Hello,

It's not uncommon to see handles on tang mounted chisels split out from heavy whacking with a mallet or from prying down. What is the advantage? Economy of manufacture. Up till now I sometimes wince when prying with that 36 mm chisel that was made out there in Idaho deep in a mortice, so far I've been lucky. A fine chisel for pairing, but could it be justified a sturdier, or firmer, chisel for chopping out the mortice is required. And in terms of chopping out mortices it is maybe worth mentioning that the morticing chisel, with its edges at right angle to the bottom and the top tapering up toward the grip, that these edges serve a significant guidance function - up and down, front to back.
Yeah, a paring chisel and a slick seems redundant and it could be pointed out that among timber framing traditions those making widespread use of the slick are in the minority, (the traditions, not the individual carpenters I mean). And really, with the limited number of typical joints used in standard timber framing, a chisel with beveled edges seems excessive as they only serve where the angles of the joint are acute. But in such cases they are irreplaceable.
To me a troubling statement that suggests there is no standard for the right use of chisel and that the functional elements are pure whimsey and only exist to provide individual carpenters with more choice, as opposed to using the right chisel for its intended purpose.

Scrub planes are greatly underrated and under appreciated in all kinds of woodworking, and there is no sense in keeping it secret. scrubbing

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff