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Thread: Paring Chisels

  1. #1

    Paring Chisels

    Yes. I know. This topic has been beaten to death. Nevertheless, when I get to the end of any thread on this topic I am totally confused. So here goes:

    For whatever reason Veritas does not offer paring chisels. I have some of their bench chisels I have ground to 20 degrees and use for paring end grain. What I WANT is a chisel or two for paring with longer, more flexible blades with a noticeably longer reach. Blue Spruce offers some gorgeous paring chisels but in A2 steel. A2 does not LIKE 20 degree bevels ! And sometimes that low angle is useful for soft wood. So, since Veritas does not or will not offer a longer reach blade, it seems to me I am boxed into Japanese blades.

    Inasmuch as my age precludes waiting years, and my bank account cannot handle exotic Japanese builders, I have spotted Nishiki blades on TFWW that seem to be in my neighborhood. So my question is this:

    Should I wait for Veritas (forever?) to offer paring chisels in PM-V11 steel, should I jump at TFWW Nishiki xtra thin paring chisels, or do I need to look elsewhere? No, I cannot fly down under to steal Derek's many sets. It is my hope I have kept this simple enuff to keep me out of the weeds.

    :>)

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Harvick View Post
    Yes. I know. This topic has been beaten to death. Nevertheless, when I get to the end of any thread on this topic I am totally confused. So here goes:

    For whatever reason Veritas does not offer paring chisels. I have some of their bench chisels I have ground to 20 degrees and use for paring end grain. What I WANT is a chisel or two for paring with longer, more flexible blades with a noticeably longer reach. Blue Spruce offers some gorgeous paring chisels but in A2 steel. A2 does not LIKE 20 degree bevels ! And sometimes that low angle is useful for soft wood. So, since Veritas does not or will not offer a longer reach blade, it seems to me I am boxed into Japanese blades.

    Inasmuch as my age precludes waiting years, and my bank account cannot handle exotic Japanese builders, I have spotted Nishiki blades on TFWW that seem to be in my neighborhood. So my question is this:

    Should I wait for Veritas (forever?) to offer paring chisels in PM-V11 steel, should I jump at TFWW Nishiki xtra thin paring chisels, or do I need to look elsewhere? No, I cannot fly down under to steal Derek's many sets. It is my hope I have kept this simple enuff to keep me out of the weeds.

    :>)
    Brian,

    Robert Sorby makes very nice "pattern maker" style chisels, I have a set and use them all the time. Sorby is the only maker, other than maybe Blue Spruce, that still makes a long, thin, flexable blade chisel.

    If you look at https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....ng-knife/page4 you will see that Phil Mueller recieved a very good set of push chisels from Japan in 4 days. BTW, both the Sorby and Japanese push chisels have a place in my tool kit.

    ken

  3. #3
    Hi Brian - Henry Taylor stills makes paring chisels. Here's a link: https://www.henrytaylortools.co.uk/wwchisel.html I have a couple of the paring chisels. I don't remember what kind of steel they use but I put a 20 degree angle on mine.

  4. #4
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    Check your PM

  5. #5
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    My Boxwood handled Marples are plenty good enough for me, and hold a 20 degree bevel just fine. I keep one black plastic handled Stanley no. 40 at 18 degrees for trimming window glazing. Either can be sharpened as sharp as anything, and hold up fine for their uses. I should add that I don't use the wood with natural Carborundum in it like Derek does.
    Last edited by Tom M King; 08-03-2019 at 9:36 PM.

  6. #6
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    Brian,

    I don't know how deep your pockets are, but there are a number of paring chisels, old ones, on that auction site. I saw several old name brand paring chisels in the "sold" section for from about $25 up to about $40. These ran from maybe 3/8" to an inch and a quarter.

    The old American chisels....and I do mean OLD should all be high carbon steel. The ones I looked at had from 6" to 9" of blade left, and didn't look to bad, I wasn't interested in looking at rust buckets.

    Regards,

    Stew

    Stew

  7. #7
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    Mar 2004
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    I have a set of the Narex® Paring Chisels that Lee Valley sells (they show as In-Stock) that hold a 20 degree bevel pretty well. Would they fit your needs?

    Brian
    The significant problems we encounter cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.

    The penalty for inaccuracy is more work

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Harvick View Post
    Yes. I know. This topic has been beaten to death. Nevertheless, when I get to the end of any thread on this topic I am totally confused. So here goes:

    For whatever reason Veritas does not offer paring chisels. I have some of their bench chisels I have ground to 20 degrees and use for paring end grain. What I WANT is a chisel or two for paring with longer, more flexible blades with a noticeably longer reach. Blue Spruce offers some gorgeous paring chisels but in A2 steel. A2 does not LIKE 20 degree bevels ! And sometimes that low angle is useful for soft wood. So, since Veritas does not or will not offer a longer reach blade, it seems to me I am boxed into Japanese blades.

    Inasmuch as my age precludes waiting years, and my bank account cannot handle exotic Japanese builders, I have spotted Nishiki blades on TFWW that seem to be in my neighborhood. So my question is this:

    Should I wait for Veritas (forever?) to offer paring chisels in PM-V11 steel, should I jump at TFWW Nishiki xtra thin paring chisels, or do I need to look elsewhere? No, I cannot fly down under to steal Derek's many sets. It is my hope I have kept this simple enuff to keep me out of the weeds.

    :>)

    Brian, one of the sets of chisels I have is the Blue Spruce dovetail chisels. They are used, funnily enough, for paring end grain (dovetails). A2 and 30 degree bevels. They get awfully sharp and feel amazing to use in this situation.

    These were purchased shortly after Dave Jeske started up Blue Spruce (in fact, I have the very first 3/4" chisel made). I dithered about purchasing them because A2 "needed" 30 degrees to work, so I read. I thought that a chisel at 30 degrees simply could not get sharp enough for paring. Then I recalled that my Japanese chisels were also 30 degrees, and they certainly did get very sharp. So I bought them. I have acquired other chisels since then, and most get rotated among my projects. On the current one (The Harlequin Table), it was necessary to pare Hard Maple and Jarrah. The Blue Spruce had no issues whatsoever.

    The other notable chisel type that becomes a myth buster are my Japanese slicks. These are Kyohisa (which are superb chisels and no longer available) which have bevels at 25 degrees. They are get quite frighteningly sharp. These are not thin blades, but do a superior job of paring.

    The moral of the story is do not get hung up on bevel angle or thickness of the blade. I prefer thin, but both can work superbly.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  9. #9
    I've kept myself busy making a 1/2" x undetermined length, paring chisel from buried farmyard spring steel at the moment, for a specific job.

    I wonder if you folks see it advantageous to have side bevels on very long paring chisels?
    Paring a sliding dovetail bottom comes to mind...

    Would that be the extremes of the lengthwise bevels down to the lands, or is there another job I aint thinking of, where you need more clearance than that?

    Thanks folks
    Tom
    Last edited by Tom Trees; 08-04-2019 at 9:59 AM.

  10. #10
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    Why would one use a paring chisel to remove waste on a sliding dovetail (I have also done so in the past)? It is so inefficient compared to a router plane.

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  11. #11
    I tried to post a response to all the great help but lost it. Let's see if I can make this work.

  12. #12
    I made a detailed response to all the kind folks who answered my question. Unfortunately, I lost it in the shuffle and somehow have lost the spirit to try to reproduce it. The upshot:

    1) When I was young and money was tight I was a frequent tool renovator. No longer. The clock is ticking and while my hands are still steady and my eyesight remains tolerable, I open my wallet to get what I want. I am not willing to buy premium Japanese tools even though I have a few. I learned on western tools and though I LOVE Japanese saws my pride and joy in the saw department is Bad Axe. Chisels not so much .............. (though I still am curious re: Nishiki paring chisels and maybe will buy one. Experience anybody ?????)

    2) I have LN bench chisels and like them. My go-to dovetail chisels ?? Ashley Iles American Pattern with O1 steel. They took much too long to get 1/8" - 3/4" (two years ! to get them all filled in ) and they took Waaaaaaay too much work to flatten the back. But they are razors ! Spectacular dovetail chisels. They are short however. I also have two Veritas chisels PM-V11 steel I have ground to 20 degrees for paring end grain in soft wood. They are marvelous, but the blades are simply too short for some of my interior work.

    3) I have been looking for an excuse to buy some Blue Spruce paring chisels. Derek has given me the ammunition. I'll buy a couple and enjoy the sunshine. And if SWMBO gives me the evil eye I shall simply throw Derek under the bus. ( " But Derek FORCED me to buy them ! ! !" ) It's great to betray a pal. Particularly if they live some distance away. Perth counts methinks.

    4) Speaking of sunshine, we have been developing something of a drought here this summer. Last night I posted my question, and last night whilst I slept we got 2" of rainfall, and you folks gave me great responses. Thanks to you all. So Derek who prolly resents that I get 2" of rain in just one night gives me the go ahead justification to buy what I wanted anyway. Perfect ! But I STILL might spring for one Nishiki if somebody jumps to sing their praises . :>)
    Last edited by Brian Harvick; 08-04-2019 at 1:14 PM. Reason: lousy spelling !

  13. #13
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    Brian,
    I would suggest you get the "Long" handles from Blue Spruce. They are beyond comfortable and pleasing.

    regards - Bill

  14. #14
    Jim thanks for your efforts. I haven't a clue how to respond to a PM ! I can read it, but cannot respond. My work is small. Maybe tiny even. Large parting chisels won't work for me. Thanks tho !

  15. #15
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    They took much too long to get 1/8" - 3/4" (two years ! to get them all filled in ) and they took Waaaaaaay too much work to flatten the back. But they are razors ! Spectacular dovetail chisels.
    My accumulation of Buck Bros. Socket Chisels, 1/8" - 1" by eighths, took over a decade. Some of them may be upgraded in the future. They too are razors.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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