Different Chisels for Different Work

[lowell holmes]

Hi Kim,

. The sides taper towards the bolster. the morticing chisels really taper in all directions, in thickness and in width. This makes sure that you chisel won't ever get stuck inside the mortise.

Does the width of the chisel change as well as the sides? How does that work?

Both my R Iles and Narex chisel are tapered front and back, but maintain a constant width.

I do like the handle shape. It looks comfortable and easy to grip.

[Kees Heiden]

You can see the tapering in thickness of the chisel. The width tapers from the pointy end towards the bolster but also from the flat face towards the top side.

The handles are huge, and my hands only medium. You really have to learn to hold them lightly otherwise I get cramps in my hands.

[ken hatch]

Kees,

Yep, it's the ones in the last photo. I've not seen those in the States. They could be hiding in plane sight because I've always looked for English pig stickers but.....

ken

[lowell holmes]

I have two R Iles pig stickers, 1/4 & 3/8 widths. I checked them this morning and they are uniform in width all the way from the tip to the bolster.

I have two Narex pig stickers, 1/8 & 1/2 widths. The 1/2" tapers 1/32 from the tip to the bolster. The 1/8" is uniform in width.

I learned something I had never considered before.

[Kees Heiden]

Kees,

Yep, it's the ones in the last photo. I've not seen those in the States. They could be hiding in plane sight because I've always looked for English pig stickers but.....

ken

No idea if you can find them in the States. The shape is too early for the international career of Nooitgedagt. Similar chisels were also made in Germany at that time.

[Joe A Faulkner]

So I'm not seeing any cranked neck chisels in these photos. Are you guys holding back or are these rarely used?

[ken hatch]

So I'm not seeing any cranked neck chisels in these photos. Are you guys holding back or are these rarely used?

Sorry don't have any, never have seen the need but open to convincing I need 'em.

[Jim Koepke]

So I'm not seeing any cranked neck chisels in these photos. Are you guys holding back or are these rarely used?

They can be handy on dados with one end stopped. Mine are all fairly long so they aren't useful on short double stopped dados.

Here is a picture from 3+ years ago with some crank necked chisels on the left side:

Bench Chisels.jpg

Maybe when a shelf building project comes up they will get a bit more use.

The thought for my original post came while chopping out some dovetails. Three different chisel types were being used. A light thin bevel edged chisel for paring. A heavy beveled edged chisel for chopping and some square sided chisels skew ground to clean the corners and other tight spots.

jtk

[Derek Cohen]

So I'm not seeing any cranked neck chisels in these photos. Are you guys holding back or are these rarely used?

The only cranked neck chisels I have are in-channel gouges ...



I do love these boxwood Marples handles.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[David Weaver]

So I'm not seeing any cranked neck chisels in these photos. Are you guys holding back or are these rarely used?

I've got a dozen and have never used them unless the gouges have a profile I need. The flat bottom chisels have never seen actual use. They are pattern makers tools (flat or gouges both)