Dove Tail chisels

[Ron Brese]

These won't be to everyone's taste. Some will like them and some will think making chisels with acrylic polymer handles is blasphemy. There's a big ole world out there with a lot to like and I guess dislike.

Anyway, these are small dovetail chisels. Overall length 6". Sizes are 1/4, 5/16, 3/8, 1/2 and 3/4". Blades are high carbon steel with cold blue treatment.

Turning the acrylic has been quite the learning curve. It takes a bit more feed pressure but at the same time you can't get too aggressive or it will blow out. In regards to hitting it with a mallet it seems to be very durable.

Ron

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Kl0hKxEmSwcD2L64FmotzD0S3-HYknaQP_b-fkjWdFqfmkc5nDDC6_OYK2NAOpC5vcnWjjODZc_viJ3kNUis0V mzDucyua-CsXnwV0UWJqg0Ien2Xgw6yZkM3V6DZXJPWCcwIZnXlTnq4jilD zNylCgbiohiTtYcH9kyKwDky7KsNKwCcEWZQy00/s640/IMG_1977.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_fKPjznHkfUhYZZEt4tJDD_Br2pgL66o2IFhfhhZSMT p0GklS12S4VRijgNk73mkd16RCUQUu2uFORrWra9w91owycThz ZWz-ooou5HD3q2Erlwi0KON7w7_iLD7hUGHjDbVmS38jGLu_LPY_Us ET47QlUIGLSC16EX_URvuk6aXF4GfVQewxMYCA/s640/IMG_1980.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3uVT7DGRVIo1qA7ch0LOKiUMeB5aMJqULxNsu7GJA6q VATY9c9eTv24OykeSg4hTudagANDyZGa61Eqp0k_2L2MQ-Rji9rdQdDBKfWXh8Fd6rdcg-4ZVpM8oqJlsaF7EIeWDp45WNvtfb3CgY2Di9laEJR493eZoKpU nUCmg8p3Lf3pm_2HTkIhh6/s640/IMG_1983.jpg

[Frederick Skelly]

Those are neat Ron. Will they be posted as "available" on your website?

[Jim Koepke]

Those do look great Ron.

As the saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Though these may not be what my 'eye' would want in a chisel, someone will surely salivate over their beauty. Surely when the first plastic handles arrived on the scene many liked them because wood was "just so ordinary."

Of course there will be others who want them in wood toned colors or even lavender, purple and fluorescent mauve.

jtk

[Ron Brese]

Frederick these have already found a new home.

Ron

[Frederick Skelly]

Frederick these have already found a new home.

Ron

Good for you!

[Tom M King]

I think they look great, and wouldn't mind using them if I could figure out which two fingers to hold them with.

[Adam Grund]

Definitely look super attractive- and I’d have a hard time deciding whether to do wood or something like those!
Of course, I guess that makes the case for one of each 😳

[David Bassett]

... or even lavender, purple and fluorescent mauve. ...

That might be nice as a pop of color down at the end of a chisel rack. :)

[Warren Mickley]

I think they look great, and wouldn't mind using them if I could figure out which two fingers to hold them with.

I agree. I like to have a handle a minimum of five inches long so I can hold it in my hand and not worry about hitting knuckles with a mallet. Andre Roubo suggested the same thing 250 years ago.

[Jim Koepke]

That might be nice as a pop of color down at the end of a chisel rack. :)

Maybe a different color for each size like my old Xcelite nutdriver set:

485341

That would make it easy to grab the wanted size without having to stop and look as much.

Most of my chisels have shop made handles and are of various woods.

jtk

[James Pallas]

Nice looking chisels Ron. Cold blueing is interesting. Rust prevention for sure. I like the look of the colorful plastic.
Jim

[Rob Luter]

Visually these are very interesting. I liked the blue set you posted in June. The caramel set you posted at the same time was really nice.

[Don Dorn]

Truly beautiful. I've been using standard Crown butt chisels for years, but now realize I'm just ordinary. Must be a pleasure picking these off the rack for that purpose.

[Derek Cohen]

Hi Ron

I think your workmanship (is it politically correct to use this phrase?) is superb, and I like that you are creative in your thinking. As one who enjoys joinery by hand, especially dovetailing, I am curious about your ideas leading to the design of these chisels.

In particular, can we have a close up of the blades - the angle and size of the lands is important to me. The thickness of the blade is also a factor, and this is felt when paring away <1mm slices (such as at the upper boundary of a half-blind socket). As supplied, what is the bevel angle?

For chopping, I prefer a longer handle, but recognise that there are many methods and many users. What are your thoughts here?

Lastly, about the handle material - this looks very durable, but does it feel like wood? Certainly, NO ONE is going to lose one under a pile of shavings! :)

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Ron Brese]

Derek you ask good questions.

The side bevels are 20 degrees, enough to clear the corner of the steepest typical DT angles. The primary bevel at the cutting edge is 25 degrees with a secondary honed bevel at 30 degrees. I find this a good combination for paring and chopping. Having control of the heat treating process allows me to tweak the tempering to produce favorable characteristics for the chisel's intended purpose. These are tempered at a slightly higher temperature than say a chisel meant for paring. That helps them hold up to chopping. When I test these I should be able to pare cleanly, then chop a base line and still go back and pare cleanly. If it passes this test I know I have the heat treating spot on. There is little to no land on the sides of these chisels. Once surface ground I typically have to break the edges with a piece of fine abrasive so as to make them safe to hold. The thickness is a nominal 1/8" but I make these from oversize stock so once ground they are typically .135 to .138 finished thickness.

The size came about when I was doing a lot of dovetailing on a couple projects. Even though I cut some nice joinery on those projects I did notice that there was a tendency for my edge to walk slightly out of the knife line when I changed my focus to the striking point at the top of the chisel handle. The longer chisels have a higher center of gravity. The small size lowers the center of gravity and puts the knife line and the top of the handle in one line of sight so there is no need to change your focus when striking the top. This is evidently a common issue because these have proved to be one of the most popular chisels I offer.

The way dovetailing is taught these days there is a lot of emphasis on efficient methods to excavate waste. Bashing out a lot of waste with a chisel wears out three things. The person doing the work, the handle of the chisel and most importantly the edge. If more efficient waste excavation is your method then a large chisel with a bigger handle is no longer a necessity. I much prefer to save my sharp chisel edges for the important work of cutting cleanly to the knife lines.

Ron

[Frederick Skelly]

Derek you ask good questions.

The side bevels are 20 degrees, enough to clear the corner of the steepest typical DT angles. The primary bevel at the cutting edge is 25 degrees with a secondary honed bevel at 30 degrees. I find this a good combination for paring and chopping. Having control of the heat treating process allows me to tweak the tempering to produce favorable characteristics for the chisel's intended purpose. These are tempered at a slightly higher temperature than say a chisel meant for paring. That helps them hold up to chopping. When I test these I should be able to pare cleanly, then chop a base line and still go back and pare cleanly. If it passes this test I know I have the heat treating spot on. There is little to no land on the sides of these chisels. Once surface ground I typically have to break the edges with a piece of fine abrasive so as to make them safe to hold. The thickness is a nominal 1/8" but I make these from oversize stock so once ground they are typically .135 to .138 finished thickness.

The size came about when I was doing a lot of dovetailing on a couple projects. Even though I cut some nice joinery on those projects I did notice that there was a tendency for my edge to walk slightly out of the knife line when I changed my focus to the striking point at the top of the chisel handle. The longer chisels have a higher center of gravity. The small size lowers the center of gravity and puts the knife line and the top of the handle in one line of sight so there is no need to change your focus when striking the top. This is evidently a common issue because these have proved to be one of the most popular chisels I offer.

The way dovetailing is taught these days there is a lot of emphasis on efficient methods to excavate waste. Bashing out a lot of waste with a chisel wears out three things. The person doing the work, the handle of the chisel and most importantly the edge. If more efficient waste excavation is your method then a large chisel with a bigger handle is no longer a necessity. I much prefer to save my sharp chisel edges for the important work of cutting cleanly to the knife lines.

Ron

I really enjoy learning the thinking behind a tool's design. Thanks for the lesson Ron!

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Ron. All that sounds very good to me. Shorter blades have more control (think Japanese oire nomi). I especially like the blades at 1/8". That's a great balance. Most I see are 3/16", and that gets heavy in the wider chisels (3/4" and up).

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Charles Guest]

People knife the woodworking equivalent of the Marianas Trench for a baseline, with a double-beveled knife, and then wonder why there's a gap there.

[Edwin Santos]

Derek you ask good questions.


The size came about when I was doing a lot of dovetailing on a couple projects. Even though I cut some nice joinery on those projects I did notice that there was a tendency for my edge to walk slightly out of the knife line when I changed my focus to the striking point at the top of the chisel handle. The longer chisels have a higher center of gravity. The small size lowers the center of gravity and puts the knife line and the top of the handle in one line of sight so there is no need to change your focus when striking the top. This is evidently a common issue because these have proved to be one of the most popular chisels I offer.

The way dovetailing is taught these days there is a lot of emphasis on efficient methods to excavate waste. Bashing out a lot of waste with a chisel wears out three things. The person doing the work, the handle of the chisel and most importantly the edge. If more efficient waste excavation is your method then a large chisel with a bigger handle is no longer a necessity. I much prefer to save my sharp chisel edges for the important work of cutting cleanly to the knife lines.

Ron

I have reached a similar conclusion on what you're saying about chisel size.
Ashley Iles makes a shorter chisel called the American Pattern Butt chisel. They have very narrow lands, and I have come to love them because when doing fine work, I tend to choke up on the chisel and grip with my fingers very close to the cutting edge (as opposed to wrapping my hand around the handle). The shorter size and lower center of gravity make a big difference. I think the size and form factor of your chisels is very similar.

I might point out when paring, the opposite is the case, and I tend to reach for a standard size bench chisel, so I don't want to suggest the shorter size is an all purpose solution.

Some of this is very subjective so it all depends on how the craftsperson works and the type of work he or she is doing.

[Frederick Skelly]

People knife the woodworking equivalent of the Marianas Trench for a baseline, with a double-beveled knife, and then wonder why there's a gap there.

I fall into that trap at times. So what's your technique Charles?

[Derek Cohen]

It is not whether a knife is single- or double bevelled, but the angle the line is struck, and how wide is the tip of the knife.

I use a double bevelled Stanley craft knife mostly, but the blade is tipped over, the bevel is low, and light-medium pressure is the order of the day.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tom Bender]

A double beveled knife can certainly work well especially in very skilled hands, but a single bevel is more likely to be sharpened consistently. It is easier to know the angle against the chisel wall and it makes less demands on my skill and vision.

[Derek Cohen]

For most scribing I use the Stanley knife in the centre. It is double-bevelled, and angling it for a cut is simple (once one is used to doing so). The two others, by Swann-Morton, are similar.

https://i.postimg.cc/W1hjhYSn/Knife2a.jpg

For dovetails, I use one I designed and now built by Chris Vesper. This can be held flush against the socket wall, which is needed in skinny tails …

https://i.postimg.cc/hjknVTXm/Marking-Knife2.jpg

Regards from Perth

Derek