Neander Holiday Cheer

[Jim Becker]

I recently converted some "holiday cheer" into a few small Neander additions for my shop...a pair of Gramercy holdfasts, a pair of skew chisels for cleaning in corners and a couple more Ashley Iles chisels to fill gaps in my set. Ordered Sunday night...added the hold-fasts via email. Received them Tuesday morning bright and early. Thanks to Joel at Tools for Working Wood (http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=toolshop) for the great service! And thanks to Robert Tarr for calling my attention to the holdfasts...I hadn't acquired any for my (formerly) new bench and these are really very nice.

[Hank Knight]

Jim, are those carving skews beveled on both sides? If so, are you going to regrind them with a single bevel or can you use them as-is for dovetail work?
Hank

[Jim Becker]

Hank, they are not carving skews...bevel is on one side (the reason for the matching pair) and they are made for dovetail and similar "cleaning" work. These are the 3/8" wide version...Joel also sells a smaller set for really tiny work. Some folks will re-grind straight chisels for this job.

[Bob Noles]

Jim,

Nice haul on the tools. I am about to start buying up a set of the AI chisels on a one per month basis out of my lunch money :) How are you liking them? I plan on getting them from Joel also.

[Hank Knight]

Hank, they are not carving skews...bevel is on one side (the reason for the matching pair) and they are made for dovetail and similar "cleaning" work. These are the 3/8" wide version...Joel also sells a smaller set for really tiny work. Some folks will re-grind straight chisels for this job.

Thanks, Jim. I'll check them out in Joel's catalog. I just placed an order with him for some miscellaneous stuff. Wish I'd seen these before I did.

Hank

[Alan Turner]

Great score, Jim. You will love the holdfasts. They are the first ones I have used that actually work. Quick and easy. Excellent design, and quite affordable.
As the the skews, I prefer the hand filed three corner chisels from salvage rust bucket stock. Each to his own on this score, of course.

[Steve Wargo]

I second Alan's nice dovetailed shaped chisels. A little tip he showed me when I visited. they are top notch. I really need to try thos hold fasts. My crappy Woodcraft one doesn't work worth a darn. Nice score Jim.

[Peter Gavin]

I have seen several references to 'Dovetail SHaped' or 'Three Corner' chisels, but I am having trouble picturing them Could someone post a picture as I have some chisels I plan on regrinding but I guess I want to get them right the first time.:rolleyes:

Thanks

Peter

[Jim Becker]

Bob, I really like the Ashley Iles chisels. I started with the 6-pc "small" set (longer handles) as that was really the best price and just added two sizes 'cause I'm like that. I tried both handle types plus the Two Cherries/Hirsh and a couple others in Joel's showroom and the longer handled AIs felt the most comfortable to me. They stay sharp as heck, too...the scar on my thumb is good evidence of that!
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The holdfasts are simple, but "hold fast"...I tried them out really quick before I headed off to pick up the girls from school. Two for $30 was quite acceptable to me, too.
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Hank, the little skew chisels are quite nice and will fill my needs. I just don't have time to faddle with making something...it's hard to get any time in my shop as it is. (I did build two beds in two hours on Saturday, however...err...well...they were sized to accomodate 12" tall "Barbie" type dolls... LOL!) Someday, I'll play with some "rust" and get creative, however...I do value the advise of my good friend Alan and others on such things!

[Alan Turner]

I have seen several references to 'Dovetail SHaped' or 'Three Corner' chisels, but I am having trouble picturing them Could someone post a picture as I have some chisels I plan on regrinding but I guess I want to get them right the first time.:rolleyes:

Thanks

Peter

Peter,
My camera is "off site" at the moment, and while I know I posted a pix of it here, I can't find it.

I take an old, narrow chisel and file the top edges until the sides angle down to a point. That the top also reaches a point from the filing is fine, but not needed. Anywhere around a 30 degree or so angle is plenty steep as a dovetail is rarely cut at over 20 degrees. I only go back from the tip about 1.25 to 1.5 inches, althought you could go back furhter. It just is not needed.

With a chisel thus shaped, you can pare the inside corner of the sockets without blowing out the corner, and without having to skew the chisel, which on a very narrow pin DT is not always possible or easy. I also use them for hand cutting the sockets for sliding dovetails, but here you will need to file the angle back further from the front tip.

The chisels I use for this are good steel, but very cheap since they are mostly worn out, oft without a handle. Butcher, Witherby, etc. Mostly tang firmers. Generally about $2 - $3 or so. The only thing you need to look out for is rust pitting on the back, in the first 1/2" or so since it would be too much work to grind or hone it down to good metal. These chisels are usually the ones you skip over when looking at the bottom of the box at a yard sale or flea market. I have had sellers just give them to me if I was making another purchase. But, rust is plentiful in Southeastern Pa.

A good chisel is about RC 60-62 in hardness, and a file is about RC 71 or so, so the filing is quite easy.

[Hank Knight]

Hank, the little skew chisels are quite nice and will fill my needs. I just don't have time to faddle with making something...it's hard to get any time in my shop as it is. (I did build two beds in two hours on Saturday, however...err...well...they were sized to accomodate 12" tall "Barbie" type dolls... LOL!) Someday, I'll play with some "rust" and get creative, however...I do value the advise of my good friend Alan and others on such things!

Jim, you and I are in the same boat: too many projects and too little time. I've been thinking about making some skew chisels; but I can't decide what I want, and I just don't have the time. Joel's may solve my dilemma. I'll give them a try. Thanks for posting the pics.

Hank

[Dan Racette]

Hey Jim, Don't you love the handles on the Ashley Iles Chisels. I really think they fit my hand particularly well. I love joel's company, I hope he can keep the high high quality in it!!!

dan

[Jim Becker]

Yea, Dan...the bubinga handles really feel good in my hand which is why I bought them in the first place. I decided that 1) I would buy good stuff since I don't have time to scrounge and restore and 2) that I would only buy something that I had held in my hand first. It just so happened that Robert Tarr and I were in NYC for a customer briefing and got done early enough to make a side trip to Joel's showroom...tried them, as I mentioned above, in both handle sizes as well as the Two Cherries/Hirsh and something else I don't recall. The AI felt the best then and they even feel good when you are shoving the pointy end into your flesh...err...well, not really.... ;) Robert's Lie Nielsons feel really nice, too...but I didn't want to invest quite that much at the time!

[Robert Tarr]

Jim,

Glad that you got the new chisels to help round out the other lonely ones in your collection.

I am trying to be a "bad" influence on the power tool guy...seems to be working...see if I can talk you into a nice Clark and Williams smoother sometime soon..

RT

[Jim Becker]

...see if I can talk you into a nice Clark and Williams smoother sometime soon.

So that's how you do it...(the long hair) :D :D :D

[Robert Tarr]

Don't worry about the hair, we will start working on that soon enough....

Robert