Chisels & chiselling - questions, questions

[Togalosh]

This is probably the best summary of chisels I have seen on here.

Yes--great summary. I have two things to add:

1. Handle shape: Round ones can roll around--and off--your bench. Octagonal handles don't do that as much.
2. I keep a couple of old plastic handled beater chisels around with the corners rounded off. Held vertically, they're good for scraping rough spots that are hard to get into any other way, such as recesses in relief carvings. You can also grind them down if you need to get into a narrow spot.

Kirk

Hi Kirkpoore1,

I like to octagonal ones as they have the double hoop which seems a better idea for all round work & things do have a habit of rolling off my bench..

I have a set of cheapo Stanleys which get abused for all sorts of non chisel work..hence my neeed to get some gooduns. I can keep on abusing the Stanleys & treat the best ones as they desrve to be..I find a bit of reverence goes a long way.

I saw a regular chisel ground to be a corner dovetail cleaner...so cheapo ones do have their place I guess.

 

[Richard T]

Hi Tog me old mukka,

As above, I have bought all of the chisels that I have from car boot sales* - mostly from John's Junk at Long Marston but others from Brian Jackson and others. By this route I have some of the best chisels for very little money.
The big drawback is that the backs are very often pitted having been unloved for decades and allowed to rust. I use to use emery cloth stuck to flat board with double sided tape to get them flat again but now I have finally taken the plunge of getting an extra, extra coarse diamond stone. This was expensive but for a bootsale edge tool hound it's invaluable.

Also I had no problems whatever cutting all those big mortises in the timber frames with un-banded handles. If the chisel is sharp enough, it's the job that gives; not the handle.

I have a couple of paring chisels and a couple of paring gouges. You are very welcome to pop over and give them a go - compare them to non-dedicated parers, check out some old makers etc. (I've got plenty of Ash too)

* except this Christmas-in-July present from Mr. Jimi....

...It's quite big, that one. And it is only my second banded handle.

 

[Togalosh]

Hiya Richard,

That all sounds good to me chief !

Do you think I can get a fair set of firmers in 1 visit to your regular car boot sales ?..I am so time poor I cannot go every month on the off chance of finding something good so I am thinking of going online & getting a set of 5 or 6 Sorby's for +- £40.

When could I pop round?

Your holdfasts are ace by the way.

 

[Richard T]

Well .... you might find a few or non at all - that's how it goes I'm afraid but with someone like John or Brian, you can ask what they've got at home. Probably a fair old stash and in Brian's case a huge collection. I'll ask John next time I'm there and I'll give you Brian's phone number. ( He don't do the interweb.)

I'm busy all day on Saturday but any other time that suits you - just let me know so I can be within hearing of the doorbell.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Togalosh

I have some firmers you can have for a small price, I will dig them out and post a photo, Sorby ash handles 3 or 4 sizes I seem to remember.

Isn't it good when you can't remember how many chisels you have, or where they all are :shock:

Pete

 

[Racers]

Hi, Togalosh

I have found them they are Marples 1/4, 5/8 and a 1/2 I also have a 1" marples paring chisel that I had to repair the handle (hammers!) you can have as well, it needs some work on the blade.
£30 plus postage and I will throw the Hawthorn in for free.

Pete

 

[Togalosh]

Hi, Togalosh

I have found them they are Marples 1/4, 5/8 and a 1/2 I also have a 1" marples paring chisel that I had to repair the handle (hammers!) you can have as well, it needs some work on the blade.
£30 plus postage and I will throw the Hawthorn in for free.

Pete

That is a kind offer..but I was kinda set on Sorby's (for some egotistical reason probably) - are Marples as good as Sorby's?
I'll bow to your superior knowledge & take you up on your offer if you say that they are.

 

[Togalosh]

Well .... you might find a few or non at all - that's how it goes I'm afraid but with someone like John or Brian, you can ask what they've got at home. Probably a fair old stash and in Brian's case a huge collection. I'll ask John next time I'm there and I'll give you Brian's phone number. ( He don't do the interweb.)

I'm busy all day on Saturday but any other time that suits you - just let me know so I can be within hearing of the doorbell.

Wonderful..except that my day job keeps interfering with my woodwork time (which is good for the bills so I'm not really grumbling but it's making planning stuff difficult to do.)

I'd very much appreciate being put in touch with your contacts as I've a fair bit of tool upgrading to do.

See you soon hopefully.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Togalosh

I have found them they are Marples 1/4, 5/8 and a 1/2 I also have a 1" marples paring chisel that I had to repair the handle (hammers!) you can have as well, it needs some work on the blade.
£30 plus postage and I will throw the Hawthorn in for free.

Pete

That is a kind offer..but I was kinda set on Sorby's (for some egotistical reason probably) - are Marples as good as Sorby's?
I'll bow to your superior knowledge & take you up on your offer if you say that they are.

Hi, Togalosh

I haven't used them my self so I can't saw just how good they are, but I don't expect them to be rubbish, and the price is good enough for you to pass them on with out a loss if you don't like them.

Pete

 

[AndyT]

If it helps you make up your mind, Togalosh, those are a matched set of useful sizes of really good old-school Sheffield mortice chisels, in as-new condition, plus a really useful paring chisel with a boxwood handle, plus a piece of interesting wood to make your own mallet - all from someone who appreciates and understands old tools - Pete could get twice as much on eBay if he wanted to but he's being really generous and helpful!

 

[jimi43]

If it helps you make up your mind, Togalosh, those are a matched set of useful sizes of really good old-school Sheffield mortice chisels, in as-new condition, plus a really useful paring chisel with a boxwood handle, plus a piece of interesting wood to make your own mallet - all from someone who appreciates and understands old tools - Pete could get twice as much on eBay if he wanted to but he's being really generous and helpful!

+1 on that! Absolute gift!

Jim

 

[Togalosh]

If it helps you make up your mind, Togalosh, those are a matched set of useful sizes of really good old-school Sheffield mortice chisels, in as-new condition, plus a really useful paring chisel with a boxwood handle, plus a piece of interesting wood to make your own mallet - all from someone who appreciates and understands old tools - Pete could get twice as much on eBay if he wanted to but he's being really generous and helpful!

Sold to the Doubting Thomas !
(thanks RichardT..soz- AndyT)

Hopefully no offence caused Pete

Please PM your bank details & I'll gladly send some money your way.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Togalosh

I will PM you tonight with the details.

Pete

 

[togster]

One other thing to consider is how the chisel blades feel in the hand when you are using them for paring and vertical cuts. Some of the modern chisels with very thin dovetail sides can actually slice your fingers.

The great Alan Peters had a solution to this which was to round over the 'front' of the chisel on a belt sander so that in profile it took on a semi-circle shape. There has only ever been one manufacturer to offer this shape to my knowledge - Ashley Isles - developed by Matthew at Workshop Heaven. Not sure if he still sells them though? And interestingly these chisels came with bubinga handles.

I think using a mallet that is marginally softer than the type of wood in your chisel handle should ensure long life for your chisel handles. Hence why most mallets tend to be beech I guess?

Hope this helps.

 

[Richard T]

Not sure which Mr. T is which, but


AndyT wrote:
If it helps you make up your mind, Togalosh, those are a matched set of useful sizes of really good old-school Sheffield mortice chisels, in as-new condition, plus a really useful paring chisel with a boxwood handle, plus a piece of interesting wood to make your own mallet - all from someone who appreciates and understands old tools - Pete could get twice as much on eBay if he wanted to but he's being really generous and helpful!

+1 too.

I'd bite Pete's arm off up to the elbow. Leather suspension no less.

I can't see from the picture what work needs to be done on the parer, but we can give it a whizz on the diamond stone if you like.

 

[Racers]

Hi, Richard

The back needs a little work it is a little rounded at the tip, might just need a good re-gring to get past it, not done by me I might add.
I did glue the new bit of Boxwood in to the handle to repair the cracked out piece (some people shouldn't be allowed near tools) but never got round to sharpening it.

Pete

 

[Richard T]

Ok Pete - sounds like a doddle with the DMT.

 

[Togalosh]

Can you learned Gents advise me on your prefered choice of sharpening medium please? .. more to do with honing.

RichardT: you've mentioned a diamond 'stone', is this your only medium you use now?

The reason I ask is because I spent a small fortune on some ceramic stones ones which clog up very quickly & are not flat !
I never thought to check them for flattness when I first got them as I naively just expected them to be that way - being made to precisely flatten steel n all. I am staggered that someone has gone to such lengths to produce something so unfit..

I've also got some plate glass with various sticky back grits but was wondering about honing..are these grits fine enough for honing or can you only get surgical sharpness with a natural stone?

 

[Richard T]

Tog - my diamond "stone" is actually a flat bar of steel with a diamond coating. It is the Extra Extra Coarse variety that is only used to do really heavy stuff like take a pitted face back to flat. You can grind back dinks and chips on the bevel with a wheel but this stone is the business for flat sides.
It cuts coarse (of course) and so leaves a rough finish.

My usual stone for general sharpening is an oil stone - this will not stay dead flat, no matter how good you get at keeping it even as you go, so the best way I have found to work is to use one side for bevels and the other for faces. The faces side will stay flatter but you will inevitably 'dish' it slightly if you use it to heavily flaten. This Is only really noticeable when re-ground on the diamond stone .... which IS dead flat. See above - flattening an old iron that has previously been sharpened on an oil stone; the middle gets ground first meaning the sides have been worn more by a slightly hollow stone.
It's live - with - able though, all that the face gets is usually the taking off of the burr. If you only ever subject a stone to this, it is likely to stay more than flat enough.

Are your ceramic stones oil or water? - Water stones are flattenable, oil stones are not.

 

[Harbo]

I've got 3 DMT stones but generally use 3M films on a sheet of glass.

Rod