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Special Interest Group - Hand Tools

 

Chisels and Gouges (November)

Members of the SIG agreed to host the Lie-Nielsen event Scheduled in March. Several members indicated they would be available as needed for the weekend.

Date: Friday, March 26th from Noon to 6:00 p.m. & Saturday, March 27th from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  This is a week after the Hobbs Pencil Post Bed Program.

 From Lie-Nielsen’s website:

“This is a wonderful opportunity to try a wide array of hand tools and learn how great tools make your woodworking easier! Ongoing demonstrations at interactive stations will help you learn valuable techniques. Ask questions of guest demonstrators and learn from some of the most skilled in the industry. Lie-Nielsen hand tools are available for purchase at every event!”

 Program Topic: Chisels and Gouges

 How to acquire Chisels & Gouges?  Excellent (original) quality Chisels (and to a lesser extent Gouges) abound garage sales and flea markets at very low prices.  These were originally often originally well made tools and usually sell for $0.50 to $1.00, sometimes less.  Most require extensive but easy restoration, including rust removal with a wire brush, regrinding of both the socket and blade, and very often handle replacement. However, unlike many older woodworking tools, restoring a chisel to use is easy and often quick.  Making a handle usually takes a bit longer.

 Tip: Buy old American and British made Chisels.  Look for “Cast Steel” stamped on many good Chisels. Often the best available are older English chisels. Check to make sure the sockets aren’t cracked.

bullet Much as you would on a new chisel you will need to polish the back and make it flat (It must be flat.  No back bevel or round over is acceptable so flattening is best done on a stone or sandpaper on a flat surface). 
bullet The cutting edge must be squared to the side with a grinder.  The bevel must be ground at the required angle, with a grinder or course stone. 
bullet The bevel must be honed. 
bullet Often on socket chisels the socket must be inspected to make sure it is not cracked and the socket ground to remove mushrooming resulting from abuse from being hit with a hammer directly. 
bullet Handles must be made and attached.
bullet When cleaning up a chisel, orient the chisel so the grinding wheel is moving toward you; when buffing, hold the chisel so the wheel is moving away from you.

Why use chisels?

·        Trimming Tenons 

·        Cleaning out Mortises (drilled out first)

·        Chopping mortises

·        Trimming & Paring the bottom, ends, and sides of grooves made by other tools

·        Rough, quick stock removal

·        Inletting hinges and mortises for locks

·        Carving

·        Trimming dovetails

·        Removing glue squeeze-out

Types of chisels

Broadly:

·        Those that you pare by hand; make thin cuts. Generally, chisels constructed with a tang should not be used with a mallet, as that will split the handle.

·        Those that you may hit lightly with a mallet but also pare by hand.

·        Those that you hit with a mallet.

More specifically:

·        Paring Chisels including

o       Medium length bevel edged chisels and square edged firmer chisels

o       Short butt chisels (also are firmer chisels)

o       long paring chisels (patternmaker chisels)

·        Mortise Chisels including Sash Mortise Chisels. Mortise chisels are thicker, some even fatter than they are wide. Best practice is to match the width of the chisel to the width of the mortise – in other words, use a 3/8” chisel for a 3/8” mortise.

Bevel Angle

The angle can be ground from 20 degrees to 35 degrees. 

bullet For chisels that will be use for paring (ie, pushed by hand) the bevel angle can be as low as 20 degrees for softwood use to 25 degrees for use in hardwood.  This includes paring chisels and firmer chisels. 
bullet Lower angles are easier to push but if used on harder woods you would see an increase in wear on the edge, including rounding over, bending over, and breakage.
bullet Higher angles are harder to push
bullet For chisels that are used for light mallet use the angle can be ground at 25 for softwood and 30 degrees for hardwood.
bullet Mortise chisels are often ground at 30 degrees for softwood and 35 degrees for hardwood.
bullet The steeper angle protects the edge.
bullet A quick way to increase the angle is to grind a secondary bevel on the rear surface of the chisel; this is much easier than regrinding the entire blade.
bullet The back of the chisel should be perfectly flat. This serves as the reference point.

Handles

bullet Come in many different patterns including:
bullet Socket (very common)
bullet Tang
bullet One piece plastic
bullet Hoop (one or both ends)

Why are chisels beveled?

bullet Essentially to better get into acute corners such as in chopping a dovetail
bullet Experts often grind all or part of the bevels to a near knife edge
bullet Some experts like James Krenov grind the bevels so that they meet at the top of the chisel.  This makes it extremely difficult to grind the bevel at the end.

Paring chisels are wider than they are thick so that they are not as strong as mortise chisels that are thicker, nearly square chisels. 

Mortise Chisels are slightly thinner on the bevel side than on the back side.  The extra thickness of the sides helps to guide the chisel straight in the mortise.

The end of the handle of chisels to be hit by a mallet should be slightly crowned but not rounded over like a number of new chisels. (Less chance of glancing blows.)

Chisels must be Sharp … and in good condition for use in cabinet work and furniture making.

bulletIn laying out dovetails it is best to mark the shoulders to fit specific chisel sizes.
bulletMortises should be the same width as one of your chisels …  3/8th inch is most common.

Practice and Demonstration

bulletParing
bulletEndgrain
bulletAcross grain
bulletShoulders of tenons with the grain
bulletBottoms of dados, rabbits, and grooves
bulletRapid wood removal prior to planing
bulletChopping Dovetails
bulletChopping Mortises (When cutting a mortise, start short of the line; the angle of the bevel will tend to force the blade toward the line.)
bulletInletting

Mallets

Consensus among the group was that round mallets are more convenient to use than the square types; less worry about aligning the head of the mallet to the chisel, thus less chance of glancing blows.

Future meetings

The Hand Tool SIG will not meet in December.

Topic for the January meeting will be “Marking and Layout Tools.

Cliff Bell suggested that the Hand Tool SIG  apply to the board for $200 in seed money to be used to scour flea markets and other sources to add to the guild’s stock of hand tools.