Dovetail Chisels

[Chip Sawdust 599]

On 6/30/2019 at 5:32 PM, Chestnut said:

. I can confirm what Derek said about the white steel on these chisels they take an edge that is unlike anything in my shop. Other than maybe the old O1 steels but they go dull quite fast.

That’s good to know. I sharpen everything a lot.... which is to say mostly my chisels need it more than anything else. Well, turning requires a lot of grinder work but not much honing so it's pretty fast. I’d love to have a chisel I could sharpen oh, once a month  

the old saying is you get what you pay for but these days I say you pay for what you get. Maybe those chisels could prove me wrong?

[Smashedfinger 21]

Save yourself a bunch of hand cramps a get a set of good butt chisels. Two cherries has a good set.

[Coyote Jim 241]

In the book "The Joiner and the Cabinet Maker" (incredible book by the way) Christopher Schwarz explains how to make some dovetail chisels. He says you just need to get a cheap chisel and file the side bevel until the it comes to a point. Chris also says that you can do this with a belt grinder as long as you don't let the steel get too hot and loose it's temper.

As someone who has drank the Christopher Schwarz cool-aid I gave it a try. I had some Harbor Freight chisels that were collecting dust and I took them to the belt grinder. If I screwed up or this didn't work then it is no great loss.

The one on the left is the before pic, the two on the right are the ones I "made". The 1/4" did not even have a side bevel too it at all, it was pretty much a mortise chisel.

Schwarz also said to cut the handle down to make the chisel shorter. That way you will not feel like you are chiseling with a broom handle. I did not need to do this because these chisels are already pretty short.

They are not pretty and the small one was hard to sharpen.

But they work like charm. 

[wtnhighlander 6611]

I've heard several people say the HF chisels were surprisingly good. I just wish the blades were longer. A large part of my chisel work is paring, with the flat back against a reference surface. Longer reach would save me a lot of knuckle skin.

[Chestnut 4361]

9 hours ago, Coyote Jim said:

In the book "The Joiner and the Cabinet Maker" (incredible book by the way) Christopher Schwarz explains how to make some dovetail chisels. He says you just need to get a cheap chisel and file the side bevel until the it comes to a point. Chris also says that you can do this with a belt grinder as long as you don't let the steel get too hot and loose it's temper.

As someone who has drank the Christopher Schwarz cool-aid I gave it a try. I had some Harbor Freight chisels that were collecting dust and I took them to the belt grinder. If I screwed up or this didn't work then it is no great loss.

The one on the left is the before pic, the two on the right are the ones I "made". The 1/4" did not even have a side bevel too it at all, it was pretty much a mortise chisel.

Schwarz also said to cut the handle down to make the chisel shorter. That way you will not feel like you are chiseling with a broom handle. I did not need to do this because these chisels are already pretty short.

They are not pretty and the small one was hard to sharpen.

 

But they work like charm. 

That is awesome they look great. I have nothing against making them, i just didn't want to. I have too many things i need to get done and other hair brained ideas i want to do that i just bought some.... If my full time job was 40 hours like most people instead of the 50+ i end up working I'd probably have done it.

I also wanted a nice set of chisels, exotic wood handle, expensive steel. It was a bonus and i wanted to treat myself.

[Coyote Jim 241]

12 hours ago, Chestnut said:

That is awesome they look great. I have nothing against making them, i just didn't want to. I have too many things i need to get done and other hair brained ideas i want to do that i just bought some.... If my full time job was 40 hours like most people instead of the 50+ i end up working I'd probably have done it.

I also wanted a nice set of chisels, exotic wood handle, expensive steel. It was a bonus and i wanted to treat myself.

Don't get me wrong I am SO not against buying things, especially good tools. I have my eye on some good dove tail chisels myself. I just have other tool purchases that are taking priority I need to scrape together for.

I only posted the above because I thought this community would find it as interesting as I did and this info was very relative to this thread. Defiantly not try to tool shame anyone here.

[Chestnut 4361]

5 minutes ago, Coyote Jim said:

Don't get me wrong I am SO not against buying things, especially good tools. I have my eye on some good dove tail chisels myself. I just have other tool purchases that are taking priority I need to scrape together for.

I only posted the above because I thought this community would find it as interesting as I did and this info was very relative to this thread. Defiantly not try to tool shame anyone here.

No worries it wasn't taken as tool shaming. I"m glad that you shared your results because this was mentioned before either here or else where. I have trouble balancing stuff i want to get done wit the amount of time i have to do them. Because of my limited time i try and manage my time well and gotten fairly good at it.

How long did it take you to shape the tools? Did you have water near by to occasionally dip the chisel in to keep it col? What grit paper did you use on the belt sander? How does Mr. Schwartz Kool-aid taste? Does he prefer Green or Purple?

[Coyote Jim 241]

2 hours ago, Chestnut said:

How long did it take you to shape the tools? Did you have water near by to occasionally dip the chisel in to keep it col? What grit paper did you use on the belt sander? How does Mr. Schwartz Kool-aid taste? Does he prefer Green or Purple?

The grinding only took 10 minutes tops. I did both of them at the same time. When one got to hot to touch I would stick it in the cup of water I had and then grab the other one till that one got too hot to touch then switch. I was not careful or methodical and I did not take my time at all. I was going for utility over form

I THINK it was 80 grit paper but not sure.

Honing and sharpening took longer than the grinding.

Schwarz thinks that Green and Purple Kool-Aid it a bit too conformist and promotes consumerism too much. He makes his own Kool-Aid from scratch (using only hand tools of course) from the recipes he got from our ancestors. (This is sounding WAY more gross than it should.)

[derekcohen 911]

Jim, good work on the HF chisels. I was inspired to do this about 10 years ago when I recognised that the Blue Spruce chisels were made this way. I have had a BS set for about 15 years, for paring dovetails, and they were among a very few who  produced chisels with minimal lands. The chisels I chose to grind were vintage Stanley #750s (purchased individually over some years, mostly without handles). Unlike the LN chisels they were modelled after, the Stanleys had rather chunky sides, and were useless for dovetailing. I also was not a fan of the stubby Stanley 750 handles, and wanted something longer. This is what the Stanley now look like. 

Incidentally, the 1/8" chisel started out as a 1/4", as did the 3/16" chisel - these are two sizes I use a lot with dovetails.

I did write an article on a jig I made to do this: http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ShopMadeTools/Soyouwanttomakeadovetailchisel.html

Later, I simply managed it freehand. The smaller chisel sizes are a little tricky  

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Coop 6574]

Derek, that is a well written article, thanks for sharing.