Quote Originally Posted by Reinis Kanders View Post
I am kind of wandering what works for people who are really efficient at say dovetail chopping or chiseled dados or rabbets.

Does one hold the chisel by the blade or by the handle. After some experimentation I get a better shoulder lines if I hold the handle and actually see that chisel is flush with the baseline. It also is less tiring for the fingers and usually pretty fast and I do not have to switch chisel position to chop out the waste.

If I chisel by holding the blade I end up being in the front of the chisel thus not seeing if I am really flush so it ends up being undercut. On the other hand I just realized that I could also try holding by the blade while the board is rotated so that shoulder line is in front of me. I think Klausz does it that way (must be fast then).

Any thoughts?
What I find is that fingers closer to the tip of the blade creates more control, while a hand on the handle add to power.

So, for careful undercutting, even with a paring chisel, my fingers are close to the work ...




Japanese bench chisels are about using a gennou to create control. Steadying the chisel is done with fingers close to the work. Dovetailing is a controlled, thin slice.




By contrast, morticing is a power action with 1/8" chips - one hand on the handle of an English Oval Bolstered chisel which wacking with a heavy mallet. Similarly, if a Japanese slick (paring chisel) is used, power comes from bringing the shoulders into play via hands on the handle, not the blade.

Your mileage may vary.

Regards from Perth

Derek