrow angle lets a blow on the chisel push the chisel very deep. And that's what we want - to go as deep as possible with each blow. But of course we have to strengthen the tip or it will bend. So mortise chisels need a hefty secondary bevel at the tip or around 35 degrees. It turns out with D2 steel (see below) we can use a very tiny secondary bevel. It works great and it reinforces the shallowness of the primary angle so these chisels can get even deeper per blow than the old antiques. All you need is a tiny secondary bevel, even a 1/16" is fine. In general we recommend that when you sharpen just sharpen the secondary bevel and it will grow wider. If it gets annoyingly wide just regrind the primary bevel at 20 degrees.

On some early 19th century mortise chisels the primary bevel is rounded into the front edge of the chisel. This makes is easier to lever out waste on deep mortises. We recommend it but decided that since not everyone will want this feature and it's easy enough to add yourself we left it off the new chisels. Ray rounded the front edge of the chisels a little to make it easier to hold.

We did have a question about what metal to use. There were a couple of historically appropriate options: hammer-weld a cast steel cutting edge to a mild steel body, or make the entire thing out of cast steel. Real cast steel hasn't been available since the 1950's. So what do you do? Regular modern carbon steel would be okay, but we thought that the extra toughness of A2 might be better. But in England, where these chisels are made, A2 is hard to get in the sizes we needed. So we decided on D2, a slightly more expensive, more durable, overall better tool steel. Some people feel that A2 and D2 don't get as sharp as good traditional carbon steel, but this is less of an issue than it would be in, for example, a paring chisel, since mortise chisels don't need to be as surgically sharp. And the pummeling required by the mortise chisel's higher bevel angles makes the extra toughness of D2 a real boon. Ray thought that in D2, these chisels would stay sharp forever. He's off by a few years but the edge retention on these chisels is amazing.

We are as excited about these mortise chisels as any product we have ever offered. And we're not alone. Chris Schwarz, the executive editor of Popular Woodworking, had a chance to try the chisels out and had the following response:
"After years of working with perfectly adequate sash mortising chisels, the Ray Iles tool was a complete revelation to me. All of his traditional details -¬ the double-tapered handle, the blade's tapered sides, the mass ¬- add up to a tool that works astonishingly well. If you've never tried a traditional mortiser like the Ray Iles, you're missing out."
We are offering 6 sizes of the mortise chisel, singly or in a set.

"Best mortise chisels around." - Mortise & Tenon magazine

"The mortise chisels are some of the most well-balanced tools that I've ever used. The thick shank is solid without being excessively heavy. And, of course, they take and hold the edge. " - Lonnie Bird

"The best chisel I have ever used." - Paul Sellers

"Best New Tools of 2005," Popular Woodworking
Customer Reviews:for an average rating of:
Overrated
By: Peter (Mar, 2024)
I've owned three different sizes of these chisels for over two years and have used them quite a bit. The good: d2 steel while hard to sharpen holds an edge very well, Lovely beach handles. Very robust design that makes these difficult to break. The bad: all three of mine are finished very poorly, my biggest issue are the sloppy grind on the bevels, not at all a 90 degree angle to the chisel side. Also, the joint where the handle attaches to the chisel looks like it was made by a trainee. Also, I don't care for the trapezoidal sides, it makes it difficult to set the chisel square in a mortice. I guess using these just makes me want a precisely machined chisel.
I own this product.
Mr
By: Paul Dennis (Feb, 2024)
I bought a Ray Iles 3/8" mortising chisel several years ago and it was a great chisel until a month age when I was leveraging out some wood and it broke about 2 1/2" up from the tip. Now I'm wondering if I did something wrong. I don't think I will replace it though.
I own this product.
Highly recommended – but read the info sheet
By: Michael Duke (Jul, 2022)
I've bought four of these mortise chisels and they are absolutely fantastic! In my experience, they handle and perform much better than those from Lie-Nielsen and Narex. I've yet to have one twist in the cut. I did, however, run into an issue with the 3/16 chisel as I was chopping a large batch of 2 1/2-inch deep mortises. After a few heavy blows, I noticed some small chipping at the cutting edge. I sharpened it out, but it occurred again. And a third time, despite stropping more often. At first, I thought it was due to the fact that D2 steel contains large carbides and, thus, can be prone to chipping. But then I re-read the chisel's info sheet and realized that it was a user-error. I originally sharpened the secondary bevel by hand. My muscle memory created a 30 degree bevel. Yet, the info sheet recommends 35 degrees, so I used a honing guide and increased it as such. Since then, nearly 100 mortises later, I haven't had a single chip or roll. All in all, these are the best mortise chisels I've used.
I own this product.
Mortise Chisels - initial impression and setup
By: Assaf (Dec, 2021)
TL:DR 1) the Chisel width is not precise, this makes them unsuitable for a fixed width mortise marking gauge. 2) they do sharpen well on my Shapton pros, it just takes a little longer So I managed to get my hands on [bought] the half inch, the quarter inch and the three eights chisels. They are massive! the most deadly looking chisels I've ever seen. I wanted to share a couple of issues. 1) none of the chisels are dead accurate in width. they are all off by plus minus 128th to 64th of an inch. I am mentioning this because it can be a problem if you use a fixed width mortise marking gauge. if you can reference the gauge to the chisel, you won't have any issues. 2) Sharpening: the chisels come with a flat lapped back - I checked and none of the three I received required any flattening. contrary to what Joel said I had no issues sharpening on my Shapton Pro stones (1K, 5k, 12k). it may have taken 20 strokes instead of 5 to reach a burr. My sharpening approach was as follows: First I rounded the primary bevel to better encourage levering waste. I did this using 80 grit sandpaper, followed by an atoma 400 stone followed by a DMT fine. Next I polished the back using the water stones and finished using a leather strop with green honing compound. be very careful not to press the back hard into the leather - you can round the edges if you aren't careful! I ended with a mirror finish. Last I sharpened the secondary bevel. I established the bevel with a honing guide at 35 degrees using the DMT fine diamond plate, I thin moved on to the Shapton's 1k through 12k and ended on the strop. again a mirror polish. I can now shave with them.
I own this product.
Ms
By: Meryl (Apr, 2021)
I bought the one quarter inch as my first mortise chisel. I had also just bought the Iles six-piece bench chisel set. When I opened this package, I swear I was looking into the cold, grey, dead eyes of a professional assassin. I felt fear. I kid you not. It was a few weeks before I could make my first mortices. The balance is phenomenal, even holding it near the tip. The handle has a good heft and feel. I did have to clean up the secondary bevel, but it was easy on a Trend diamond plate. I love this thing.
I own this product.
Excellent
By: Jacob (Oct, 2020)
These mortise chisels are really great. Excellently crafted and a pleasure to use. Very happy with them.
I own this product.
English mortise chisels
By: John Meisner (Jun, 2020)
I spent a lot of time looking for decent mortising chisels. I found a dearth of mortising true chisels in the vintage market. Mostly finding old sash mortising chisels. I was glad to finally find these great mortising chisels at TfWW. To date I own three and am working towards the full set. They aren’t the least expensive chisels but the time I saved on my last project more than made up for the difference in cost. Kudos to Ray Iles for such stellar work and to TfWW for convincing him to make them. JWM
I own this product.
Tolerances seem a little high
By: Justin Allen (May, 2020)
I purchased the 1/2" chisel. First off, i really like the chisel style and it fits well in the hand. It is extremely beefy and I believe it will do good work. Easy as A2 to put a secondary bevel using diamond stone / 2k waterstone / stop. So far I've only cut some shallow test mortices on construction SYP for test, so nothing really challenging. My disappointment is with the amount of taper the chisel had from handle to edge, which measured 0.500" (at the handle) to 0.490" (at the edge). This seemed excessive and will lead to binding on deeper mortises. Also, the handle centerline is not parallel with the chisel blade (I think the handle can be reshaped, although I haven't tried). From other reviews/forums I read, I don't think this is the norm, but the acceptable product tolerances seem a little too loose.
I own this product.
English Mortise Chisels by Ray Iles 3/8" and 1/2"
By: John Morris (Feb, 2020)
I purchased the 3/8" English Mortise Chisel by Ray Iles a couple years ago and the 1/2" a month ago. First lets start with the customer service by Tools for Working Wood. As always, communication is always good, and processing and shipping of this order was fast, as always. As soon as I retrieved my first Ray Iles chisel from the package, and I lifted it out, it was heavy, I knew immediately I had a quality tool, the balance, the heft, the fit and finish, the handle, the heavy steel bolster does an incredible job transferring the energy of each blow directly to the mortise, the registration of the tool against the wood, is solid as you take one strike after another. I have tried other mortise chisels, and I could never get the cut I am getting with these Ray Iles chisels and the speed. I was frustrated with the mortise chisels I tried over the years, not to say the chisels were horrible, but to say that the Ray Iles are the first ones that actually performed beautifully, I feel like a mortising pro using these chisels. I am relatively new in the world of making with hand tools, I have been a machine guy most of my life, and over the last few years I have shed my machinery and I have moved to hand tools and I have taken my work from the machine, to the bench, and I am loving every minute of it, and the Ray Iles mortising chisels really make the job more enjoyable, there is no bounce or flex in these tools, they are just completely solid! I love them! I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine, happy woodworking! John Morris
I own this product.
Poor Quality Control
By: Craig M (Aug, 2018)
The other reviewer are correct that these chisels come with edges that need a ton of work. Mine has an uneven bevel, a bent corner, and a chip in it. At this price point, that is simply not acceptable. If I had any other option than continuing to hunt for vintage English mortise chisel in halfway decent condition, I would return this item and buy another brand. I’ll certainly never buy anything with Ray Iles name on it again.
I own this product.
Ray Iles mortice chisels
By: Mark (Jan, 2018)
I purchased the entire set a couple of years ago and have just gotten around to a project that requires these. I am building a work bench out of hard maple. Big mortice and tenon joints. Beautiful tools a joy to use. I love the handles They take a beating.
I own this product.
Mr.
By: David Suggs (Jun, 2017)
I bought three sizes of the Ray Isles mortise chisels and was disappointed that none of them were even close to having the edge square to the blade centerline. I expect to have to hone a chisel edge, but did not expect to have to regrind them to square, then sharpen and hone. After that, I'm satisfied with the performance, and will probably buy one or two more sizes.
I own this product.
1/2" and 1/4" Pigsticker
By: Adam Cruea (Dec, 2016)
I've had these two pigstickers for a while (I honestly forget how long) and oddly enjoy using them. They rarely need sharpened since they're D2 steel unless I'm doing a lot of mortises in something really hard. In that case, sharpening them can be quite time consuming, but that should be expected from D2. In my experience, usually it's not the chopping that dulls them; it's the repeated prying that ends up causing the metal to fatigue, fail, and chip. I did have the handle of the 1/2" split very cleanly (showing the handles are made from straight grained beech), but I'm not surprised as I use a very heavy hickory mallet and I've also snapped hornbeam handles as well. I'm sure if I used something lighter and softer, the handle would have held up quite well. On the plus side, making a new handle was extremely easy. Two of the best mortise chisels I've used. The first 1/2" I got was slightly less than straight, but TFWW replaced it. Other than that, when I got both of these they were good to go after taking the wax/rubber protection off the tip.
I own this product.
By: Charles Short (Sep, 2016)
I purchased one of the Ray Iles 1/2" mortise chisels. I have had a year to work with this tool and have to say it is one of the stoutest and well made chisels of this type I have used. The quality is unsurpassed. I intend to purchase more of these as my current chisels continue to wear out.
I own this product.
Turns a beginner into a pro
By: Leander (Apr, 2016)
I am a beginner in a handtool joinery class. Got the 1/4" and started pounding. Easy to sharpen on sandpaper and Besser/Imanishi waterstones. Got a very good through-cut mortise on my first try: smooth walls, easy to lever out waste, excellent control of end edges and walls. One of those rare tools that has a magic feel as you watch it work. Am eager to bring my personal skills up to the level of this tool, and confident it will bring me there.
I own this product.
Best tools in my shop
By: Charlie (Feb, 2016)
Early on in woodworking I asked my older brother if I should get a dedicated mortise machine or a drill press with an attachment. He said "Don't be a pansy, learn how to use a chisel." I bought the full set of Ray Iles chisels. Here I am years later and I am still happily pounding out mortises by hand, and I have learned that I hate setting up machines to do small quantities of anything. This is a great set that will easily out last me.
I own this product.
Wouldnt know
By: Matt (Aug, 2015)
Wouln't know. The most common sizes are never in stock
Secondary Bevel Experience
By: Longfatty (Jun, 2015)
Fantastic tool to cut deep mortises in hard or soft wood, but I snapped the tip off on my first project. My own fault, and totally repairable. This is my first pigsticker chisel, the Ray Iles 3/8". I have a set of lighter-weight sash-mortise chisels that I still use but the heavier pigsticker makes deep mortises in hardwood much easier. The deeper blade and heavy handle make it possible to hammer and pry in ways I would never try with a lighter style sash chisel. I'll save those for shallow work and softer wood. I did snap about 1/16" off the tip when prying wood from deep in a mahogany board. I concede that Ray Iles is much better at making chisels than I am at using them so I think this was my mistake. When it broke, I had a secondary bevel at about 30 degrees that was about 1/16 inch long. This clearly wasn't enough for the tough wood I was working. Only a small bit snapped off the end and I was able to quickly repair on my grinder. The new secondary bevel is at the recommended 35 degree angle at the tip and is slightly less than 1/4 inch long. I didn't change the primary bevel at all, it works extremely well as-is. It takes one or two more mallet blows to cut as deep as before which is no surprise but it hasn't broken again either. That's the classic trade-off, I guess. This is a really nice tool and the price premium over a lighter chisel was absolutely worth it for me, my experience above notwithstanding. No regrets.
I own this product.
Ray Iles Has Quality Control Issues
By: Mark Leifer (Jun, 2015)
Was excited to buy this based on strength of reviews from 2006-2009 written by respected woodworkers like Paul Sellers, Peter Follensbee, Chris Schwarz, etc. Apparently Ray Iles is now unable to keep up the quality of those early products. My 1/4" chisel arrived with two deep gouges right at the tip of the blade that went through the blade thickness and raised the metal on the back side. I can't imagine the violence this chisel experienced to have be distorted like this. TFWW was nice about a return, and promised to open a new one to ensure it was ok before shipping it to me. The replacement arrived unopened, however, (so much for personalized attention) and the blade was rounded like a scrub plane blade rather than flat across like the photo. TFWW would not take it back--each one is individual and hand made, the representative said, so just use it as is or resharpen it. Well I've been doing woodworking using hand power only (that's why I ordered a mortise chisel in the first place) so reshaping the blade on my stones is no small task. I can personally attest to how hard the steel is in these tools! I gave up after 20 minutes, since I want to work wood instead of remake tools. The one positive thing I can say about this chisel is that the handle is smooth and beautiful to hold--or at least it was before grit from my coarse waterstone got embedded in it. Maybe some day I'll break down and find a friend with a bench grinder, but until then this is an expensive piece of junk.
I own this product.
Hizhonor
By: Mike Regis (Mar, 2015)
I love them. When will we be getting all sizes? Ever? Do I have to go to England and Tell them........... Just Kidding/. At this point I have about half the sizes. 5 1/2 stars
I own this product.
The Mortise Chisel
By: Neil Scarborough (Jul, 2014)
I would say that they just don't make them like this anymore; but Ray Illes does. These chisels are as good as they get: the steel is incredibly durable (you could almost mortise aluminum, if so inclined. And they are a pleasure and joy to use. For those interested in traditional wood working (albeit with better quality tools), it just doesn't get any better than this. These are REAL mortise chisels for the serious woodworker.
I own this product.
Master Blasters
By: Alex R (Jul, 2014)
I have been using these to chop some large mortises as well as half a dozen 3/4" thick butterfly keys in a maple slab tabletop. It is obscene the way they go through the wood. I can wap the stuffing out of them, and then use them like a crowbar to lever out the waste. I didn't even bother sharpening them, just used them as I got them. The way they feel, the fit in the hand, it was truly love at first sight. They are pricey - but the way I see it, I want people to pay a lot of money for my lovingly designed and made products, so I have no problem giving Mr. Iles what he deserves for his. You won't be disappointed.
I own this product.
Guarantee
By: Joel (TFWW) (Jun, 2014)
Ron, As long as you use a beech wooden mallet your handle should not split. But sometimes a handle has grain running the wrong way and it happens. Contact customer service and they will either replace the handle or swap it out the chisel at no charge.
I am the manufacturer of this product.
Chisel handle
By: Ron goy (Jun, 2014)
Loved the performance of the chisel while it lasted. Cut beautiful mortises in quarter sawn white oak until the fifth mortise. Then the handle fractured. Continued working wonderfully until I became worried about safety of using a disintigarating handle. Figures crossed I am paying to have a new handle installed and hope it lasts longer. The chisel itself works wonderfully.
I own this product.
The return of the English mortise chisel !
By: Zeke Dale (May, 2014)
If you are like me and you scower and search ebay looking for a traditional mortise chisel so you can chop out those deep mortise that make Pesky sash mortise chisel quiver in fear of and you've been avoiding for one reason or another, you can stop the search now.Ben and Joel,my good friends at tfww along with Ray iles, an edge tool maker of high standings, have revived but exceeded traditional english (pigsticker)mortise chisels. And man do they pack a knockout punch! Made of seriously hard D2 steel that scares even some of the finest stones , they are beautiful and made better than you could possibly want. The performance of these chisels are unrivaled by any mortise chisel available to the market, and although hard as a diamond in an ice storm, they sharpen well to a crisply sharp edge easily. Joel you have excelled expectations? These behemoths arrived at my home yesterday, I ran with excitement out to meet the ups man tickled like a little girl upon taking the box inside , running like a dog with a bone to hide my treasure from the world. I opened the box quietly while my fiance slept.And to my eyes behold the new and improved tradition English mortise chisel shiny and new! I Grabbed the first piece of wood I could find to test them out. Clamped it to my bench after proper layout and smacked the back of the chisel with great force from my English mallet and it say through walnut like a red hot knife through butter! Thank you Joel and Ray for the conversation that got these babies to be a reality! Although they are huge , even if your hands are the guys who sew buttons on baby dolls or if you like beating your chest like king Kong before you palm the ball and dunk on your friends, they will fit your hand. Thank you for taking the time to read my review and if your on the fence, go for it and I bet you will never look back,Zeke
I own this product.
Ray Iles mortice chisel (1/4")
By: Jeremy (Mar, 2014)
What a great chisel. I reground it to a convex edge for ease of honing and because it was sticking just a bit in seasoned oak. Chops like a champ, levers like a crowbar, and pops right out of the cut. Three sharp strikes with my (too light) mallet sends it 1/2" into dry oak. Now I just need to make a heavier mallet to get it moving. And buy a couple more sizes of this masterpiece. Having top-notch tools makes woodworking such a joy.
I own this product.
Mr.
By: Brad White (Jan, 2014)
I am not a newbie by a long-shot, but call me an experienced amateur and son of a master from whom I learned much. Not a professional by any definition but I build things for family and friends, plus years of old house renovations. Full disclosure. There is a joy in getting back to basics, the core of hand tool work after years of going along with the familiar. After watching the mortise work of Peter Follansbee, I came upon these almost by accident while in process of buying the more traditional and refined mortise chisels to replace my 35 year old Sorby chisels. On a hunch, I at first bought the 1/4" and 3/8" pair, which arrived barely 24 hours later, no less. The "look and feel", that intangible quality, jumped out of the box and into my hands. Naturally. Almost immediately I set to practicing several joints to get the hang of these. At once, I was taken by their mass and proportions. "Mass" does not mean "massive" here, but rather enough mass to do the job, enough heft to connect hand to wood and enough firmness to pry out the waste. The mass is equal to the task and yet is spare, to the line. The oval hafts are alone worth the price of admission. Indeed, they align the hand, wrist, elbow and eye in an uncanny way, provided you use a good stance. I liked the set so much, I purchased the 1/8" and 3/16" sizes, more suited to small cabinets I tend to produce. Equally beautiful in their simplicity. While robust enough for deep mortises, if your joinery wants to be more refined, I find that deeper scoring with a bench chisel is a good start and leave enough cheek mass for a crisp paring. But if a good, solid working mortise is what you seek, deep and without apology, these are the chisels you want. They give you permission.
I own this product.
Steve
By: Steve M (Jan, 2014)
I just finished using a 5/16" chisel for 8 through mortices in a rock-maple table. They were my first hand-cut mortices. I found the chisel easy to register in the cut and that it provided just the positive feedback about squareness that the handle is designed to give. I found it easy to sharpen and seemed to hold an edge well (I re-honed the edge after 4 mortices but remember I was chopping rock maple). I am impressed by the quality and recommend them to anyone interested in chopping their own. On a side note: I own an old 1/8" English chisel and the construction does, in fact, look identical.
I own this product.
This isn't a tool, it's a weapon
By: Jason (Aug, 2013)
This isn't a tool, it's a weapon. A weapon for cutting some serious mortises. Incredibly solid chisel with a nice beefy handle. The handle is oblong for easier alignment and the chisel is trapezoidal so that it's easier to remove. I recently pounded some 1" square mortises using the 1/4" chisel that I own in some 100 year old 4"x4" heart pine. The chisel plowed right through the heart pine. Also, when I jammed it in it was easy to remove. No regrets spending the bucks on this one. I will also add that when I first looked for this chisel it was out of stock. I emailed the fellas at TFWW and they offered to let me know when they had them back in stock. As soon as they received them, TFWW emailed me to let me know they were in stock. Kudos to bring back a level of customer service that went the way of the hand plane!
I own this product.
Best Mortise Chisels Made
By: Thomas Priest (Apr, 2013)
I own the 1/4" and 1/2" versions of the Ray Iles mortise chisels and must say they are awesome. They take a beating, can pry waste like you're using a pry-bar and just feel right in your hand. The beech handles are beautiful and the blade only needs a honing on the back to go to town on some mortises. I really appreciate all the work and research that went into these tools, they function exactly as they should and it shows the kind of quality the maker and TFWW care about. Highly recommended!!
I own this product.
Ray Iles Mortise Chisels
By: Erwin B (Apr, 2013)
I have been chopping big mortises for a workbench build, and small mortises (just for giggles) in the past few months. Based on my limited experiences with this chisel set versus a couple of others that I have, I'm more productive with this style of chisel. The big handle is super comfortable when hammering, the handle shape facilitates prying the waste out, and the chisel shape reduces jamming in the mortise. I have really good chopping control with this style of chisel (of course not as much compared to a bench chisel, but that's not an equivalent comparison). So far, edge retention is better than expected. It's a touch more challenging to sharpen because of the secondary bevel as (I hand sharpen without a jig. Nonetheless, they sharpen effectively on ceramic stones. Really, no complaints. I'm using the urethane padded Wood is Good mallet. Makes it easier on the arm and the ears.
I own this product.
Ray Iles chisels
By: Rick Hackett (Apr, 2013)
Two of the best chisels I have. Now if I could just a 3/8's I have three of the best chisels I've ever had.
I own this product.

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