Butt Chisel Recommendation

[Matthew N. Masail]

Hi Kent,

You mentioned at the start that price was not your major consideration. In chisel purchases you might be very surprised how much you can spend for traditional Japanese chisels made by some of the top had forged makers. NO one has mentioned Japanese chisels yet so I will toss them into the ring. Traditional Japanese chisels come in a dizzying array of different types, not to mention varieties. Tools From Japan, Tools for Working Wood and Lee Valley offer good Japanese chisels.I am going to over simplify and say the Japanese offer three main types of chisels: bench chisels, mortise chisels and paring chisels just to give us a place to start. The mortise chisels are typically build to be struck with a special metal hammer, equipped with hardwood handles with metal rings around the ends. The mortise chisels are designed for removing large chunks of wood deep into wood, like mortises. The bench chisels are typically built to be more of a general purpose tool not perfect for making mortises but usable. The bench chisel may be used to pare with too, which is why the blades typically have a lighter/different build. Japanese "bench" chisels can actually be bought in multiple different designs ranging between better at being struck hard with a metal hammer and paring. The Japanese also make long handled chisels with more delicate blades and without rings which are typically used for paring.

Someone else can come right behind me and claim that nothing I have written is actually accurate and have a justifiable argument. However, with limited time and in the interest of brevity I thought I would take a stab at an introduction to Japanese chisels. Suffice it to say that the variety and complexity of traditional Japanese chisels reflects their much longer traditional history. I bring this up because the OP might want to check out some of the Japanese offerings on the front end. I wish I had done a little research into the Japanese chisels before making my first chisel purchases as there is a whole different world of Japanese chisels to learn about.

There is another maker in the US, Barr Tools, that makes very good hand made chisels that some posters swear by. Barr sort of specializes in timber framing chisels but also makes a nice range of carpentry/woodworking chisels/ Barr hand forges chisels like they do in Japan, but the steel is typically just one steel instead of a hard and soft steel forged together.

I am not here to push the OP to more expensive tools, I would just like him to be aware of some of the major ways chisels can be made and the great depth of tools out there before he starts investing his money instead of him discovering it all after making purchases without that knowledge. I like Japanese chisels but Lee Valley's latest offerings may be the best "compromise" all purpose chisel design for someone who wants a single type of chisel or just a good place to start. There are also lots of old chisels that can be great, although in my experience you may very well end up kissing a few frogs in the process.

I'd argue Japanese chisels are not the best for starting out. price and maintenance care needs mean they would not be my choice to start with.

[Mike Holbrook]

Jim,

You bring to the OP's attention a major point I think is very important for him to understand. I think of sharpening as "THE" major skill set for those working with hand tools. Most of the tools hand tool woodworkers use have this common need to be sharpened to be functional. Once sharpened they get dull again shortly thereafter. Not only that, very few tools arrive sharp enough to be functional. In addition there is the whole subject of the various bevels that may be required to maximize a tools efficiency. My struggles with acquiring a set of sharpening devices/methods that worked for me have singed many a SMC page.

I might suggest that our OP not make the same mistake I think many of us have made. We get so excited about having that razor sharp blade that we have a tendency to focus on the fine end of the sharpening tools & methods. We want to get to that ultra fine stone too fast not realizing that if the contour of the blade's edge and the bevel are not appropriate to the tool we may never get the functional tool we are eager for. If I had it to do over again I would start my education with a grinder and an abrasive that could remove steel fast. Speed in sharpening, at least in my book, is very important to the educational cycle early on. If the would be sharpener can't see the result of his or her efforts reasonably quickly it is very hard to know what one might or might not be doing "wrong".

Chisels are the tip of the sharpening iceberg, but the skills learned here carry over. Many chisels these days come with reasonably sharp blades, unlike many other hand tools. I don't think the majority of chisels are made with any sort of hollow or micro bevel but we know many experienced users end up using these types of bevels. Plus down the road there will be thick plane blades, axes, drawknives, saw blades, cambering.....I think it may be better to start out thinking big and work down instead of the other way around. So yes, what Jim said "in spades"!

[Mike Holbrook]

Matthew, again, my point in mentioning Japanese chisels is not to suggest those or any other tools as a starting place for a new user. Japanese and hand forged US chisels just seemed to me to be the types of chisels not previously mentioned. However some time early in his study of this type of tool use our OP will encounter Japanese/Asian woodworking methods and tools. Until the OP has some basic idea about the whole wider world of Japanese chisels I think much of what he reads and learns will be confusing. The terminology for US & English tools is even different. The Japanese do not typically make the same careful dovetails common in US/English woodworking which skews the terms. Firmer chisels, for instance, is not a term you will typically find in Japanese chisel terminology. The whole genre of Japanese screen making, on the other hand, is practically unheard of in the US.

I wish I had learned a little more about Japanese vs European vs US woodworking methods and tools at the start of my education in woodworking as I think it would have saved me money, time, frustration, redundancy down the road. In the US chisels are more often hit with a composite or wood hammers. The Japanese have this school of thought that prefers hitting chisels with specially designed metal hammers in varying weights. My objective is to broaden the OP's knowledge base, which seems to me a reasonable way to approach tool selection vs just saying buy X tool because it is best.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Kent, I love that chisel set.... Wander on up to Columbus Ohio and we can have a sharpening party!

You can sharpen on sand paper with a guide, and it is not too expensive to start.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I understand Mike, you want to share what was important to you, nothing more honest than that. However I think some thing will only truly be learn by experience, we can only try to guide others but in the end they will most likely choose and figure out by themselves. Which is why I think a simple good quality chisel set are the best way to start and most relevant to the OP.

[Kent Adams]

Thanks Matt, its always amazes me at the great free advice everyone gives here. I'll go with your recommendations.

[Kent Adams]

Hi Andrew, its a great looking set isn't it? I'm going to purchase just one of them to get my feet "wet". Will beer be served at the sharpening party?

[Kent Adams]

Hi Mike, I've been looking at the Japanese chisels as well, very nice and I will definitely consider them too. I took a look at the Barr Tools chisels as well. Those Barr chisels have a real grrrrrr.....Tim Tool Time look to them, I like it. I always like to support American made producers when I can and if not, Canadian is 2nd (no offense to anyone Canadian). Perhaps I should say North American

[Kent Adams]

Thanks David. A few others have mentioned Stu at Tools from Japan. I will check him out as well.

[Kent Adams]

Mike, one of the things that does worry me about learning to sharpen are the bevels. I'd like to learn freehand rather than a jig if possible, so I have purchases some Borg chisels to try to learn on, muscle memory and all. However, I can understand the need to sharpen faster so as not to get discouraged and a grinder might be one way to learn what works and what doesn't quicker. Do you have a grinder recommendation?

[Mike Holbrook]

Kent, I have a Tormek, wet grinder, but I would not recommend it as I find it painfully slow at grinding bevels. Although it is possible to over heat some tool steels, with the stones and CNC wheels available today it is relatively easy to avoid this just by exercising reasonable caution. I have a Dellta Variable speed I bought in a rush one day. Unfortunately the one I have has a short arbor and peculiar base that makes it hard to fit tool rests to it. If I had to do it again I might buy a Jet, Metabo or Baldor. There are also Work Sharp dry grinder/wheels that typically spin horizontally that are popular with a large set of users. Lee Valley makes a wheel/grinder similar to the Work Sharp, Veritas MK II Power Sharpening System. You might want to check them all out before making a selection.

I think your idea of learning to sharpen by feel/hand is a good one, ultimately it saves time and builds a better feel for the work. I occasionally use a jig on certain blades and some people swear by them, but I usually prefer honing my skill set as well as my blades. Some work, like grinding large cambers and radiuses can be hard to do with a jig, although a good tool rest may help. Tormek makes a version of their tool rest that works on regular grinders, Oneway offers a grinder rest system, Robo Hippy who posts on the turners forum here at SMC and does lots of turning /sharpening videos on YouTube also makes a rest, Veritas offers one and another turner named Stuart Batty makes a couple nice rests.

[Mike Holbrook]

I hear you Matt but this is a forum not a class or workshop. I'm not sure how we offer actual experience in this format other than to relate our own experiences. All I think we can do is offer posters options to do their own research/experimentation with. There are all sorts of sets of good quality chisels offered by lots of companies, maybe we can help the OP sort some of the items into categories he can research & experiment with.

[Matthew N. Masail]

No problem with that. I started out with a beautiful set of Koyomaichi chisels, later discovered I prefer western chisels. For several reasons I just don't think they are the right tools to start with. Again I have no problem with anything you said, but I did say I'd argue that Japanese chisels are not the best for beginners !

[lowell holmes]

I saw this just this morning. I would not be afraid of them. I have Lie Nielsen chisels though.

http://www.woodworkingshop.com/produ.../#.Vg091_lVhBc