Chisel ?

[Peter Gavin]

This weekend I began practicing hand cut dovetails. I'm amazed at the quick learning curve as by the end I was cutting much faster with improved results. Sorry, I'll post pictures once I get some film developed and then scan them.......... kind of a round about way to go but I don't have a digital camera and my Christmas wish list was filled with other tools. So, on to my question...............

I was chiseling out the pin and tail waste usine a knife line to set the original depth. This worked great, but ocassionally my hardest blows were not enough to make more than the slightest indentations. I resharpened and then honed several times, but really had to whack at them to get a decent cut. I was convinced that the problem was cheap chisels, but then after completing a cut I went to pare and clean out the cut and generally clean it up and............ the chisel cut like butter using only hand pressure!!!!!!!!! The wood was 1/2" hickory (hard) and not quite flat so maybe the wood was rocking a bit. Anybdy else have any ideas?

Thanks

Peter

PS. When I originally started cutting the pins and tails (using a Crown gent's saw filed rip) I was having a terrible time following the line (it kept pulling right). Suddenly I remembered someone on this forum (Leif I'm pretty sure) suggesting to stone the set on the side its drifting towards. A few swipes with a stone and cutting straight became much easier. Another demonstration of my father's old saw "keep your eyes and your ears open and you'll learn something new every day". Thanks Leif.

[tod evans]

learning on hickory? are you a masochist, i avoid hickory with power tools! the nature of the beast is it`s very springy, hence the use for hammer handles. it cuts well with sharp tools but anything that tries to beat its way into the grain whether a moulder or a chisel is going to encounter this springy effect so to say you where able to quickly cut dovetails in hickory is truly an amazing accomplishment! now try something easy like rock maple you`ll be suprised how easy it is.. 02 tod

[Steve Wargo]

I agree, hickory is way tough to use chisels on. Give some maple a try for practicing handcut DT's

[Peter Gavin]

Thanks for the heads up. I got the Hickory for drawer sides when I ran across some in 5/4 that I resawed to 1/2 from a guy that was going out of business. Maybe I'll try something else next time. Maybe that's why it was so much work resawing also.

Thanks again,

Peter

[Bob Smalser]

On through-dovetails, you can both avoid chopping entirely and speed things up by using a coping saw with a thin blade to make the turn and cut the bottom. Then you only have to pare.



You can use the coping saw for the entire cut or use a dovetail saw for the verticals and the coping saw to make the turn and do the horizontals.

And nibbing cuts using the bandsaw is fastest of all.

Also works well on half-blind dovetails to remove the bulk of the waste, minimizing the chopping mode.

[Tom Saurer]

What kind of chisels were you using, mortise or paring?

[Peter Gavin]

Originally Posted by Tom Saurer

What kind of chisels were you using, mortise or paring?

Plain old Marples beveled bench chisels. ANd while I realize I could use a coping saw and then pare, I kind of get a kick out of Whacking them, and then using a cut from the end to chip out a nice clean chip of wood.

[Jerry Palmer]

I use a lot of pecan, a close relative of the hickory, and find that for chopping out waste I get good results using a 1/4" morticeing chisel. The narrower width allows a pretty good drive with each smack of the mallet. A wider parer gets it to the line.

[Leif Hanson]

If you are going to chop a very hard wood like hickory, you might try making a couple of extra saw cuts (to just short of the line) in the waste part you are cutting away. Hickory, I know from experience, doesn't like to compress (one reason its so popular on ax handles and the like) so making the extra cuts makes whacking out the waste a bit easier. Doesn't have to be anything precise, just keep the cut in the waste area. I use an old Millers Falls permaloid chisel I've reground to 30-35 degrees for jobs like this...

Stay short of the line so you can pare out the remainder of the waste - chopping leaves tear out behind. Once to the paring stage, use a dedicated paring chisel for the best results - something with good steel that's ground to about 15 - 20 degree bevel (the lower the angle the better, but the better the steel in the chisel has to be to hold an edge). Pare using thin cuts, first creating a pyramid shape in the waste, then remove the pyramid from the top down, approaching it from each side:



At this stage, several thin cuts are better than trying to take too much:



Hickory is going to be especially tough on your cutting edge, but can still be done. My entire kitchen is made of hickory - it's a lovely wood, just awfully tough on tools.

HTH
Leif