Chisel for mahogany

Teakettle · Oct 10, 2016

Today I had to mortise out some hinge openings in some really hard mahogany, and even after sharpening my best wide chisel to absolute perfection, it was a pain and the results aren't as good looking as I'd have preferred. And I
have a bunch more of these things to do. Does anyone have a heavy-duty chisel to recommend? Else I'll probably use a hinge-mortising bit in a router for the rest of 'em, but I'll still have to use a chisel to square off the corners.

tomturkey · Oct 10, 2016

By all means get a hinge jig and use a router. They make a device to cut the corners square and there is very little chisel work to remove that corner cut. When you set the hinge jig, if your using just one, write on the jig the measurements down from the door head to your set points. Will make next frames much quicker. Also on the doors the measurements should be 1/8 less to allow for head reveal/clearance. good luck gobble

MarkB_MI · Oct 10, 2016

Check out the chisels at Japan Woodworker. I haven't used any of their chisels, but everything I've bought from them has been first-rate. Not cheap, but you get what you pay for.

They were bought out by Woodcraft a few years ago and moved from Alameda, CA to Parkersburg, WV. Their products still seem to be about the same as before.
Japan Woodworker chisels

Stephen Newell · Oct 10, 2016

That seems to be a contradictory term, hard mahogany. Mahogany is almost as soft as most pine. Certainly softer than yellow pine. Are you just grinding your chisel or do you hone it as well. With any wood a razor sharp chisel works so much better.

Using a router would be my first choice mortising hinges. You can make a template for all three hinges so the doors and jambs will match perfectly.

JerryS · Oct 11, 2016

I have a set of the Fugikawa chisels. Very nice tools. I decided I could live without the Tasai Damascus chisels.

MarkB_MI · Oct 11, 2016

>I have a set of the Fugikawa chisels. Very nice tools. I decided I could live without the Tasai Damascus chisels.

Yes, at 158 to 250 a set, the Fugikawas are dirt cheap compared to some of the other options.

What I like about Japan Woodworker is although they have some ridiculously expensive products, they carry lines for every budget. I bought my wife a really nice vegetable knife for about a hundred bucks, and it is wonderful; I can only guess what their $500 knives are like.

Teakettle · Oct 11, 2016

I'm used to soft mahogany too. But this stuff isn't. I looked in a reference book and the different kinds of mahogany have a huge range of hardnesses, from about the same as yellow pine to about the same as rosewood. This is definitely on the higher end of the scale. And yes, I'm honing the chisel.

Stephen Newell · Oct 11, 2016

Really a chisel is a chisel. Once sharpened there isn't much difference between a cheap harbor freight chisel and a high dollar german chisel. If the wood is that hard about all you can do is change the angle the chisel is sharpened to prevent folding over the edge. Nothing is going to make it cut easier.

Chisel for mahogany

Teakettle

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tomturkey

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MarkB_MI

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Stephen Newell

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JerryS

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MarkB_MI

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Teakettle

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Stephen Newell

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