Chisels: BlueSpruce vs. LN vs Japanese?

[James K Peterson]

I was all set to upgrade my chisels with some Matsumura blue steel cabinetmaker chisels, when I made the mistake of reading about the new Blue Spruce bench chisels Has anyone used the new Blue Spruce and Japanese chisels? For dovetail & joinery work what would you buy BS, LN or JP ?

[John Dykes]

My first set was Hirsch. Hate them with a passion.
Next set was Lie-Nielsen. Fine chisels.
Owner of a very fine Tasai chisel.
Few Blue Spruce dovetail chisels.
Used the new Blue Spruce bench chisels in Berea.

I'd trade them all for the Blue Spruce bench set. You can search through this post for my reasoning...

[Wilbur Pan]

I've bought and used Japanese chisels almost exclusively. But all of your choices will work just fine.

[Narayan Nayar]

Or this post from a week or so ago.

[Hank Knight]

James,

I have a bunch of the Matsumura cabinet makers chisels. They are by far my favorite of all chisels for general bench work. I don't own any Blue Spruce chisels. I did, however, have an opportunity to handle them at Berea. They are beautiful tools. I don't know how well they would stand up under abuse - not that I abuse chisels, but they are so pretty, I'd almost hate to hit them. I bang on my Matsumuras with a steel hammer without hesitation and they've taken in stride evertything I'd thrown at them. If you would like to handle the Matsumuras in person, drive up to Columbia one afternoon and give them a go in my shop.

Hank

[Brian Kent]

Having never owned or used any of them I think you should buy the Blue Spruce because they are pretty.

[Mark Singer]

I have had the Blue Spruce for some time now and for dovetails and fine joinery they are the best. For larger dovetails I use my Fujiharo which are made from great steel. I have other Japanese and western chisels including the LN's which are also good. I think you need a variety, Blue Spruce are specialty chisels and are limited in what they can do.....but at that they are the best. IMHO

[John Keeton]

James, FWIW, I had on order the BS dovetail chisels, but became concerned that I should get the bench chisels. I spoke with Dave Jeske (really nice guy!) and told him my main purpose was to do hand cut dovetails and that I would be sawing out the bulk of the waste and chopping out the remainder, as well as doing the needed paring.

He assured me that the light mallet work that would be involved would not harm the lighter dovetail chisels. He also indicated that for a lot of hand work, the dovetail chisels would be less fatiguing as they are shorter and lighter than the bench chisels.

However, rest assured that the BS bench chisels are on my "long list" of much needed tools!

[John Dykes]

Blue Spruce are specialty chisels and are limited in what they can do

Mark, Dave has released a bench chisel line... I'm assuming that you are referring to his dovetail \ paring lines. ?

[Dave Jeske]

I thought I would jump in an clarify the difference between some of the chisels I make and why I decided to design them the way I did. I hope this is okay. The first chisels everyone should get IMHO is a set of good quality bench chisels. There are many types and brands available that work very well. When I was learning to cut dovetails, none of the chisels that I owned had sides that went down to a fine enough edge to keep me from bruising the acute angle in a small socket. I decided to make a chisel just the way I would want if I was to buy one for doing dovetails. Since I was primarily cutting out the waste I did not need a heavy duty chisel. Many of my bench chisels were large and heavy so I experimented with other styles. I found I really liked a much lighter chisel with smaller handle. To me, it felt more involved and an extension of the process. I did not have to think about using it as hard. The line of Dovetail chisels evolved from this prototype. In general terms they are lighter weight, shorter chisels designed primarily for paring and joint clean-up. You can use a mallet with them to do lighter chopping. They blades on all of the dovetail chisels are 1/8" thick. I have since offered the option of a longer handle.

I soon grew weary of the limitations of my eclectic "set" of bench chisels and decided that it was time to buy or make a good set. I have had many conversations with new and experienced customers about chisels and attempted to distill that information into a new design for bench chisels. Chisels have been around for a long time and there is not any one design that is best or that will serve all of your chisel needs. However, i still feel that the first chisels one should own are a set of good quality "bench chisels". I tried to design and offer what I felt would be some of the best chisels available. They needed to be strong for serious pounding, have good quality steel for edge sharpness and retention, angled sides with small lands for dovetail chopping, a comfortable and durable handle and the right weight and balance for enjoyable use. Being nice looking is also important to me. So that is how the bench chisels came about. You can easily chop or pare dovetails with the bench chisels and they work great for that. If you would prefer a lighter weight paring chisel for refining, the "Dovetail" chisels work great for that task.

One can never have too many chisels, now off to the design room .
actually it is off to the shop for now.
Dave

[Jim Nardi]

Striking japanese chisels with a japanese hammer is addictive and makes things go quicker. I rate japanese chisels a little better than LN in the edge holding deptment. A little easier to hold onto for long periods of chopping for dovetails. Japanese chisels are harder to sharpen IMO.

[Mark Singer]

Mark, Dave has released a bench chisel line... I'm assuming that you are referring to his dovetail \ paring lines. ?

John
Thanks!
You are correct !
I am thinking about buying a set

[Derek Cohen]

Blue Spruce - A few observations of my own ...



I have not tried the bench chisels but do own a full complement of the dovetail chisels (1/8", 3/16", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4", skews and fishtails - the 3/16" and 3/4" were custom-made). I think that these are just superb chisels... and I have either owned or used a wide range of Western and Eastern chisels. It is important, however, to recognise that their envelope is for detail work. This comprises dovetail- and fine pairing. They best suit someone who enjoys feedback from the wood and is not determined to go at things like a bull in a china shop. They are robust but light. I push mine 99% of the time, but have used a wooden mallet to give them a nudge if necessary. Mine have African Blackwood handles. Mine also have the original length handles, which are longer and more comfortable than the LN bench chisels, but I would have bought them with longer handles (now on offer) if they had been available back then. I like the extra length, which I had made for my Bergs (a larger version of the BS, in a way).

While the A2 BS edges hold up remarkably well at 30 degrees (in fact they require the least amount of re-sharpening out of all my Western chisels), they are not designed to be pounded into the extremely hard Australian eucalypts that I work. Even paring some of this timber is just beyond a sharp edge. And so I need to chop away waste on dovetails (after sawing out most). For this I use Japanese dovetail chisels - quite basic Koyomaichi and Matsumura. They take and hold an incredible edge and withstand the fiercest pounding. These are not paring chisels and are quite uncomfortable to push. They are designed to be used with a steel hammer.

This is the last lot of dovetails I chopped and pared - they needed both sets ..



One of these days I will get a chance to try the BS bench chisels. They sound like an excellent choice as an all-rounder, which is what I consider the LNs to be.

Regards from Perth

Derek ... who will do a review of the Blue Spruce dovetail chisels one of these days.

[James K Peterson]

Thank you all for the great advice. I think since I'm doing using mostly hard exotics, I'll get a set of the Matsumura's and the BS dovetails (1/8 & 1/4) and a couple of the new sweet BS bench (1/4 and 1/2). With approval of the LOML, of course (but since they are just little chisels, she won't push back, like the big new Ridgid TS4511 I want)

Thanks
James