JET JBM-5 Benchtop Mortiser

[Hardwood]

I recently got a Jet JBM-5 Benchtop Mortiser as a birthday gift from my wife. I like it and at less than 1/2 the price of the Powermatic Benchtop Mortiser it will meet my needs. It comes with 3 chisels, but the included chisels are not top of the line.  I suspect they are sort of like the blade that is included when you buy a new table saw. I would like to upgrade the chisels. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations that would help me?

Thanks in advance.

[Blaine]

I recently got a Jet JBM-5 Benchtop Mortiser as a birthday gift from my wife. I like it and at less than 1/2 the price of the Powermatic Benchtop Mortiser it will meet my needs. It comes with 3 chisels, but the included chisels are not top of the line.  I suspect they are sort of like the blade that is included when you buy a new table saw. I would like to upgrade the chisels. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations that would help me?

Thanks in advance.

I have that mortiser and use the chisels that came with it.  However, I did spend a good deal of time sharpening them using wet stones and a cone hone for the inside of the chisel.

I only had to sharpen them once, but I do touch up the inside with the cone almost every time I use one.

[KC]

I recently got a Jet JBM-5 Benchtop Mortiser as a birthday gift from my wife. I like it and at less than 1/2 the price of the Powermatic Benchtop Mortiser it will meet my needs. It comes with 3 chisels, but the included chisels are not top of the line.  I suspect they are sort of like the blade that is included when you buy a new table saw. I would like to upgrade the chisels. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations that would help me?

Thanks in advance.

I cut hundreds of mortises with chisel(s) that came with my JET benchtop, and likely a thousand with a set of JET chisels that either came with or I bought for the big Powermatic that replaed it.  I used 220 or 320g sandpaper on the outside when I needed to touch them up.  Never have touched the inside of any of them.

[Blaine]

I cut hundreds of mortises with chisel(s) that came with my JET benchtop, and likely a thousand with a set of JET chisels that either came with or I bought for the big Powermatic that replaed it.  I used 220 or 320g sandpaper on the outside when I needed to touch them up.  Never have touched the inside of any of them.

I also cut many mortises before I sharpened them, but I was surprised how much less downward force was needed to use my mortiser after I sharpened the chisels.  Yes, they worked OK, without it, so it's not a "must-do".

I sharpen hand tools, so I have the water stones for sharpening.  IIRC, I started at 220 and went up to 1000 grit, which was the next step of my stones.  Adhesive backed sandpaper would work just as well.  

As far as sharpening the inside, you're only doing half the job if you only touch up the outside.  You can get a pair of cone diamond sharpener from Lee Valley for about $30.  It takes, literally, 30-45 seconds to hone out the inside of the chisel.  It looks like they would chuck up into a drill, but don't do that.  Just twist them with your fingers.

Oh, I have only touched up the outside of my chisels once.  One-and-done.  I don't think it's an ongoing need to continually sharpen the outsides, but others may disagree.

Lee Valley Large Sharpening Cones

[kurt18947]

I recently got a Jet JBM-5 Benchtop Mortiser as a birthday gift from my wife. I like it and at less than 1/2 the price of the Powermatic Benchtop Mortiser it will meet my needs. It comes with 3 chisels, but the included chisels are not top of the line.  I suspect they are sort of like the blade that is included when you buy a new table saw. I would like to upgrade the chisels. Does anyone have any experience or recommendations that would help me?

Thanks in advance.

If you really want better chisels there's Fisch, made in Austria. You have to REALLY want them though.
https://www.amazon.com/Fisch-FSG-320517-...B005GC6WHW

One addition I made on mine is an X Y vise. I find that much better than the factory hold down setup.
https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Slide-Vise/...Slide+Vise

[KC]

If you really want better chisels there's Fisch, made in Austria. You have to REALLY want them though.
https://www.amazon.com/Fisch-FSG-320517-...B005GC6WHW

One addition I made on mine is an X Y vise. I find that much better than the factory hold down setup.
https://www.amazon.com/Cross-Slide-Vise/...Slide+Vise

For what it's worth, although my 'sharpening' system was the same, I saw no appreciable diffference the the Fisch and JET chisels.

[Bob Vaughan]

There are good chisels and not so good chisels, but the cutting performance of either relies on sharp, not dull.  Even new chisels can use a little grinding.

If you've got a wood lathe, four jaw chuck, and a Dremel, sharpening is a breeze.

Yeah, yeah, no pictures, didn't happen.
Pictures:

   

   

[Bob Vaughan]

Yeah, yeah, no pictures, didn't happen.
Pictures:

Or if you want to use metal working equipment, go for it.  Its really the best way to sharpen

   

[Hardwood]

Thanks guys for all of the responses!

Long story short, my wife got me the Jet Mortiser off Amazon and it was damaged during shipment and the spindle wouldn’t turn. So I returned it and drove to a Rockler store to pick one up instead. I wanted to try the mortiser out in person to make sure it worked, and not rely on another Amazon shipment.  While at Rockler I asked about sharpening the chisels, and of course Rockler has a product that sharpens the inside of the chisel, so I bought it. I also have a lot of sharpening stuff left over from my infatuation with hand planes several years ago which I can use on the outside. 

I was surprised at how much downward force was needed to use my mortiser and I figured that was due to poor chisels. It now seems that chisel sharpness may be a bigger variable that steel quality. I would rather spend a few hundred dollars on new wood, instead of new chisels, so for now I'm just going to sharpen the stock Jet chisels frequently.  

I like the idea someone had about using an X-Y vise.  I was going to modify the Jet table to make it larger, adding a vise is an interesting idea to consider.

[Red Sawman]

Put me down as an X-Y vise user on my mortiser ... being able to move the wood along the axis of the mortise is a great boon to speed and accuracy ... also perfect for initial setup and repeatability ...