Query for Chisel Purists

Re: Query for Chisel Purists

Joel

>long paring chisels were mostly made for patternmakers for controlled cuts on patterns.

Hold chisel by tip on cut. hold handle at end. A small varitation in handle angle translates to much less movement at the tip - ergo - chisel is easy to control.

for paring the sides of mortises the long chisels are easy to site square and of course are long enough to easily pare the sides of a deep mortise.

For dovetailing they are not needed - although I think modern woodworkers do a lot more paring of dovetails than was traditionally done.

English paring chisels are used by cabinetmakers both there and here. they are very long, thin, graceful and slightly flexible.

American paring chisels were mostly used by millwrights for paring large joints and don't really have direct application to most cabinetmaking - although I am a sucker for Stanley 720's. (which are only as long a s regular English bench chisel)

Japanese paring chisels were used mostly for housewrighting like the Americans and aren't flexible.

A question that occured to me earlier today was what did Japanese patternmakers use for tools from 1860 onward?

I wonder about gouges

Jim in Burlington On

>I've seen several sets of bent neck gouges that have 12" blades also. What could those be used for? St Roy uses those long chisels to quickly clean out dado's before finishing with a router plane.

Re: I wonder about gouges

Joel

>those are cranked pattermakers gouges - used for carving specfici curves into a wood pattern.

Re: Query for Chisel Purists

Warren in Lancaster, PA

>I often find myself wishing the handles were longer. With your hand on the end of a longer chisel you have much more control of the angle of attack. For instance if you put the edge on the wood and move your hand a small amount with a 5" chisel, the change in angle is twice as much as it would be for the same amount of movement with a 10" chisel. With a slick and its long handle you have great control over the cutting angle. In paring operations its also nice to have plenty of room for both hands on the tool.

Some people think they have better control with their hand (or both hands) very near the work. You see this in turning also. For these people it is very clumsy to use their hands so far away from the action; it would be difficult for them to adjust to the more spread out style.

That made sense. thanks

bill tindall

>

Re: Query for Chisel Purists

ThomD

>One does have to wonder if the point of some of these long chisels wasn't a bit like a value meal at MacDonalds. It is hard to imagine how value conscious the people I knew from even my grandfathers generation (WWI ers) were. For one thing, they never would have asked any of these questions, or hung around navel gazing about tools as we happily do. Many of them weren't lords of wood rings, and probably bought a lot of tools by the inch. There had to be a core of serious users there too, but value may well have been their god too. I mean all chisels work. When I did dovetail demos, I took everything from blister pack chisels to ones that cost hundreds each. It is the person behind the tool that determines the result, all the chisel need is a workable level of edge retention for the wood being used. Son on that basis maybe the pros saw the value in chisels that lasted twice as long. Whether they gave a wobly buzz with every hit was secondary.

I have a variety of chisels, and the only advantage I can see to long blades, beyond a certain wear buffer, is if you are working that deep. Many of the long bladed chisels out of the UK type tradition, are pretty bendy, which I distinctly don't prefer.

I have a set of Japanese paring chisels in cabinet sizes, they make all sizes and thicknesses imagineable. These are completely awesome in use. I can't explain it really, and I have dozens of other Japanese tools over 3 decades. They are just a wonderful format and execution. I put off buying them for years thinking they would be of limited use. Reality is when you want to hit a chisel, you want a hooped afair, but if you are pushing, you need something made for that.