Thread: need help... for mortise ...

I highly recommend mortising chisels by Tasai ( http://japantool-iida.com/chisel_others/index_2.html or email Tomohito Iida at [email protected] ), Imai (called Fujihiro at Hida, http://www.hidatool.com/shop/shop.html ) and Funihiro (also at Iida). You can also probably use timber or chu taki chisels for this job. These may also be available from Soatoz (http://www.japan-tool.com/ ). If you standardize on one size mortise, you'll only need buy one chisel.

Pam

Hi, Cassca and Pam --

I just want to add that my experience with timber nomi has been incredible: I've got a job carving sections of 150-year-old beams from a Japanese house into small stools, and I used my timber nomi for days without losing the edge. They're incredibly durable.

For a hammer, at a good price, I highly recommend this eBay seller: http://myworld.ebay.com/australasiancollectables. He's very knowledgeable, and a real nice guy willing to advise: he'll be honest with you about which hammers he has are the best for your purpose. His name is Adam Coulson, and tell him Becky referred you to him. I'm sure he'll be most eager to help. He may even have some hammers he's not yet listed, which he would make available to you.

As is the case with many fine hammers, a lot of his hammers do not come with a handle. You can carve your own (he sometimes also has excellent Japanese woods for this), or put a standard handle on.

I can't make a better recommendation than Adam: he's just wonderful.

Good luck!

Becky

thank's for all !

you think for 1" mortis i need 1" chisel or less ?

Hi, Cassca,

Personally, I would use one slightly smaller -- 22mm (roughly 7/8" or 2.2 centimeters), or even 18mm, depending on the wood you're working and the thickness of the chisel, so as to avoid overshooting or crushing the edges of the cut. But that's me: it's not the primary work I do, so maybe you should wait for a more experienced answer.

Good luck,
Becky

ok yojimbo it's a good information ;-)

If you want 1" mortises, use a 1" (24.5 mm) chisel, and take your markings directly from the chisel.

Pam

Hi, Cassca --

See? Much better information from Pam -- thanks, P.

Becky

Becky, Japanese chisels have wonderfully sharp arises, which help clean the cuts. Besides that, it's unlikely that any hand forged tools can be made so precisely, they'll be approximately 24.5 mm, which is the reason to take markings (with a mortising marking gauge) from the chisel.

Pam

Hey, Pam,

I guess my thinking was based partly on my current job, which is carving old (150 yrs.) Japanese roofing beams (provided cut to 17" lengths by client) into stools: I need to set in butterfly keys, and I found that I had some troubles with cutting the corners of the insets. Of course, these are badly beetle-eaten and full of winding tracks that run all the way through the wood, so that may have been my problem. But I found a corner was as likely to be overcut or slightly marred if I wasn't careful. And, of course, these were less than 90-degree angles.

Can't remember the last time I had to cut a mortise. Hence, my ignorance on the topic.

Thanks for clearing it up for me and for Cassca!

Best,
Becky

Oh, yeah, cutting inserts is much more difficult than cutting mortises.

Pam

Pam --

On the right/wrong day, it's all difficult! But I'm glad to know it wasn't just me and my inadequate technique.

Thanks,
B

By casscailloux at 2008-07-31

Originally Posted by Pam

Oh, yeah, cutting inserts is much more difficult than cutting mortises.

Pam

what is it : cutting insert ?

Hi, Cassca,

When wood has a check or deep crack in it, there is a butterfly shaped "key" or insert that is cut to keep the two sides of the flaw from pulling further apart. This key is narrowest at its center, across the check, and then then flares outward on either side (hence the name "butterfly"), so that the key creates counter-pressure to the expansion of the check.

The key is cut out of similar or contrasting wood, to whatever depth is best for the size of the check. Then a matching depression must be cut across either side of the check in order to receive the butterfly key. This is what Pam meant when she referred to cutting inserts. The key and its cut out location must match perfectly in dimension and shape, so the cutting of the insert -- the depression that will receive the key -- is crucial.

Hope this clears it up.

B