What type of chisel?

[David Schneiderman]

I enjoy cutting dovetails by hand, but I am a novice and have a question on chisel selection. I just purchased a nice set of bench chisels. But in my limited experience, it is still hard to get into the nooks with these chisels. I see there are skew, fishtail, and dovetail pairing chisels also available. I don't think need a whole "set" of additional chisels, but which one of these would work best at cleaning out dovetails (especially half blind pins). Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[Frank Drew]

David,

Sharp skew chisels are useful for pairing right into the corners of pin bottoms; triangular section "dovetail" chisels can usually fit nicely between all but the tightest tails spacings.

[Richard Dooling]

These chisels at TFWW are reasonably priced and are made for what you are describing.

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-SBSKEW.XX&Category_Code=&Search=fishtail%20chisel (http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=MS-SBSKEW.XX&Category_Code=&Search=fishtail%20chisel)

[Mike Henderson]

What I did was to purchase a couple of 1/4" Irwin chisels (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RFYZM2) - they were less than $10 each - and grind a skew on them. It's very easy to do. You can do it on a grinder, or even on a coarse stone.

You don't use the skews very much or very hard in cleaning up dovetails so you don't need a top of the line chisel.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

David,

Welcome to the Creek, be careful of the slope.

Mike makes a good point. If you have a grinder or a power sharpening system, making some custom chisels from low cost chisels is an easy way to accomplish a few things.

It produces tools for the job at low cost.
It allows you to try different styles.
In the meantime, you can save up for the quality tools that you have in effect already taken for a test ride.
It will also give a little practice on the grinder or other method you use for metal removal.

Another method to shape a chisel may be to use a long strip of sandpaper. I acquired a piece of counter top material for use as a support for PSA backed sandpaper from rolls. A 40 inch long strip of 80 grit sandpaper can remove a lot of metal. A short chisel that was recently bought had a bit of rust and the back was quite a bit away from flat. Running it back and forth on this surprised me not only in how quickly metal was removed, but also how fast it got hot with just hand lapping.

For pairing in dovetails, my choice is some old Buck Brothers bevel edge chisels. They have a good profile for this. Of course, that is just my opinion. Everyone seems to have different choices for doing the same work.

Most important is the tools work for you and you have fun doing it.

jim

[Richard Jones]

I did the same as Mike, cheap Irwins, ground a right and a left. As he said, you really don't use them much at all, so unless you just want to spend the $$$, you are money ahead with this method.

I would also recommend grinding a 5/16" chisel into the "triangle" shape as mentioned previously. Just keep the steel cool while you're grinding and you won't screw with the temper.

Tools are just that: tools; make them work for you............

Rich

[David Schneiderman]

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I think I am going to find a couple of inexpensive bench chisels and grind them as several of you mentioned.

[Russ Massery]

I bought some of the Narex chisels from Highland Woodworking about 27.00 for a set of four. Then ground the sides to make fishtails out of the them. I found them a little easier to sharpen then a skew chisel.

[Richard Dooling]

Russ,

I've been very curious about the Narex chisels. How do you like them?

.

[Dan O'Sullivan]

I've been very curious about the Narex chisels. How do you like them?

I bought a set of the Narex chisels to use as "beaters" for some pounding on sugar maple stuff. I have some old Swan chisels I like very well but after tuning up the Narex chisels I think they out perform the old standby collection.

I can't believe how well they hold an edge. I have run them hard and they are surprising me after months of abuse. I am going to get another set to grind down to skew chisels.

The handles are UGLY. They don't feel bad .. they just look like dog poop. Don't let that turn you off to the quality of the steel. Its good stuff and its cheap by my count.

good luck
dan

[James Taglienti]

You could also try a sharp pocket knife.

[Mark Maleski]

David,

I have a couple skew chisels, and they're very helpful for half-blinds. For through dovetails, I use a set of the Marples Blue-Chips (i.e., cheap chisels). They're a little tough to balance, but otherwise work just fine for dovetails.

If you're having trouble with through dovetails, the problem may be the sides of your chisels. The side-bevel of the chisel should ideally create a sharp edge with the bottom of the chisel (well, you'd want it a little dull to avoid cutting your fingers). In many cases (especially on the cheaper chisels), there's a significant vertical sidewall between the side bevel and the chisel bottom that prevents you from getting the tool all the way into the corner of the tail (this isn't a problem with the pin, as it's sidewall should be vertical). If you think this might be your problem, take a look at the Blue Spruce Toolworks website to see how their side-bevels are ground. The good news is you don't have to buy a BS chisel to get that, you can just take your chisels to the grindstone and take care of it yourself. It's the one modification I've made to my Blue Chips.

[David Gendron]

David, i have a fishtail chisel by Blue Spruce and realy like it, actualy like it better than a squew chisel! And like Mark said, you don't need the BS chisel if you can make your own!

[Preston Baxter]

I've been very curious about the Narex chisels. How do you like them?

I can't believe how well they hold an edge. I have run them hard and they are surprising me after months of abuse. I am going to get another set to grind down to skew chisels.
The handles are UGLY. They don't feel bad .. they just look like dog poop. Don't let that turn you off to the quality of the steel. Its good stuff and its cheap by my count.



I bought a set of the Narex chisels and was also pleasantly surprised. They hold an edge better than a more expensive Hirsch set I have. I now use the Narex for paring and Hirsch for chopping.

My only complaints with the Narex was the rough sides and the Horrible handles. A little time and elbow grease at the diamond hone smoothed the sides out.
I took a saw and amputated the top part of the handle with the striking ferrule and re-shaped the top with a rasp. Now they fit the hand real well and look good too.
The price can't be beat as a good source of excellent steel for mods like skews or fishtails.

http://personal.bellsouth.net/p/s/psbax/ww/narex.jpeg