Sorby · Registered mortise, 3/8 inch
A registered mortise chisel is the heavy English pattern built to take a beating. Marples' 1984 catalog describes its own as an ash handle with steel hoops at the top and bottom and a leather washer between blade and handle to soak up the shock, on a very thick blade with tapered sides so it doesn't jam in the cut. Robert Sorby still makes registered mortise chisels of the same design, and Lee Valley lists them with 6½-inch hardwood handles hooped top and bottom and a thick leather washer at the bolster. In a mortise the blade cuts and levers the waste out, which is why the section is so thick. It isn't the oval-handled London-pattern sash mortise chisel Marples sold alongside it. Old ones carry Sorby marks from I & H SORBY to Robert Sorby's kangaroo, so read the stamp before you guess a date.
Identify and date it
Look for a steel hoop at the top of the handle and a leather washer at the bolster. That's the registered pattern. An oval handle with no top hoop is a London-pattern sash mortise chisel, a different tool. Measure the cutting edge, since sellers sometimes call a 10 mm chisel 3/8 inch and the two cut different mortises.
If you’ll use it
Pick one with a sound hoop and washer if you chop mortises with a mallet. Robert Sorby's sharpening guide gives mortise and registered chisels a 30-degree main bevel.
Handles split under the top hoop, hoops work loose, and leather washers dry out and crumble. Mortise chisel edges chip from levering, and some have been reground out of square.
Buying guide
Most of the 14 or so Sorby mortise chisels listed ask $35–65 delivered, and only one is titled 3/8 inch, an I Sorby at about $29 delivered, so check widths, which run from 1/4 inch to 2 inches here. A registered mortise chisel has a steel hoop at the top of the handle and a leather washer at the bolster, and an oval handle with no top hoop is a sash mortise chisel, so check both in the photos and ask the seller to measure the edge, since 3/8 inch and 10 mm cut different mortises. The $47 Robert Sorby 1/4-inch is the only one titled Registered, and a US seller has two Robert Sorby mortise chisels still sealed in the maker's packaging at $45 delivered. Skip the 1 1/2 and 2-inch Kangaroo Works chisels at $106–111 delivered, which their titles also call heavy firmers, at more than twice the median.
$29.12est. delivered
The only chisel here titled 3/8 inch, the size this page covers, and the cheapest at about $29 delivered, $19 of it UK shipping. Look for a top hoop and leather washer in the photos to tell which pattern it is.
3/8" Heavy duty mortice chisel tang, by I Sorby.
$46.50est. delivered
The only listing titled Registered, a 1/4-inch Robert Sorby inside the $35–65 band from a US seller. The word is the seller's, so confirm the top hoop and leather washer in the photos.
Robert Sorby Registered 1/4-inch Mortise Chisel
$45.07est. delivered
A 1/2-inch Robert Sorby that the seller's photos show still sealed in the maker's packaging, at $45 delivered, so there's no chipped or out-of-square edge to worry about. Check for a top hoop, since Robert Sorby makes the sash pattern too.
Robert Sorby 1/2 Mortise Chisel Sheffield England
$89.59est. delivered
Titled razor sharp, so it should chop straight away. It's a 5/8-inch at about $90 delivered, $25 over the band top, so offer lower.
Outstanding Razor Sharp Robert Sorby 5/8” Mortise Chisel
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 11, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Snapshot
Checked . Some may have sold.
Delivered prices include shipping as eBay quoted it to a US address on Oct 11, 2026. Many sellers charge by distance, so your total may differ. eBay shows yours before you pay.
Used$29.12est. delivered
$10.59 + $18.53 shipping
Buy It Now$10.59
Good buy
3/8 inch, I Sorby, tang. Ships from the UK.
Seller: vintagecarpentrytools
100% positive
Used$46.50est. delivered
$35.00 + $11.50 shipping
Buy It Now$35.00
Good buy
1/4 inch, the only one titled Registered. Check for the hoop and washer.
Seller: anotherron
100% positive
Used$45.07est. delivered
$37.99 + $7.08 shipping
Buy It Now$37.99
Good buy
1/2 inch. The photos show it sealed in Robert Sorby's packaging. The same seller lists a 1/4-inch one.
Seller: danny9968
100% positive
Used$89.59est. delivered
$75.00 + $14.59 shipping
Buy It Now$75.00
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
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Good buy
5/8 inch, titled razor sharp.
Seller: stj2
100% positive
Used$32.09est. delivered
$25.00 + $7.09 shipping
Buy It Now$25.00
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
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Our take
5/8-inch I. Sorby, under the band. Check for the top hoop.
Seller: woodnglass
100% positive
Used$45.62est. delivered
$19.84 + $25.78 shipping
Buy It Now$19.84
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
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Our take
1/2-inch I Sorby, double ferrule per the title. $26 of the total is UK shipping.
Seller: rayasrestores18
100% positive
Used$62.96est. delivered
$35.72 + $27.24 shipping
Buy It Now$35.72
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
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Our take
1/4 inch, boxwood handle per the title. $27 of the total is UK shipping.
Seller: traditionalwoodworker
100% positive
Used$110.90est. delivered
$99.95 + $10.95 shipping
Buy It Now$99.95
This seller takes offers, and many sellers accept less than the asking price.
Fine if you might miss it? Send an offer first. Someone else can still buy it while you wait for a reply.
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Priced high
1 1/2 inches, titled as a mortise or heavy firmer chisel. About 2.5 times the median.
Seller: smithsemporiumllc
99.8% positive
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