Butt chisels.

[Cheshirechappie]

Butt chisels - I was idly browsing the Classic Hand Tools website (as you do), and came across the Ashley Iles offering of these - https://www.classichandtools.com/acatal ... isels.html (scroll down the page a bit, they're just under the bench chisels)- which according to their write-up are used by being pushed rather than struck. Seemed a bit odd - after all, a normal length bench chisel can be pushed perfectly well if you want to.

I know butt chisels are popular in North America, but not so much in the UK (or elsewhere, so far as I know). I can see the value of a chisel that can get into smaller spaces (though not that much smaller than a standard length bench chisel), but beyond that, what's the advantage? Just the way craftsman's preferences have developed in different countries, or is there more to it?

(Edited to clarify where the butt chisels are on the link.)

 

[Jacob]

Sells more chisels.
Some will think they need complete sets of each design but in reality for most users just one or two old chisels will do almost everything they need.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Can't blame AI (or any other chisel manufacturer). Makes sense to make and sell what people want to buy.

 

[Andy Kev.]

I've got two butt chisels: the 1 1/2" and the 2" both from Veritas. They're great for defining the sides of mortices of those lengths with one bash (yes the Veritas ones are bashable) and I find them generally useful for marking out longer knife lines i.e. fewer chisel bashes per line because of their width. They definitely get used a lot.

 

[Racers]

I have a 1/2" but chisel it's very nice to us in just one hand for small pairing jobs, I bought it in a set with right and left skews and a cranked parer.
All are useful but not indispensable, but if something makes your life easier then why not, central heating, remote controls, indoor pluming we don't need them do we?

Pete

 

[deema]

Absolutely no idea, never found an application where I needed a shorter handle.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I found one one day for a friend, a lifelong joiner. He reckoned it was much easier to let in hinges with a short one. Strangely enough in the 150+ I just sorted out I didn't have one.

 

[bridger]

on the jobsite a smaller chisel is easier to carry around. in the shop, that light nimbleness can also be useful. the butt chisels I carry to jobs look like this:

which is not too fundamentally different a form factor from this:

which is a completely different animal in many respects.

I also have shortish chisels of a variety of types and purposes that stay in the shop.

 

[Biliphuster]

I have a single 3/8 Ashley Iles butt chisel. I wanted a fine edged bevel edge chisel for chopping dovetails with a heavy mallet, the longer bladed chisels need gentler treatment in the smaller sizes and the short length speeds up chopping when you place the chisel one handed.

Obviously not essential but it is nice to work with. I am generaly pretty circumspect about letting tools in the workshop, but this one more than earns it's place.

 

[undergroundhunter]

I have a single 3/8 Ashley Iles butt chisel. I wanted a fine edged bevel edge chisel for chopping dovetails with a heavy mallet, the longer bladed chisels need gentler treatment in the smaller sizes and the short length speeds up chopping when you place the chisel one handed..

I'm not sure that is true, I have been wasting dovetails yesterday with my 1/4" and 3/8" AI chisels and didnt have any problems.

I think Richard Maguire used AI butt chisels, from watching his videos he either has massive hands of smaller chisels.

Matt

 

[ColeyS1]

I always reach for the butt chisel instead of the longer ones

Coley

 

[DTR]

I've got two butt chisels: the 1 1/2" and the 2" ............. I find them generally useful for marking out longer knife lines i.e. fewer chisel bashes per line because of their width. They definitely get used a lot.

I do the same with a standard-length 1-1/2" chisel. Do you find there's a specific advantage to doing this with a butt chisel, or did your widest chisel just happen to be one? Just curious.

I think Richard Maguire used AI butt chisels, from watching his videos he either has massive hands of smaller chisels.

IIRC, he likes the balance or nimbleness of a butt chisel. But he does have big hands!

 

[Andy Kev.]

I've got two butt chisels: the 1 1/2" and the 2" ............. I find them generally useful for marking out longer knife lines i.e. fewer chisel bashes per line because of their width. They definitely get used a lot.

I do the same with a standard-length 1-1/2" chisel. Do you find there's a specific advantage to doing this with a butt chisel, or did your widest chisel just happen to be one? Just curious.

I think Richard Maguire used AI butt chisels, from watching his videos he either has massive hands of smaller chisels.

IIRC, he likes the balance or nimbleness of a butt chisel. But he does have big hands!

Yes I think there's a definite advantage simply because being smaller, the butt chisels somehow seem nimbler and the holding hand is closer to the work. It's not an earth shattering advantage but it is definitely significant enough for me to have instinctively gravitated towards the butt chisels for this kind of job. My widest normal length chisel is 1".

 

[Racers]

This is my set of 1/2" chisels including the butt one.



Pete

 

[Biliphuster]

I'm not sure that is true, I have been wasting dovetails yesterday with my 1/4" and 3/8" AI chisels and didnt have any problems.


Matt

True about handling rougher treatment? It's certainly harder to bend a short and short piece of steel than a long one, as I once found out. I used full length chisels before I got the butt and they worked fine, but the little chisel has certainly sped up my work, partly because I can hit it harder and partly because I find it easier to place the edge exactly where I want it for each chop.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Thanks, all!

There doesn't seem to be any definite advantage to a butt chisel over a normal-length bench chisel. It does seem that some people do prefer a shorter chisel for some work - and that's fine. Absolutely nothing wrong with having a personal preference. I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again - having Choice is a Good Thing.

 

[bridger]

The stanley carpentry butts are definitely built for driving with a heavy steel hammer. You can drive them in far enough to be difficult to pull back out without damaging them. However the steel in them is soft, not designed for a particularly refined edge. I have seen them soft enough to sharpen with a file, though most are just a bit harder than that. I have a few berg butts which are hardened closer to bench chisel range and stay in the shop.

I'm not sure that is true, I have been wasting dovetails yesterday with my 1/4" and 3/8" AI chisels and didnt have any problems.


Matt

True about handling rougher treatment? It's certainly harder to bend a short and short piece of steel than a long one, as I once found out. I used full length chisels before I got the butt and they worked fine, but the little chisel has certainly sped up my work, partly because I can hit it harder and partly because I find it easier to place the edge exactly where I want it for each chop.

 

[custard]

I've got a wide butt chisel that pretty lives on my bench, I use it like I'd use a knife and every now and again it comes in useful when you want a wide chisel to use with a guillotine action to trim stringing, or you want to refine a groove into a corner.

So owning one's not a bad idea, but own two or more and you've become a tool collector rather than a furniture maker!

 

[undergroundhunter]

Yes I think there's a definite advantage simply because being smaller, the butt chisels somehow seem nimbler and the holding hand is closer to the work.

For fine work like dovetails I always hold the blade with the tips of my fingers and my hand resting on the work. What works for me might not work for you.

Matt

 

[Andy Kev.]

Yes I think there's a definite advantage simply because being smaller, the butt chisels somehow seem nimbler and the holding hand is closer to the work.

For fine work like dovetails I always hold the blade with the tips of my fingers and my hand resting on the work. What works for me might not work for you.

Matt

I'll give that a go as it sounds pretty sensible. I currently place my fingers on the curved bit at the top of the blade of the butt chisel which seemed a natural place for them to go and it also enables downward pressure to be accurately maintained.