One more about the Veritas VMII chisels

[Warren Mickley]

<p>
I let ride the bevel for gross waste removal also. I think a flat bevel without either hollow grind or secondary bevel works best. Also it is helpful to avoid wiggling the chisel or scraping the edge in the work. A lot of workers mindlessly scrape the edge when flicking the waste away. So even if they are following some reasonable method of chiseling, they are shortening edge life unconsciosly.</p>

[Jim Koepke]

My process is as follows:

1. Mark it (well duh)
2. Make an initial cut with the saw
3. Use that Ron Bontz half blind tool to "finish the cut" on the sides to the base line all the way back.
4. Use a regular chisel to deepen the mark at the lower base line (so not into the end grain).
5. use the mortise chisel to chop down into the end grain. Because I deepened the mark first, the wood brakes. I initially take a very thin cut. I can really use any chisel for the first cut.
6. Sometimes I repeat step 4 at this point.
7. Use the mortise chisel in the end grain again, working my way back towards the line, but I do not hit the line. This is very fast, and because of the mortise chisel geometry, it is very fast and quickly removes material.
8. I then finish it off with regular chisels cleaning up the sides and bottom. This includes the final pairing to the back line pushing down into the end grain.

My process on half blind dovetails includes sawing an extra kerf in the center and taking it to the base line with the Ron Bontz half blind tool. This makes popping the waste out very quick and easy.

jtk

[Andrew Pitonyak]

A lot of workers mindlessly scrape the edge when flicking the waste away. So even if they are following some reasonable method of chiseling, they are shortening edge life unconsciosly.

I had not previously given that much thought until my current project, when it occurred to me that it was probably the case. Nice to see it written down.

[Jim Koepke]

My past use of 'riding the bevel' is for situations such as lateral chopping at the bottom corners of a mortise where the bevel can slide along the bottom. Can't do that any other way.

Try a swan neck or lock mortise chisel, they are the cat's pajamas for such things.

jtk

[Jeff Ranck]

Yes, that's accurate. However, like I said I don't often use this for the baseline, only for exceptional circumstances.

Thanks Brian. I can now visualize what is happening.

[Dennis Droege]

Frederick, for the last year or so I've been using diamond plates and leather. I've had a lifelong fondness for stones, though. It's just that the diamonds (coarse) seem to take the material off faster during the initial work with less mess.