Correct way to Sharpen Mortice Chisels ?

[Mhija]

I've picked up three mortice chisels from a nice lady in England via eBay and I'd like to get
them into good tune and start choppin' up wood scraps for practice. They all seem to have a skew to the cutting edge of the blade and I wonder if this is a good thing? I can see how it would make the cut easier but also note that the bottom of the mortise seems like it would tend to develop an angle to match the skew of the blade. Does this make any sense? Curious to hear from the more experienced forumites out there. Thanks

[Bob Smalser]

No skews. The edge has to be square to scrape the bottom of the mortise, unless you want for buy a specialized swan-neck chisel for that purpose.

I grind them to a 35 degree bevel and add 5 degrees of secondary bevel when hand honing to achieve 40 degrees...a long-lasting chopping edge. That's pretty standard for a mortise chisel.

http://media5.hypernet.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=010446

[Mhija]

Thanks! Your post and the included link to the lesson on cutting a mortice was very helpful. I really appreciate your willingness to share this stuff with us. :D