CMT Mortise Chisel & Bit Set Hs S=3/4' D=3/8' Rh

"Product- 3/8" square mortise chisel This is the first one of these I have ever used so this review might not be very useful. However, i tried using it to cut mortices about 1" x 3/4" in building grade softwood. I wasn't expecting a clean cut because of the quality of the timber. I used the chisel in a 'generic' mortiser with moveable table, the sort you can get for a few hundred pounds from Axminster, Rutlands, Charnwood etc. The cut was indeed rough, but whether this was due to the timber or the chisel I can't tell - I used it straight from the pack, without touching it up on a stone, it seemed pretty sharp. Anyway it cut the mortises without any difficulty. The only issue I had was that having cut the first square out, when I tried to make an adjacent cut, the chisel tried to follow the previous cut and bent slightly. I assume this was because it is a very small chisel and a larger one would be more rigid, and keep to a straight path. (The bend in the chisel wasn't permanent). So overall, it did the job. I am looking forward to trying it out on some hardwood. I was surprised how much effort was needed to make the cuts - no wonder they make mortise machines so strong. I don't know how much effort will be needed to cut into hardwood though. My 4 star rating is because of the bending, but as I said, could be because of the size. So 4 stars is a bit of an estimate - apologies for the review being so vague, but it is at least truthful."