Dovetail chisel or paring chisel or "both?"

[John Dykes]

Assuming I have a set of 4 basic bench chisels, (whatever brand: Hirsch, LN, vintage, Japanese, 2 Cherries, etc) and I diving deeper into finer joinery - what is next?

To be blunt, I'd like to get a nice set of dovetail or paring chisels - and perhaps a "fishtail." I've been toying with taking the plunge on the Blue Spruce as they sell both a paring and a dovetail set, and are highly regarded.

I'm thinking that the dovetail is just like the paring but with angled sides - so they might work well for both functions (dovetails and general paring). Point being, it seems like the dovetail chisels are the paring chisels with a bonus feature.... The paring seem longer - but... uh... :confused:

Is this logical, or is there something I'm missing? Good idea, bad?

Thanks -
jbd

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Oh man that's way too sophisticated for me.
I just gots me some plain old fashioned chisels made outta metal wots got handles on em.


Really that's what I have.

[John Thompson]

Dove-tail chisels are basically paring chisels with two exceptions as I see it.

#1.. paring chisels will usually have a longer handle to get into deep work but there are exceptions.

#2.. dove-tail chisels are skewed with an angle from 8* degrees to 35* degrees with 20* being the mediam of angle. You would normally have a set which has one with a right angle and the other with a left.

Widths on DT's vary.. but it you do a lot of blind DT's.. I find 3/8" or 1/4" to be my go too.

Widths on paring chisels range the same as a bench set....

If you do a lot of hand-cut DT's.. get a set or right-left skews in either 3/8" or 1/4"... or get two cheapies as Marples and grind your own. That way you can put the skewed angle that is best for your needs on them.

IMO.. you don't need to purchase high dollar chisels to use as DT's. Just flatten the backs.. put and edge on them and get to work. They will work fine.. ;)

Sarge..

[Mike Henderson]

You should buy new tools, including chisels, when you have a specific need for that tool. When you encounter a task that you cannot do with your existing chisels, you should then purchase something that will do the job. Alternately, if you find your existing tools are not performing to your expectations, you should purchase a different brand to see if it's you or the tool. Many people, including me, search for the elusive prefect chisel.

For most projects, you can do dovetails very well with regular bevel side chisels, and you can pare with those same chisels.

For dovetails, the most common problem is cleaning the corners of half blind dovetails, which you can do with a couple of inexpensive 1/4" skew chisels. You can purchase a couple of cheap (Irwin) 1/4" chisels and sharpen them to a left and right skew.

Most people I know do not have special purpose paring chisels. They just use their regular chisels to do the paring.

Mike

[Mark Singer]

You have been given excellent advice. A basic set of chisels is really all you need. you can clean out the sockets with a utility knife or an Axacto knife.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

You should buy new tools, including chisels, when you have a specific need for that tool. When you encounter a task that you cannot do with your existing chisels, you should then purchase something that will do the job. Alternately, if you find your existing tools are not performing to your expectations, you should purchase a different brand to see if it's you or the tool. Many people, including me, search for the elusive prefect chisel.

For most projects, you can do dovetails very well with regular bevel side chisels, and you can pare with those same chisels.

For dovetails, the most common problem is cleaning the corners of half blind dovetails, which you can do with a couple of inexpensive 1/4" skew chisels. You can purchase a couple of cheap (Irwin) 1/4" chisels and sharpen them to a left and right skew.

Most people I know do not have special purpose paring chisels. They just use their regular chisels to do the paring.

Mike

SHAZAAM MY MAN~!!

[Terry Beadle]

The dove tail chisels are named that because they come set up to do dovetailing. The angled thin edge is the significant difference. That said, you can set a dovetail chisel up for paring if you want. Usually a dovetail chisel has a primary bevel of 25 degrees with secondary bevels of ( ala Charlesworth ) 33 and 35 degrees. These higher angles are good for the chopping action they are usually used for.

Paring chisels have a primary bevel of 22 1/5 or as low as 20 with secondary bevels of 25 or 27. They are kept well honed and are used for very fine shavings. The are not struck with a mallet but usually pushed by hand.

It isn't important which you use because if you keep your chisels no matter what kind sharp, they will usually do both in a pinch.

If a dovetail chisel is sharp, then it can be used for paring operations but typically a paring chisel is specialized to do very fine adjustments to the joint/task at hand.

I have a Blue Spruce 5/8ths paring chisel and a 14mm Japanease sword steel paring chisel. I have them set up as paring chisels. I don't use them for anything else. They both are beautiful to hold and use. One is not better than the other but I will say the Blue Spruce cost a lot less than the sword steel.

The Ashley Illes set I use for the chopping are set up like Charlesworth recommends except with a 37 degree final micro bevel as I've found they work best in the cherry, oak, and ash that I work with.

A paring chisel is great to have when you just didn't hit the mark with the first cut with the normal chisels. What ever chisels you use for paring or joint work, set them up to do the job as the right tool for the job.

IMO, 2 cents included... hoot!

[Chuck Nickerson]

Mike Henderson says you should buy tools only when you need to. I'd say that's a perfectly valid choice, but you can also choose to buy tools because you want them. I like using and buying tools, and don't feel morally inferior because of that character trait. :-)

When it comes to which chisel you might want next, I agree with Mike; skew chisels can be very useful for cleaning out corners. I have the pair of Blue Spruce and they are wonderful. My only problem with them is the skew angle is more acute than the skew jig for my Veritas MkII will support. My lack of hand sharpening skill is slowly degrading the edge. I'll soon regrind the edge to the most acute angle the MkII jig supports, and then I'll be back on solid ground.

[Dave Mount]

I got by just fine for a lot of years doing dovetails with plain old bevel edge paring chisels, but a couple years ago I was able to pick up a couple 3/8" chisels on the cheap and ground them into a pair of skews. This is not difficult, you just need to be careful to keep the steel cool as you go (short grinds, frequent dipping in water).

As a specialty tool, these don't get used all that often and they are more than up to the job. If I you're thinking about making a big investment in high end chisels, you might think about spending on your main user chisels, rather than a tool you use infrequently.

My $0.02, YMMV

Dave

[Derek Cohen]

Hi John

I have a set of Blue Spruce chisels, which are dedicated to paring dovetails. The BS are very fine chisels ... I'd probably call them "detail chisels", that is, they are great for delicate, paring work.

I also have a set of Japanese dovetail chisels, and these are preferred when I am working with hard woods since it is often easier to deal with this by chopping. I will pull out the BS to do the final tweeks, but the Koyamaichi could probably do this area as well.

If I were to choose one over the other, as much as I like the BS, it is the Koyamaichi that I rely on.

Regards from Perth

Derek