Who is/are most skillful in bench chisels?

[Simon MacGowen]

My votes go to Paul Sellers and Frank Klausz.

Simon

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Not quite sure what the question is, or the reasoning, but I guess I'd have to pick someone like Mary May or Chris Pye - while often times they're using a curved gouge, I've seen them both use straight edged tools, and with the limited experience I have in the matter, I feel like their type of work is much skill-intense than chopping the waste from dovetails or paring a tenon.

[Tony Wilkins]

David Charlesworth get's my vote. After watching his video I was in awe at his results even on simple things.

[Chris Griggs]

Probably someone whose name we don't know because they are full time woodworkers and don't make videos or teach classes. Please don't take this as snarky. I love the great content a lot of these folks offer, but the "best" are probably guys like George and Warren, who made/make the their living at the craft and the craft alone.....eeekk, I'm starting to sound like Dave Weaver :)

As far as woodworkers who are known in modern mainstream media. I like Joshua's answer.

[Tony Wilkins]

Walk back from the light Chris. Don't go changing your avatar or you'll find yourself in dire straights - and with a lot more sharpening stones.

[Harold Burrell]

Probably someone whose name we don't know because they are full time woodworkers and don't make videos or teach classes. Please don't take this as snarky. I love the great content a lot of these folks offer, but the "best" are probably guys like George and Warren, who made/make the their living at the craft and the craft alone.....eeekk, I'm starting to sound like Dave Weaver :)

As far as woodworkers who are known in modern mainstream media. I like Joshua's answer.


Walk back from the light Chris. Don't go changing your avatar or you'll find yourself in dire straights - and with a lot more sharpening stones.

Nah...It's just a PA thing...

[Chris Griggs]

Walk back from the light Chris. Don't go changing your avatar or you'll find yourself in dire straights - and with a lot more sharpening stones.

:) Haha I can think of worse things. It may be too late for me...I've been shaving with a straight for over a year now. Though I'll never change avatar to something that isn't cat related.

[Chris Fournier]

If you want a champion why not follow MMA, F1 or Dancing with the Stars? Using a chisel is a craftsman's skill and it is not an end it is a means only. It is also just one of a myriad of skills required to be a woodworker who can take a design, choose the material and create the object.

[Hilton Ralphs]

My vote is goes to whoever can't saw straight.

[Joe Tilson]

Thanks Hilton, Now I'm going to have to get a set of chisels!!!!!

[Chris Griggs]

My vote is goes to whoever can't saw straight.

Best answer!

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Chris's answer is a good one!

Probably better than anyone working today were the old pattern-makers; they pulled off some pretty crafty stuff in tight spots. I don't know if many folks still do that type of work that way?

[David Weaver]

Walk back from the light Chris. Don't go changing your avatar or you'll find yourself in dire straights - and with a lot more sharpening stones.

Stay away from the stones, they're laced with something!

[Tom Vanzant]

My vote is for Ron Brese... check out the video on his website showing him shaping the closed tote on one of his planes... just one of the many skills needed to make these woodworking wonders.

[Brian Holcombe]

Not sure who posted it up, but the Japanese cabinet maker cutting hidden dovetails on the shop floor using his foot as a holdfast, he was pretty damned impressive with a chisel.

There is a competition held every four years, Un des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, which includes many woodworking categories. I assume many of the winners would be included in the best users of a chisel.

[Tony Wilkins]

The craftsman at the Kyoto workshop are pretty impressive as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aRZT0PYhJU

[David Weaver]

At 13:30, I was concerned that they were going to leave those wedged M&T joints exposed to the open eye. fortunately, that wasn't the case.

[Jacob Reverb]

No votes for David Savage? http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/DirtDOG.gif

[Hilton Ralphs]

No votes for David Savage? http://d26ya5yqg8yyvs.cloudfront.net/DirtDOG.gif

Brilliant!

[Matthew Hills]

The craftsman at the Kyoto workshop are pretty impressive as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aRZT0PYhJU

Any idea what they dipped the chisel in at 07:50? some sort of wax or oiling pad?

Matt

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Any idea what they dipped the chisel in at 07:50? some sort of wax or oiling pad?

Matt

Interesting. They use camelia oil for rust prevention, and since he just picked up the chisel I am guessing he is wiping it clean. It appears to be a thick cloth on a block for wiping.

[george wilson]

You guys are watching craftsmen who do the same work day after day. Frankly,I'd have expected them to show more facility with their tools than they did. Years ago,I saw a video of a Japanese craftsman whacking out the escapements of Japanese planes. Now,THAT guy showed great skill in the fluidity and rapidity of chiseling out those planes. Each took a few minutes. And,on the floor,practically.(My back would kill me,and my legs could NEVER get into that posture!!) Well he should have shown such speed. That's all he ever did. And,NO JIGS,either. Nothing to gauge the angle of the irons. All by eye.

I knew an old guy whose father could hand chisel a spiral piano leg in 20 minutes,finished,ready to varnish. But,that's all he did.

In the 18th. and 19th. C.'s, CHILDREN poked long wires clear through the LONG stems of smoking pipes! These days,they imbed a wire in the mold in the mold and pour clay around it,to make repros of the long tavern pipes. By the way,the pipes were so long because they were kept in taverns for communal use. When someone picked up a used pipe,he broke off the end with someone else's drool on it. Eventually,the pipe got too short to use. Personal pipes were no longer that ours are today.

My point is,those who do repetitive work CAN develop unreal skills,even children did. A child could package something like 20,000 straight pins a day-sticking them through their paper package. Try that!!! They grabbed maybe a dozen pins at a time,quickly got them straight between finger and thumb,and shoved them through the paper they were packaged in. If they didn't,they'd not be able to feed themselves.

[David Weaver]

Not that it has anything to do with bench chisels, but a dai maker named Hisao mortises macassar ebony plane bodies sitting down in the end of one of the mahogany masterpiece videos using a 6 pound sledge. I have no idea how the chisel he was using tolerated it, but I'm sure there are a million little subtleties he's learned by doing the job thousands of times. The thickness of the waste that was coming out from the mortise was mind boggling, and the fluidity of the work (both doing and checking the work incrementally while progressing) was a good lesson in the difference between amateurs and professionals.

Inomoto is another dai maker where some videos are floating around. He says in one of them that he spent some number of months (6?) when he first started just training what angle to hold the chisel so that he'd be able to work accurately freehand.

I'm sure the guys selling woodworking videos are pretty good compared to most amateurs, but they do not remind me of the true professional producers when they're working.

[Brian Holcombe]

With most things the absolute best likely do not want to be videoed.

For instance on a documentary of Gerhard Richter (abstract painter) he spent most of the time in his studio complaining that the cameras were aggravating him.

[Chris Griggs]

For those who haven't seen it, the bloke in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K48FezBoPWg) seems pretty handy with a chisel...start watching at around 4 minutes in to see the chisel work...but really you should just watch the whole thing.

...never hurts to be reminded of the skill that can be found right here on SMC.

[Sean Hughto]

Very cool! I like how the narrator keeps saying "Mister Wilson."

[george wilson]

I wish we had planned ahead better back then,but everything seemed to come down as "We're going to make a movie" SOON. Otherwise,I would have had time to get the blacksmith's shop to make some proper chisels to use,instead of those big Sorby registered chisels. But,times were like that. I was asked to make a copy of the Thomas Jefferson mantle clock in 2 weeks for $500.00 one time. Easily a $50,000.00 project,and most of a year's work. See if you can google it. They seemed to think you could just pull it out of thin air. I got 4 days to make a gift for the president of Argentina,and 3 days to make a gift for Prince Hiro of Japan. They knew those people were coming a year ahead of time. Everything was handled that way. At least everything I was involved in.

P.S.,no saws were jammed in this film!!:) No planes were stalled out in the middle of a cut.

Yes,THAT'S RIGHT!! Mr. WILSON!!!:) And I didn't need no stink'in jigs. Or BADGES,either.

Google Thomas Jefferson Mantle Clock images. It's the one with the black marble obelisks,and the fancy ormolu castings. And,you can see the gears through the open clock face. Everything gold plated. Probable mercury gilt,actually.

[Zach Dillinger]

P.S.,no saws were jammed in this film!!:) No planes were stalled out in the middle of a cut.



I thought those things were signs that the operator really knows what they are doing...

[Sean Hughto]

P.S.,no saws were jammed in this film!!:) No planes were stalled out in the middle of a cut.


If you never jam a saw or stall a plane, you just aren't trying hard enough!

[george wilson]

Zach,it is even better if you have a buddy to do it along with you!! Makes more of a spectacle.:)

If you haven't seen the film,Sean,there is a place where Marcus and I are using an original veneer frame saw to saw 1/8" thick slices of cypress (as on the original) to line the spinet case with. Just after cutting the dovetails. That saw had pretty large teeth,too,about 4 TPI. A little tricky to start cleanly. But,it worked fine. That was the only time we ever used that saw,it being an original. Perhaps surprising that cypress from Italy was used on the original,but there seemed to be an active trade with that wood. An old cabinet maker,Mr. Sims,of the Sims tool chest on Roy's show, Told me they used to sell sets of mediterranean cypress in England to make furniture with. I'm not clear as to what he meant by "sets". Perhaps for the secondary wood?

By the way,back when I knew Mr. Sims,those 3" chisels Roy showed were more like 8 inches long at least. Too bad,they were all nice 19th. C. English chisels made when Sorby was a good brand. His goofy hippie son must have ground them to death. Once,Marcus and I were in Mr. Sim's shop. His son was marking 2" marks on all 4 sides of plywood 4"X4"'s,and then drawing lines to connect them to find the center of the blocks,INSTEAD OF JUST DRAWING AN "X" from corner to corner!! While he did this,he was running a rant about how INCOMPETENT the maintenance workers were!!(They were plenty competent!!). My director had o hire him some years later,to work in the Cabinet Shop. I was the supervisor of both shops while they tried to find a new master craftsman. He made a stand up desk for the wheelwrights. It was so BAD,they refused to accept it!! He finally got fired,but not from my numerous reports of his mis behavior. That's too long a story to type here right now.

[Sean Hughto]

there is a place where Marcus and I are using an original veneer frame saw to saw 1/8" thick slices of cypress (as on the original) to line the spinet case with.

I saw that. I thought it was weird that the narrator called that beautiful old tapered blade saw a "clumsy-looking" tool.

[Mel Fulks]

George, I remember a quick version of what finally got the guy fired . It is typical for insulated upper management in a lot of places to tolerate outrageous behavior from an employee UNTIL it personally embarrasses them. Infuriating .

[george wilson]

He and his father,Mr. Sims,both got fired. The son went to a nice vice president and begged for a second chance. After all,it was his father who was his boss,and who was close to retirement,and was blatantly building everything for his new house right in the shop. He should have been making repairs. Instead,he was making his kitchen cabinets,an island,and even a double wide wooden garage door!! Too bad. I really liked the old guy. That garage door totally dominated the whole shop!!

The son was completely worthless and did every crazy thing he could just to see what he could get by with. The LEAST offensive thing he did was wear bright red sneakers with his costume!! I can't go into all the stuff he pulled. Anyway,one day he had a new group coming in,and he said he hoped they were more intelligent than that last group of idiots!! The guide was a friend of the president and reported him. I must have reported him to our director 20 times. But,the director was scared to death of ANY vise president,and was afraid he'd offend the guy if he fired the hippie. Well,the word came back that very day to can him. I was INCREDIBLY relieved!!! It probably reflected worse on the director than if he had just fired the guy long before as I had been warning. The director was one of these guys who might come to the shop twice a year. Nearly all of the ones I "out lived" were the same. I must have had 6 over 39 years.

[Steve Voigt]

Chris, thanks for posting that video, I never saw it before.
George, I really enjoyed that, especially the frame saw. And you were quite the dashing fellow back then!

[lowell holmes]

I can speak only of the ones I witnessed personally. Five come to mind. Frank Strazza, Stan Beckworth, and Paul Sellers at Homestead Heritage. The other two are the Headley Brothers in or around Williamsburg.

[Brian Ashton]

You guys are watching craftsmen who do the same work day after day. Frankly,I'd have expected them to show more facility with their tools than they did. Years ago,I saw a video of a Japanese craftsman whacking out the escapements of Japanese planes. Now,THAT guy showed great skill in the fluidity and rapidity of chiseling out those planes. Each took a few minutes. And,on the floor,practically.(My back would kill me,and my legs could NEVER get into that posture!!) Well he should have shown such speed. That's all he ever did. And,NO JIGS,either. Nothing to gauge the angle of the irons. All by eye.

I knew an old guy whose father could hand chisel a spiral piano leg in 20 minutes,finished,ready to varnish. But,that's all he did.

In the 18th. and 19th. C.'s, CHILDREN poked long wires clear through the LONG stems of smoking pipes! These days,they imbed a wire in the mold in the mold and pour clay around it,to make repros of the long tavern pipes. By the way,the pipes were so long because they were kept in taverns for communal use. When someone picked up a used pipe,he broke off the end with someone else's drool on it. Eventually,the pipe got too short to use. Personal pipes were no longer that ours are today.

My point is,those who do repetitive work CAN develop unreal skills,even children did. A child could package something like 20,000 straight pins a day-sticking them through their paper package. Try that!!! They grabbed maybe a dozen pins at a time,quickly got them straight between finger and thumb,and shoved them through the paper they were packaged in. If they didn't,they'd not be able to feed themselves.


I happened upon a very old cabinet makers workbook years ago (long before the internet) where they broke down the cost of making various items. It was broken down into specific tasks, their times to make and subsequent costs. I don't remember the date precisely but it was the mid 1800s and was from London. I was quite surprised at how short the times were for making furniture. The times ranged from half a day to a few days depending on the item of interest. It was an enlightening read with respect to how they got on with things back then.

[Graham Haydon]

Chris, another thanks for posting the video and allowing me to learn about Mr Wilson.

[Bryan Robinson]

George, that was fantastic work. I really enjoyed it.

[Harold Burrell]

Chris, another thanks for posting the video and allowing me to learn about Mr Wilson.


George, that was fantastic work. I really enjoyed it.

Yeah, that was awesome!

Man...how cool would it be to actually be one of those guys who get to work with George! Wow. The stuff you could learn!

It would even be worth wearing one of those horrid "Pirate Shirts".

[george wilson]

Thanks for the accolades,Harold. That video is actually in 6 parts to show the whole movie. You can buy the DVD from Col. Williamsburg. But,they hid it behind the most ghastly bad(and much earlier) movie about Colonial music. Really,they ought to can it and make a new one based on more recent research.

[Zach Dillinger]

I happened upon a very old cabinet makers workbook years ago (long before the internet) where they broke down the cost of making various items. It was broken down into specific tasks, their times to make and subsequent costs. I don't remember the date precisely but it was the mid 1800s and was from London. I was quite surprised at how short the times were for making furniture. The times ranged from half a day to a few days depending on the item of interest. It was an enlightening read with respect to how they got on with things back then.

You might find this interesting. I did.

http://www.philamuseumstore.org/store/30177!3/