Dovetail chisels

[p111dom]

I'll be needing some dovetailing chisels and was going to plumb for the Ashley Iles ones. Is there a better option for around £100 for a set?

 

[Mattty]

I don't see these as any major advantage over the standard bevel edge chisel that AI do. These have a very thin egde suitable for fine dovetailing.
But are also suitable for 'mallet' work.

The Dovetail set does come with the skew chisels which may be usefull, i'm sure they are available seperately though.

 

[WellsWood]

I'll be needing some dovetailing chisels and was going to plumb for the Ashley Iles ones. Is there a better option for around £100 for a set?

In my opinion, no. Not if you're talking new anyway. Of course if you have several months to spare to trawl boot sales and Fleabay you may eventually get a set of "old" steel to rival them, but they won't look half as nice as the A.I.s in your toolchest, nor will you have the satisfaction of supporting a top British manufacturer during these dark times.

The hardest part of your choice is whether to go for the dedicated dovetail set or the "half" set of Mk2s which give you a better range of sizes at the outset at the expense of the skews. It's a tough one, the Mk2s are absolutely superb and more than capable of fine dovetail work, on the other hand I find my skews are so useful I can't imagine how I'd cope without them.

I'm glad the decision is yours and not mine. :wink:

 

[bugbear]

I'll be needing some dovetailing chisels and was going to plumb for the Ashley Iles ones. Is there a better option for around £100 for a set?

You could consider buying a two cherries set, and grinding the bevel edges yourself - it depends how much you enjoy tool-fiddling.

The AI's are the obvious choice, but you asked for options

BugBear

 

[MIGNAL]

Well if it comes down to grinding the bevels then also consider the Footprint Beech handled chisels. Very good steel IMO but they will certainly need some work if you want to consider them as being suitable for dovetails. Then again canting the edges in a little shouldn't take very long.
The handles aren't exactly finely finished but it quite literally took me 5 minutes to re-sand and put a few wiped coats of Shellac per chisel. The handles now feel very, very good.
Just another option.

 

[bugbear]

Then again canting the edges in a little shouldn't take very long.

Yes; traditional paring/dovetail chisels have very low side bevels, but they only need to be low enough for your shallowest DT tails, say around 1:5.

Take a look at LN chisels, or the old Ward & Payne "Aristocrat"

BugBear

 

[wizer]

Well if you're going to start grinding, then why not grind down some of the Lidl ones? IMHO they hold an edge the same as my Two Cherries and IIRC cost less than a fiver. :shock:

 

[MIGNAL]

Interesting that you should say that Wizer. Being a cheapskate I have a set of the Lidl chisels. I my experience the Lidl steel doesn't quite match up to the Footprints although they are perfectly usable and it isn't as though the edge collapses at the first sight of a piece of Hardwood. With a bit of work on the backs they shouldn't stop anyone from doing very fine work. The Footprints are a little sturdier in the blades and have a much nicer handle. Then again there is quite a huge price difference.
My mini review of the Footprints is here:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... hp?t=28318

 

[p111dom]

Humm. I actually went to the Harrogate show to buy the MkII's but they had none for sale. They did have some to look at though and the 1 inch one I looked at had defined vertical sides of about a mm which was why I'd discounted them for dovetailing. I have some old (1970's) Marple bevel edge chisels which I've always been pleased with. I don't see why I would buy the bevel edge ones just to grind them down. I'll take it as a reccomendation for the dovetail ones and see if I can scrape the extra money together for Christmas.

 

[bugbear]

I don't see why I would buy the bevel edge ones just to grind them down.

Oh sorry; I sort of assumed (wrongly, by mad) that everyone knew that the two cherries were fairly famous for having really fat edge bevels, that would need a little extra grinding to work well for dovetail use.

The steel in them, OTOH, is highly regarded by most.

Here's the "obvious" set:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Kirs ... -22471.htm

Some people think the polishing dub the back a little too much, so from some vendors you can get them unpolished:

http://www.fine-tools.com/stemmb.htm

The thickness of the sides can be deduced by considering this image:

http://www.europeanhandtools.com/images ... l_1001.jpg

Note the way the ground cutting bevel intersects the upper plane on the chisel, revealing its profile.

The sides are about half the thickness of the whole blade - a little fat for DT work.

BugBear

 

[wizer]

Indeed, I have the polished Axi set. I would have gone for the unpolished had they not been a pressie. Sadly I have a little rust pitting on them from poor storage at the old house. If I remember i'll take a pic of the edges if anyone is interested.

 

[Corset]

I have a set of the two cherrys. The steel is good and holds a good edge after the first couple of sharpens. However they are not good for dovetailing my experience of them was not good. They made a right mess of the corner of my dovetails. I recently cut about 60 by hand so tried a fair few chisels to save on sharpening
For me though it came down to using a japanese dovetail chisel which held its edge like a beast and then followed by a two spruce chisel to tidy up. The reality for me it that I only seem to use dovetails on drawer sides etc so this begs the question how many sizes do you need??
If you chop out the waste then a wide chisel is hard work and its easier to use several small cuts to chop to the line therefore negating the need for big chisels. I know I will get shot down by people who claim that they use a one inch marple chisel etc for everything but for me a couple of nice chisels with a fine edge do all the work for me and if its bigger i use a normal chisel for the majority and finish the corner with the jap chisel and the two spruces.
If you are down in Nottingham again you are welcome to have a play with my two spruces and my Japanese chisels. I have a 12mm and the two largest two spruces. They are all I reach for when I cut dovetails. Sets look nice in the tool cabinet but I find I reach for the same couple of tools for certain jobs. I prefer to buy for the job and add to the set if needed.
I do however accept this is just me. :roll:
Owen

 

[Jake]

A two spruce chisel sounds like an excellent budget hybrid choice - my kind of chisel.

 

[MIGNAL]

Blue cherries are even better.
Sorry :arrow:

 

[Jake]

I can dream

 

[Corset]

Whoops
Not saying its a budget choice but if you buy a set you are talking a hundred quid, then I am saying you can buy fewer chisels that do the job and maybe buy something that does one job really well.
I don't normally to say to much as I am never eloquent enough to get my point across. Guess I should stick with that from now on.
Just trying to express an opinion from a different angle.

 

[Jake]

It was just a joke. I quite agree with you.

 

[Corset]

Sorry sounded a bit p**** more annoyed with myself for not proof reading. Just think its a shame that people always give out the same advice and it seems that the same people always contribute which is also is a shame. Forums only work well if we all contribute if we can. This is one of the few subjects I have some reasonable experience of as I one some of the chisels and have both good and bad experience of the chisels.
No experience of the AI though.

 

[matthewwh]

but they had none for sale.

Sorry, my fault!

They haven't had time to make any for themselves.

:wink:

 

[Mattty]

Matthew. How much thinner is the edge of the dovetail chisels compared to the mkII bevel edge chisels?