Lee Valley Chisels

[Louis Rucci]

OK,

My son says that if I cannot use my dovetail jig to build my grandaughter's toy chest the size she wants, then I'll just have to do it by hand, HA!.

I'm looking at the Yeung Chan Detail chisels at Lee Valley.

Any opinions if this would be a good purchase?

Thanks

[Eddie Darby]

I would get a good rip saw first, since it is the key to doing good dovetails by hand.

[Robert Rozaieski]

For paring they are probably great with a nice low bevel angle. I wouldn't want to chop the waste with them though. They don't look sturdy enough for chopping. Hand pressure only on those.

[John Todd]

I have the 1/2 in dovetail chisel. While it's a wonderful detail chisel it would not be good for this use at all.

[Rob Lee]

OK,

My son says that if I cannot use my dovetail jig to build my grandaughter's toy chest the size she wants, then I'll just have to do it by hand, HA!.

I'm looking at the Yeung Chan Detail chisels at Lee Valley.

Any opinions if this would be a good purchase?

Thanks

Hi Louis -

I'll echo what others have said... these are really fine hand chisels, but are not really appropriate for the scale of work you're describing...and they're not meant to be struck...

A specific project like yours is a good opportunity to buy a single good chisel - I'd avoid buying a set for now...

Cheers -

Rob

[Jim Koepke]

That is a nice set for detail work in carvings and light trim work.

For dovetail paring, having a bit more mass in a chisel can be an advantage.

Of course, everyone does their dovetail joinery with their own style.

Besides the endless disagreement over whether pins or tails are to be done first, there are the different methods of removing the waste.

Some like to "hog out" the waste with a coping or fret saw. Others will drill it out.
Then there is the set it on top of a piece of scrap to protect the bench and start pounding on the chisel group. There are even subsets in these group as to how to chop it out with chisels or to pare after the hogging is done. Then it will diverge into should the chisels be short to get you closer to the work or long chisel for some other reason. Does one have to have skew chisels, ad infinitum.

One chisel could certainly do the whole job. My preference would be two chisels, one sized for the space between the tails and one sized for the narrow bottom of the tail, which is the narrow space between the pins.

This is just my 2¢ surely the opinions and/or experience of others may certainly be worth a nickel or more.

jim

[Alex Yeilding]

one sized for the space between the tails and one sized for the narrow bottom of the tail, which is the narrow space between the pins.

I think that is not standard terminology.

I believe the tail is the piece of wood, usually on the drawer side, which is trapezoidal when viewed on the face of the board, and rectangular when viewed from the end. While it could be small, it is usually the larger of the two components of the DT joint.

The pin is the piece usually on a drawer front or back, which is rectangular viewed on the face of the board, and trapezoidal viewed from the end.

As far as I know, the only space that has a name is the space between tails, sometimes referred to as the "pin socket" or just "socket".

At least that's the way I've seen the terms used.

[Joe Mindell]

I have the Lee Valley detail chisels and they're nice for small paring jobs but they flex a bit more than I like for paring dovetails. I generally use my regular chisels for the dovetails and a skew chisel to clean the corners, though I just bought one of those nice japanese dovetails from Lee Valley and can't wait to see how that does.

[Louis Rucci]

Thanks for all your input, very valuable. I should have been more specific in my question.

I should have asked if these chisels would be a good choice for the paring of the dovetails after cutting and hogging of the wood.

I do have a set of 10 Japanese chisels I bought from the Japanese Woodworker 30 yrs ago. Sizes range 1/8" - 1 1/2". Here's a representative sample and the original box. I have no idea of the Japanese steel used to make them.

Do you feel these should do me well in the paring of the dovetails?

They have Red Oak handles.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AspiringWoodworker/Chisel

[Jim Koepke]

Do you feel these should do me well in the paring of the dovetails?

I am sure they would work well.
Some folks do not like the feel of the hoops in their hands when paring.
Surely, there are folks right here that would line up to trade you their old hoopless chisels for those.

jim

[Louis Rucci]

LOL: After owning them for so long, and keeping them in pristine condition, I don't think so.

Like I've said, I've been collecting tools for my future shop for a long time. The building went up last year, and now I'm slowing doing the inside.

[Greg Muller]

Awwwwww, c'mon Louis,

If you haven't used those chisels much in 30 years, you probably won't in the next 30 years either...

I'll sacrifice and pay you what you paid for them 30 years ago... I'll even add a couple bucks for your trouble.:D

Whadya say? Be a pal, huh???:rolleyes:

Greg

[Alex Yeilding]

I think that is not standard terminology.


But in retrospect, I think I need to have another cup of coffee before replying. I don't know why I couldn't figure out what Jim was saying when I first read this.

And I concur that for two chisels, having one the width of the space between the base of the tails (i.e., the width of the wide side of the pins) and one the width of the base of the tails makes sense. Of course, that is assuming evenly spaced and sized DT's, which is a matter of taste.

[Louis Rucci]

Uhhhhhh! NO