Tool Review
R.J.Whelan
>I ordered a set of three dovetail chisels from Dave Jeske at Blue Spruce Toolworks about five weeks ago and received them last week. I could hardly wait to try them out; unfortunately I was just getting ready to do a trim job at an art gallery so I only had time to take a quick look and place them in the tool cabinet.
This week I finally got to give all three chisels a bit of a workout � I�ve been working on a modified Tansu chest (the design is sort a Tansu gesture, but without the wrought iron hardware typical of the style) that includes eight drawers of various sizes. Having already milled all of the drawer parts and layed out all of the DTs I was able to start cutting first thing Tuesday morning (right after that all important second cup of coffee).
These chisels are very refined and not really the type of tool you�d want to strike with a hammer or mallet; they are more suited to fine trimming and paring. I ordered them sized at 1/4�, 3/8� and 1/2� (the sizes I use the most). They arrived ready to use � I�m pretty fussy about sharpness so I tried to improve the edge on the 1/2� and came to the quick conclusion that I wasn�t going to get it any sharper than Dave had. The balance is as nice as any chisel I�ve ever used (way better than most) and the mesquite handles finished with oil/varnish and wax felt warm and friendly in my hand.
Now I�ve cut many thousands of DTs but darn if these didn�t seem to fit better than most. I�m a �cut close and sneak up on a perfect fit� joiner and these are just about the ideal tools for taking just the finest of shavings from a pin so the joint goes together with just a tiny bit of persuasion from the heel of my hand.
I highly recommend Blue Spruce. Dave is fine chap, a talented tool maker and a complete pleasure to deal with.
- rj -
