I am also a fan of using the same size chisel you want the mortise to be.
Not saying it's better than anything else necessarily, but I find I 
don't do any better chopping undersized and trying to sneak up on the 
line with other chisels.  And it takes longer for no appreciable gain.

  I've also given up on dillling holes and chopping the waste away for 
most jobs.  I don't do any better for accuracy with the drill than I do 
with a chisel and it can be irritating fighting the circular chunks you 
are left with. You have to pare down from the sides breaking up the 
semicircles of wood left by the drill and then fight your way straight. 
  For simple smallish rectangular mortises, I just chop em. Easier for me
If I have a heavy enough chisel I will try that with the big ones too. 
 Nothing like a pigsticker!  So big and secure and no messing around. 
Kahblatz, what a feeling.
  yours, Scott
 
 
 

Scott Grandstaff, Box 409, Happy Camp, CA  96039
scottg@s...

Tools <http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/>
Tools <http://oldtoolsshop.com/Galoots/sGrandstaff/>
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