[OP]
Contributor
Not picky, I have no experience. Lee valley has the one half inch skew pair by narex in stock, I will probably order those Wednesday or so if no one has spare/ extra stuff taking up shop space. Will consider matched skew pairs, fishtails or Cosmanized.
I am ok with the half inch width on the narex, will consider smaller widths as well.
Thanks
Scott
Contributor
Hi Scott, my half inch and quarter inch skew chisels are shop made from extra chisels. (yeah right, what is an extra chisel? nobody has too many chisels.)
My experience has been the half inch are too big for a lot of work.
Another useful tool for half blinds is a kerf maker. Before acquiring one from Ron Bontz:
mine was a piece of old saw blade.
Derek Cohen made his own illustrated on his web site > http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMad...erfChisel.html
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Jim, Do you mind posting pics of your shop made skew chisels? Also, I appreciate the link to Derek's thread. Thanks!
Contributor
Mine are ground from regular 1/4" chisels, too.
Contributor
I dont have any to sell you, but like others, I made my own skews from a couple 1/4" Buck Brothers chisels from the BORG. $4 each. I felt that for as often as I needed them, they didnt have to be high-end tools. The bevel is ground at 25*. The skew angle is 30* (IIRC).
Hope it helps.
Fred
Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 12-20-2021 at 1:06 PM.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Sir Edmund Burke
Contributor
I sharpen mine, and other small cutters, by standing the stones on edge, and sharpening on the sides of the stones. That saves worrying about getting a small section of the face out of flat. Small surface areas sharpen really quickly.
Contributor
I'll try to take pictures and post them later this evening. The only image on my computer seems to be one that was made from a beat up 1/4" chisel:Originally Posted by Mike Manning
Here is the story on that one > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?245479
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Here are all of my shop made skew chisels:
The 1/4" chisels didn't have readable markings on them. One of them had a mushroomed socket. Next time they need any work on the grinder the slope may be adjusted to a more oblique angle.
The 1/2" chisels were made from square sided Witherby chisels. One of them also had a mushroomed socket.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
[OP]
Contributor
I have ordered the Narex skew pair from Lee Valley. Appreciate the input. I have found I enjoy woodworking much more than I enjoy metalworking. Thanks again.
Contributor
Both bring me enjoyment. If my shop was a lot bigger my desire would be to also have metal working machinery. As it is some crude metal work can be achieved.
My guess is after you have used the Narex 1/2" skews awhile you will be wanting a 1/4" pair to accompany them.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
And thanks everyone for all the pics, descriptions, and processes. I enjoyed and learned from them. May even have been inspired enough to repurpose some "extra" chisels.
Contributor
I know you've ordered them, but a single bevel fishtail is going to work better than a skew.
Lie Nielsen has a flat back one. I made mine from an Ashley Iles.
[OP]
Contributor
The LN 1/2" fishtail is "out of stock email me when available." I did look at it.
I do still have to make a kerfing chisel, haven't found one of those at all.
Contributor
Regarding kerfing chisels: I'll probably get struck down by the internet woodworking gods for this, but I have a 6" drywall knife that fits *perfectly* in my Veritas dovetail saw kerf. I always meant to trim it down to make it less unwieldy, but I always forget, use it anyway, and it works great. Definitely make a tool if that's what you want to do, but if you just want something that works so you can get on with the project, you may try something similar.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote