tiny homemade chisel and first dovetails

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

I've made a rather small number of things from wood - mostly tools I need to make more things from wood - but none have involved dovetails.
I'm waiting for some chisels I ordered but got impatient and decided to try hand cut dovetails for the first time. Problem was, I only had 1/8 thick red oak and my existing chisels were way too large. I ground a piece of spring steel from a fish tape into a 1/8" dovetail chisel and gave it a try. I can't say they're great, but I'm encouraged enough to go ahead and heat treat another piece and make a better chisel (didn't order such a small size yet). It's in the oven annealing now. Spark test seems to show high carbon and definitely hardened w/ water quench but it is mystery steel, I don't have any idea what I'm doing, and even I can afford to buy a single less expensive chisel to replace this thing... but where's the fun in that? I did keep my 2000 grit sandpaper next to me to sharpen as I went - edge folded after 8-10 chops but it did cut well for what it was. I forgot to take a photo of the chisel, but here is the trial dovetail.
IMG_7491.jpgIMG_7486.jpg
Sorry for the poor photos - that's a dime in the first shot.
You can see some mistakes: had to ignore my layout lines after setting my marking gauge too narrow (good thing it was a practice piece!) and I had some small chips on various edges. Red oak sure is grainy for this size work! I didn't bother to glue it before planing it down as it was just a play piece and was tight enough to stay in place as I pared and planed, and the surface is just as it came from BORG.

Thanks for looking. I don't usually post things I made, but this was a fun, simple project that showed me I should not get too hung up on not having enough tools.

[David Nelson1]

Is it April 1st? Those are indeed the best 1st time dovetails I have ever seen with or with out rigged chisels!

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Thank you! Nope, they are my first attempt. I didn't mention how LONG it took, though! Somehow I managed to save them when they didn't mate nicely along the, um, the edge where the long edge of the tail touches the other board. I had to cut the pins deeper/wider than planned and carefully pare a new surface (compounded the problem from setting the marking gauge wrong in the first place). That would not have worked if it was a real drawer!

[Chris Griggs]

Is it April 1st? Those are indeed the best 1st time dovetails I have ever seen with or with out rigged chisels!

No kidding. Especially considering the material...not a fun wood to try and cut dovetails in. Nice work. Now lets see the chisel!

[Bruce Page]

Wait a minute! He's got a dime in the first pic and a penny in the second! Somethings wonky here!

Seriously, excellent first attempt, or even fifth attempt. I think you have the knack!

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Thanks for looking and the kind words! I see all these perfect dovetails online and look at these and see the problems but, as I wrote above, I'm encouraged by the results. Hey, these are fun!

Here's the chisel thing:
IMG_7493.jpg

(I should have used a nickel just to feed the conspiracy theory!)
I realized the actual chisel I used (in photo) was not in oven, just the other pieces I cut to try. I hardened it after taking the photo just now by heating until non-magnetic and quenching in water, sharpened it with a few strokes, and tried it again. Cut great, but as soon as I tried chopping half the edge snapped off. I'd felt how brittle the metal is last night after hardening and trying to bend some, that's why I have some in the oven annealing. Read a suggestion for heat treating mystery steel on another site: heat until ceases to be magnetic, quench, heat in oven at 450 for two hours, quench, repeat oven and quench. Will see if it works.

I know, I should just buy a proper small chisel. I didn't order one that small. If the narex chisels ordered turn out OK I'll get one of their older non premium ones and grind the edge down further - the premiums only come as small as 1/4" as far as I know.

[Brian Thornock]

I like to use HCS jigsaw blades. Grind off the teeth and grind the profile you want. Just make sure you don't draw the temper. Works great for old worn out jigsaw blades (though I have been known to buy new ones just to make tools with).

[David Nelson1]

Thanks for looking and the kind words! I see all these perfect dovetails online and look at these and see the problems but, as I wrote above, I'm encouraged by the results. Hey, these are fun!

Here's the chisel thing:
IMG_7493.jpg

(I should have used a nickel just to feed the conspiracy theory!)
I realized the actual chisel I used (in photo) was not in oven, just the other pieces I cut to try. I hardened it after taking the photo just now by heating until non-magnetic and quenching in water, sharpened it with a few strokes, and tried it again. Cut great, but as soon as I tried chopping half the edge snapped off. I'd felt how brittle the metal is last night after hardening and trying to bend some, that's why I have some in the oven annealing. Read a suggestion for heat treating mystery steel on another site: heat until ceases to be magnetic, quench, heat in oven at 450 for two hours, quench, repeat oven and quench. Will see if it works.

I know, I should just buy a proper small chisel. I didn't order one that small. If the narex chisels ordered turn out OK I'll get one of their older non premium ones and grind the edge down further - the premiums only come as small as 1/4" as far as I know.

What a slacker! I dont see a secondary bevel!

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

What a slacker! I dont see a secondary bevel! :eek:

Actually I did what I often do when free-hand sharpening: I create a perfect half pointed ogive on the edge - stronger than the abrupt transition of a secondary bevel, after all

in other words, I suck at freehand sharpening and the tip always goes convex, but I wasn't about to make a sharpening jig for something that doesn't even have a handle :)

Annealing worked! I chopped and chopped without the edge either folding or chipping. A single chip is about a quarter of the blade so that was a problem after hardening.

Brian - I looked last week for jigsaw or similar blades to use for a marking knife and all I can find are bi-metal. I assume that means only the teeth are the good stuff, and they'd be the first bits ground off.

Any suggestions on brands?

I'm going to order some 1084 steel in a while, have other woodworking expenses first, but it will be too thick for some things that a jigsaw blade would be ideal for. This little project opened a big door for me. I no longer see making simple blades as something only those superior non-humans out on the net can do. Making a plane was that way, once. Carving a bench screw was another.
Now if I can only make an actual bench...

[daniel lane]

If the narex chisels ordered turn out OK I'll get one of their older non premium ones and grind the edge down further - the premiums only come as small as 1/4" as far as I know.

Nice job, Fitzhugh. Re: the chisels, I know you're looking at Narex, but Lie-Nielsen (and others) makes 1/8" chisels and I think they even have a 1/10" chisel that was being made for a planemaker, although I haven't seen reference to it in a while.


daniel

[Fitzhugh Freeman]

Daniel, thanks - I've looked at them and have read good things, but they're out of my range right now. A proper set of bevel edge chisels is on my list.