One more about the Veritas VMII chisels

[David Eisenhauer]

Brian - Are you talking about whether or not to lean the chisel over so that the bevel edge is perpendicular to the material rather than the body of the chisel being perpendicular?

[Brian Holcombe]

David, I start with the chisel upright and lean it further and further over as I near the baseline. Sometimes I chop the baseline with the chisel upright and the bevel away from the baseline but sometimes I use the bevel to chop the baseline. It’s difficult to do but it results in a cleaner landing. Chopping straight up and down will usually pull material out of the center of the shoulder. Chopping with the bevel will not do so.

[Simon MacGowen]

David, I start with the chisel upright and lean it further and further over as I near the baseline. Sometimes I chop the baseline with the chisel upright and the bevel away from the baseline but sometimes I use the bevel to chop the baseline. It’s difficult to do but it results in a cleaner landing. Chopping straight up and down will usually pull material out of the center of the shoulder. Chopping with the bevel will not do so.

Now I get it. You are talking about avoiding the waste collapsing under the scribed line when the final chops are made. I seldom worry about that, but when I do (for instance, when the cuts are exposed), I use a technique that I saw Ian Kirby use (a long time ago when he still did demos!): He creates what he calls a center mound with angled cuts, avoiding undercutting the shoulder on the opposite side. Then he pares to remove the mould.

Is his the same as the Japanese approach (I am not a student of Japanese techniques, other than owning a couple of Japanese pull saws)?

Simon

[Simon MacGowen]

Brian - the bevel edge is perpendicular to the material rather than the body of the chisel being perpendicular?

Often used in that manner when mortising.

Simon

[David Eisenhauer]

Simon, yes, agreed. However, I have never used the bevel side against the end line as Brian says he does at times. Must try that tomorrow. I am in the midst of 16 through mortises in 2-1/2" thick (and hard) material.

[Brian Holcombe]

I actually do it because riding the bevel drives the waste out more effectively. I don’t always use it at the baseline, generally I do so between twin tenons. For dovetails I waste them out riding the bevel, then turn the blade and chop down straight.

[David Eisenhauer]

Thanks Brian. I am working on twin through tenons now after breaking the tip off of my chisel on one of the first 8 stop mortises I worked on first. I am using my old (and familiar) registered firmer type chisel to chop these while I put a few minutes at a time on the broken-tip repair. That one is nearly completed with re establishing the 20 deg edge and should be ready for the 35 deg micro bevel soon. Need to correct some out-of-square face grinding across the top edge of the 20 deg bevel face and polish it up some. I did try some of your double run chopping before debris removal, but figured out that I had let my "bite size" increase when moving ahead for the next chop and probably took too big a bite when I broke the tip off. I pay better attention now and am seeing a familiar pattern of the debris being pushed away from the flat side of the chisel by the bevel. A perpendicular chisel (rather than a perpendicular tip) is working better in this hard pecan.

[Brian Holcombe]

Thanks Brian. I am working on twin through tenons now after breaking the tip off of my chisel on one of the first 8 stop mortises I worked on first. I am using my old (and familiar) registered firmer type chisel to chop these while I put a few minutes at a time on the broken-tip repair. That one is nearly completed with re establishing the 20 deg edge and should be ready for the 35 deg micro bevel soon. Need to correct some out-of-square face grinding across the top edge of the 20 deg bevel face and polish it up some. I did try some of your double run chopping before debris removal, but figured out that I had let my "bite size" increase when moving ahead for the next chop and probably took too big a bite when I broke the tip off. I pay better attention now and am seeing a familiar pattern of the debris being pushed away from the flat side of the chisel by the bevel. A perpendicular chisel (rather than a perpendicular tip) is working better in this hard pecan.

Thats good to hear! My technique works best for me because I use Japanese mortise chisels which really shouldn’t be levered, so I just chop up the waste.