Narayan Nayar
01-26-2009, 11:46 PM
Beware: hand tool porn
Back in November, I checked out Dave Jeske's new bench chisels. Adam Cherubini and several others sung their praises. I finally bit and ordered a mallet to match.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3302/3230684340_78dd87f2fc.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230684340/)
I have a few sets of bench chisels to compare them to. My beater Irwin/Marples and the venerable Lie Nielsen bench chisels. I haven't put these through their paces yet other than just playing around with them for about an hour, though I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to do so on some dovetails.
Dave infuses the figured maple with some kind of resin. I did some chopping with one chisel and the mallet and couldn't really tell on either the mallet or the chisel afterwards, so obviously the resin surface is pretty hard. The other result--and these photos don't do it justice--is that the finishing of the surface gives the figured grain such depth it almost seems holographic.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/3230684272_4b398ac5d9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230684272/
m)
The shot below compares the Blue Spruce paring chisel, the Blue Spruce bench chisel, and the Lie Nielsen Bench Chisel, all 1/2".
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3230759034_0c4b6db6eb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230759034/)
The Blue Spruce's longer handle lends itself to paring much more than the LN, whose stock handles I've always found less suited to paring (I have an LN paring handle and used to swap it out).
Similarly, the bevels on the chisels give you some sense of the "sweet spot" I suspect the Blue Spruce bench chisel will fill--a much steeper bevel than the LN which will help for paring, but stout enough to take the chopping a bench chisel needs to take. And no, I haven't had a chance to sharpen the BS bench chisel yet. But it's sharper out of the box than any chisel I've received prior.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3378/3230758962_3e78201055.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230758962/)
Time will tell whether these are the ultimate chisels for me; I've only had them a day. I can tell already that if I think I'll be moving between chopping and paring a lot, I'll reach for this chisel. The squat end of the LN digs into my palm in an uncomfortable way when paring and and I haven't found a paring grip which is comfortable with the LNs, which is why I bought the BS paring chisels last year (which, by the way, are phenomenal). I do like chopping with the LNs--the somewhat relaxed bevel makes the steel easy to grasp and the shorter length makes them easy to balance. But I suspect I'll be just as proficient with the BS in short order.
Oh, and the mallet--never before have I experienced the pleasure in using a thing of such exquisite beauty to...whack stuff. The right heft (very dense--heavier than you'd think, looking at it), a comfortable grip, a nice pairing with the chisels.
Anyway, so far so good. Thought I'd share with everyone.
Back in November, I checked out Dave Jeske's new bench chisels. Adam Cherubini and several others sung their praises. I finally bit and ordered a mallet to match.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3302/3230684340_78dd87f2fc.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230684340/)
I have a few sets of bench chisels to compare them to. My beater Irwin/Marples and the venerable Lie Nielsen bench chisels. I haven't put these through their paces yet other than just playing around with them for about an hour, though I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to do so on some dovetails.
Dave infuses the figured maple with some kind of resin. I did some chopping with one chisel and the mallet and couldn't really tell on either the mallet or the chisel afterwards, so obviously the resin surface is pretty hard. The other result--and these photos don't do it justice--is that the finishing of the surface gives the figured grain such depth it almost seems holographic.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3265/3230684272_4b398ac5d9.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230684272/
m)
The shot below compares the Blue Spruce paring chisel, the Blue Spruce bench chisel, and the Lie Nielsen Bench Chisel, all 1/2".
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3230759034_0c4b6db6eb.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230759034/)
The Blue Spruce's longer handle lends itself to paring much more than the LN, whose stock handles I've always found less suited to paring (I have an LN paring handle and used to swap it out).
Similarly, the bevels on the chisels give you some sense of the "sweet spot" I suspect the Blue Spruce bench chisel will fill--a much steeper bevel than the LN which will help for paring, but stout enough to take the chopping a bench chisel needs to take. And no, I haven't had a chance to sharpen the BS bench chisel yet. But it's sharper out of the box than any chisel I've received prior.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3378/3230758962_3e78201055.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/etherfarm/3230758962/)
Time will tell whether these are the ultimate chisels for me; I've only had them a day. I can tell already that if I think I'll be moving between chopping and paring a lot, I'll reach for this chisel. The squat end of the LN digs into my palm in an uncomfortable way when paring and and I haven't found a paring grip which is comfortable with the LNs, which is why I bought the BS paring chisels last year (which, by the way, are phenomenal). I do like chopping with the LNs--the somewhat relaxed bevel makes the steel easy to grasp and the shorter length makes them easy to balance. But I suspect I'll be just as proficient with the BS in short order.
Oh, and the mallet--never before have I experienced the pleasure in using a thing of such exquisite beauty to...whack stuff. The right heft (very dense--heavier than you'd think, looking at it), a comfortable grip, a nice pairing with the chisels.
Anyway, so far so good. Thought I'd share with everyone.