Chisels for dovetail work -- looking for recommendations


nlwoodworker

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Reasonable means different things to different people. So here is my best shot.

Low Priced, but has received good reviews -Lee Valley Narex Chisels.

Medium Priced, I have these and recommend them - Ashley Iles Mark II Chisels.

Higher Priced, I have one of these and recommend them as well, I will be completing the set at some point -Lie-Nielsen Chisels. By the way I recommend the O-1 steel chisels.

Premium Priced, I have a fishtail chisel by this maker and would gladly own a whole set - Blue Spruce Chisels.

I didn't mention them, but you can also seek out recommendations for Japanese style chisels. I have very limited experience with these, but from friends comments they work exceptionally well too.

I might advise only getting a few starting chisels instead of whole set to start with. I find for dovetailing the 3/8" and 1/2" really helpful for drawers and small boxes. I would probably add the 3/4" for case work and a 1/4" for finer work at some time.

If you are heading down this hand tool route make sure you have a good way to sharpen the chisels. I know the AI, LN, and BS chisels all come reasonably sharp and can be immediately put to work. However, they all benefit from a good honing. I can't comment on the Narex chisels, they might be ready to go or need some work.

Feel free to ask more questions.

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I seconnd the vote for Narex chisels for a value set. They're a little cheaper at highland, maybe because they're not painted.

The Grizzly Japanese chisels have received good reviews (you don't have to buy the whole ten piece set, they're pretty cheap per chisel).

Footprint, also not bad.

Stay away from Irwin, trust me. You might get lucky and get a good set but the quality varies wildly, it's a gamble.

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I'm starting to learn to cut dovetails by hand. Purchased the Lee Valley Veritas Dovetail Saw and am extremely pleased with its performance.

Now I'm looking for recommendations/sources for reasonably-priced chisels. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Buy a Narex and MAKE YOUR OWN! 10 Min of work with any bench grinder and you have a high quality dovetail chisel. Just keep your thumb behind it when grinding so you know when to cool it down and keep it moving. I got tired of my Hirsch chisels when cleaning up narrow dovetails but I wasn't about ready to grind one of them.

Viall8r

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The Grizzly Japanese chisels have received good reviews (you don't have to buy the whole ten piece set, they're pretty cheap per chisel).

Oh, NOW you tell me! :P

I put a post in the Market place forum about some Japanese chisels I found on ebay. They are supposedly older, but they are pretty worn out. I payed almost exactly the same price as I could have for those Grizzly ones, and those are new. I wonder what the steel on those Grizzlies is like. Of course I have no idea what the steel on the vintage ones I bought is like either. Maybe I'll have to get one of these and compare the two. It would probably make a good write-up.

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Oh, NOW you tell me! :P

I put a post in the Market place forum about some Japanese chisels I found on ebay. They are supposedly older, but they are pretty worn out. I payed almost exactly the same price as I could have for those Grizzly ones, and those are new. I wonder what the steel on those Grizzlies is like. Of course I have no idea what the steel on the vintage ones I bought is like either. Maybe I'll have to get one of these and compare the two. It would probably make a good write-up.

If it makes you feel any better, if you look around the internet, you'll find reports here and there about the Grizzly Japanese chisels having issues with chipping. Many people do like them, however.

For Japanese chisels, my favorites are the Fujihiro brand chisels that Hida Tool sells, made by a Japanese blacksmith named Chutaro Imai. They are really well made. Back when I bought them a few years back, they were price competitive with Lie-Nielsen chisels. Since the dollar has dropped against the Yen, now they are running about $10-15 more. But they are great chisels. They sharpen easily, and hold an edge for an incredibly long time.

The main reason I went with these chisels when I was starting out was that out of the Japanese chisels out there, these were the least expensive chisels that no one ever complained about. Other more inexpensive Japanese chisels, like the Grizzly set, got many good reviews, but there were always some negative reviews out there. I have never seen a negative review about these chisels, and since I bought them, I still have yet to see one.

I don't know if this fits nlwoodworker's definition of reasonably priced, but they work great on dovetails.

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I don't know if this fits nlwoodworker's definition of reasonably priced, but they work great on dovetails.

No offense but for the price of two of those chisels you could have the full set of ten from Grizzly. We're talking completely different classes of chisel here. The Grizzlys take some time to set up but the edge retention is said to be good.

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No offense but for the price of two of those chisels you could have the full set of ten from Grizzly. We're talking completely different classes of chisel here. The Grizzlys take some time to set up but the edge retention is said to be good.

True, but others have said that the edge retention is not great. There have been reports of chipping with the Grizzly set. Like most things, you get what you pay for.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a number of the Narex chisels (Highland Varsion). I find that they sharpen up quite nicely but the steel is not quite as hard as it could be. The result is that they take a bit more maintenance than they should. I bought an extra pair of 8mm chisels and sharpened them to left and right skews. Very handy addition.

I also have a few of the Grizzly Japanese chisels. They hold their edge much better than the Narex tools but they are harder to sharpen since most honing guides won't hold them at the correct angle duc to the short thick blades.

In either case, the prices are low enough that you can regrind a couple to a triangle shape for dovetail work.

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Josh & Mike brings up a point that I was curious about and that is the value of the fishtail & skew chisels (left & right) for dovetail work. I see that Lie-Nielsen says their fishtail chisels are good for “...reaching the back corners of half blind dovetails and paring other hard to reach areas.” And, they say that their skew chisels are “The same as our Bevel Edge Socket Chisels but with a left and a right hand skew for jobs like cleaning out the corners of dovetail pins.”

So it seems like they are good chisels for dovetails, but they also sound specialized. What kind (style) of chisel is considered to be a primary or best all around chisel for dovetail work? Another way to look at it is to ask if the skew (l&r) or the fishtail chisel are the only type of chisel you would need to work with any type of dovetail?

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I see that Lie-Nielsen says their fishtail chisels are good for “...reaching the back corners of half blind dovetails and paring other hard to reach areas.” And, they say that their skew chisels are “The same as our Bevel Edge Socket Chisels but with a left and a right hand skew for jobs like cleaning out the corners of dovetail pins.”

The thing that doesn't make sense to me is, the back corner of a half blind dovetail doesn't need to be that precise of a fit for the joint to work well. A fishtail chisel will make that corner more crisp, but after the joint is assembled, that corner is buried, and there should be plenty of glue surface otherwise so that it shouldn't make a difference in the strength of the joint. If there is a small lump of wood that you don't get out of that corner, you can always make a small trim in the tails board to get the joint to fit.

And there are other ways of getting to that corner. You can use a narrower chisel, and get very close.

When making a dovetail, you can get very deep into a corner by skewing a chisel that's narrower than the space you're in, whether it's the pin or tail board. The main task that a skew/dovetail/fishtail chisel will be needed where a bench chisel may not work well is if you're making a dovetail with super skinny pins, and your narrowest chisel is too wide to allow you to get in there at an angle. But that's really the only situation.

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Coincidentally, Marc posted this article to his "What's Marc Reading?" list earlier today. Article discusses both of those types of chisels specifically.

Thanks for the great article Paul-Marcel! I did notice that he didn't mention the skew chisel specifically, but I guess one can infer that he might have similar remarks as his fishtail chisels comments.

The thing that doesn't make sense to me is, the back corner of a half blind dovetail doesn't need to be that precise of a fit for the joint to work well. A fishtail chisel will make that corner more crisp, but after the joint is assembled, that corner is buried, and there should be plenty of glue surface otherwise so that it shouldn't make a difference in the strength of the joint. If there is a small lump of wood that you don't get out of that corner, you can always make a small trim in the tails board to get the joint to fit.

And there are other ways of getting to that corner. You can use a narrower chisel, and get very close.

When making a dovetail, you can get very deep into a corner by skewing a chisel that's narrower than the space you're in, whether it's the pin or tail board. The main task that a skew/dovetail/fishtail chisel will be needed where a bench chisel may not work well is if you're making a dovetail with super skinny pins, and your narrowest chisel is too wide to allow you to get in there at an angle. But that's really the only situation.

Thanks Wilbur for the great insight.

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I just discovered fishtail chisels yesterday while surfing youtube. Lie-nielson has a whole bunch of videos there that are pretty good.

Fishtail chisel

And you are right. These are specialized chisels design for one operation. If you're just getting started, regular beveled chisels will probably be what you're looking for.

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Actually, I agree with most of his list. I do use my block planes though. I probably don't need both a low angle, and a regular angle block, but since I have them, I do try and use them appropriately. I have a shoulder and a rabbet plane, but I do tend to use them pretty rarely.

I have a pair of skew chisels though, and I would hate to give them up. Even with a nice set of L-N chisels, there's places a non-skew chisel just can't reach. While I'm sure there are workarounds, now that I have a pair of skews, I would not give them up!

A fishtail is similar to a 'skew for both sides' but my problem with the fishtail is that eventually you run out of tail. A skew you can keep grinding over for a long time. (Would I ever do enough woodworking to run a fishtail down? I doubt it, but the idea of that waste bugs me.)

All of my planes are regular angle planes, except a 62, which is my shooting board plane. I think, if I ever get a #9, I'd probably sell the #62.

Hrm, maybe Adam's post deserves its own thread!

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The thing that doesn't make sense to me is, the back corner of a half blind dovetail doesn't need to be that precise of a fit for the joint to work well. A fishtail chisel will make that corner more crisp, but after the joint is assembled, that corner is buried, and there should be plenty of glue surface otherwise so that it shouldn't make a difference in the strength of the joint. If there is a small lump of wood that you don't get out of that corner, you can always make a small trim in the tails board to get the joint to fit.

And there are other ways of getting to that corner. You can use a narrower chisel, and get very close.

When making a dovetail, you can get very deep into a corner by skewing a chisel that's narrower than the space you're in, whether it's the pin or tail board. The main task that a skew/dovetail/fishtail chisel will be needed where a bench chisel may not work well is if you're making a dovetail with super skinny pins, and your narrowest chisel is too wide to allow you to get in there at an angle. But that's really the only situation.

You are absolutely correct that a fish tail chisel is not a necessity for half-blind dovetails but can speed up the process. True, the inside of the socket is not visible, but even with very narrow chisels it can be a bit difficult to waste out those inside bottom corners. While you may not see them, if you don't get those corners cleaned out well enough, it will actually impact the fit of the tail into the socket. I don't own a fishtail chisel yet, but the more drawer fronts I cut by hand, the higher on the priority list the fishtail chisel gets.

Oh, and I use the Phiel "Swiss Made" bench chisels and have been very happy with them. They are closer to the LN prices than the Griz prices, but very easy to sharpen, very comfortable to use, and hone to a really nice edge. They have simpler lighter-weight handles than most bench chisels which I actually like. The wood is unfinished, which adds grip, and the light weight makes them easier to use for longer periods of time on more detailed work. Just my 2 cents.

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You are absolutely correct that a fish tail chisel is not a necessity for half-blind dovetails but can speed up the process. True, the inside of the socket is not visible, but even with very narrow chisels it can be a bit difficult to waste out those inside bottom corners. While you may not see them, if you don't get those corners cleaned out well enough, it will actually impact the fit of the tail into the socket. I don't own a fishtail chisel yet, but the more drawer fronts I cut by hand, the higher on the priority list the fishtail chisel gets.

Couldn't you also clip off the corner on the tail board to get it to seat fully into the socket? Again, clipping off that corner won't show, and I have a hard time believing that it will affect the strength of the joint.

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