1) Paul makes everything look easy. There’s even a video (I forget which one) where he says, “I’m making this look easy, but it’s not” and he was correct.

2) As a beginner, I’m always refining my opinion of what constitutes “sharp”. It’s a lot sharper than it used to be.

3) Pine might be a softwood, but it’s not wet tissue paper. Keep in mind that aspects of wood such as hardness and strength and workability are not the same thing. I’ve had pieces of poplar (considered the softest hardwood) that were like bricks, and I’ve had pieces of poplar that cut easier than much pine I’ve worked. There can be quite a bit of variation among even the same species of wood.

4) As a beginner, many aspects of woodworking will be difficult and slow and tedious and error prone and challenging. That’s what we have to deal with as beginners. In a year, you’ll have improved so much you’ll chuckle at what you used to find difficult. As Paul says, persevere.

Having said all that, it certainly could be dull tools, sub-optimal technique, a combination of the two, and perhaps even other factors. If you feel things can reasonably be said to be ridiculous, post a video of yourself chopping a mortise, maybe one of the more experienced members will see something that can be improved.

There isn’t a woodworker out there who hasn’t been where you are now. Like you I’m fairly new to this too and suffer the same issues. It’s easy to let doubt creep in and morph into frustration. But I know for me at least, most of it is down to lack of technique, be it in sharpening getting that razor edge or actually doing the woodworking.

My first tenon joints which were for my bench were not pretty and they took what seemed an age to me to do, but I was still as proud as punch when the whole project came together. Now it may not be a piece of woodworking art but it’s functional, sturdy and more importantly ‘I made it’. Being my bench, it will always be there to remind me of my beginnings and a marker of how far I’ve come.

The saying ‘Practice Makes Perfect’ may seem trite, but remember Paul has had 50 years of practice; we’ve had 5 minutes in comparison. You’ll look back in time and see a similar thread to this one and give a wry smile.

As for pine and tear out, I found with me it was the lack of sharpness of my chisels. In the end I bit the bullet, and over a period of time saved for the diamond plates and they, along with my improved technique, have made a huge difference.

Hi Mathew,

The advice given by the other members is spot on. As Ed pointed out clamp the piece to your workbench instead of in your vise. When I made my first mortises I used a workmate and it took me a while to figure out that the workmate deflects a lot of the energy from the hammer blows. The workmate was shaking and produced a lot of noise, but the chisel didn’t cut deeply into the wood at all.

When I figured that out I put the piece on the floor and finished the mortises that way.

Wesley

You’ve got it- I was worried you were using a bouncy vise that was absorbing all your effort, but if you are directly on the floor, that rules that out. You must have a strong back to whack mortises bent over on your knees!

Another possibility is that your grip is choked all the way up on the hammer, right next to the head, so that you don’t get much force. Carpenters hold the hammer down at the end of the handle to maximize the force of each blow, but woodworkers and carvers tend to find a sweet spot near the head, but still just a bit back. Paul once told us it was like you are flicking the head of the hammer. I think I’m somewhere between that and the carpenter grip. Anyway, play with that too. I’ve seen some people make a great show with a hammer yet have almost no force because they just weren’t holding it right.

Again, I think the most telling thing is what your chips look like.

Somewhere you mentioned “inherited” oilstones. Check the stones are flat across. If not, that prevents the chisel from getting sharp in the middle. I had that problem with one of my waterstones. After flattening the stone, my plane iron was transformed to a thing of wonder.