Dovetail chisel angles.

[Knox-on-Wood]

I've read somewhere that it is an advantage to have the primary bevel on dove tail chisels set at at 20 degrees. If this is the case what are the advantages?

 

[custard]

If you regularly worked with soft and easily bruised timbers then you might want a few dovetail chisels with very fine angles to help you get really crisp cuts. But it's one of those things that's best left until later on in a woodworking career, if you're just starting out then concentrate on properly sharpening your regular chisels at regular angles and don't get distracted by optional tool obsessive stuff like this. Just my opinion, but I have cut an awful lot of different types of dovetails by hand and in wide range of timbers.

Good luck!

 

[AndyT]

Good advice from Custard there.
If you are new to woodworking ( and not just to this forum) I would recommend that you try and get hold of some offcuts of hardwood to practice your dovetails and other joints. Cutting dovetails in ordinary softwood from a DIY store is much harder than it is in a nice bit of cherry or oak. If you can find some mahogany from some old furniture you'll soon see why it was 'top timber' for so long - it cuts so cleanly. Leave the pine till later, and if you want to dovetail spruce...well, you'll see what I mean.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There's a lot to be said for the old advice of grind at 25 degrees( primary bevel) and hone at about 30 degrees (secondary bevel) - that will cover about 90% of chiselling situations. The other old saying that sharpness cures most problems also has a lot of truth in it. Dull tools don't work well whatever their bevel angles.

That said, there are a couple of instances when other angles can help a bit. Chisels for heavy chopping work such as morticing sometimes benefit from a higher honing angle (say 35 degrees), and some people keep two or three chisels honed at a lower angle for delicate paring work.

Most people use a mallet (albeit gently) when cleaning out dovetails, so as a first stab it's best to stick to 25 and 30, and not use 'paring' angles. That can lead to edge-chipping and the need for frequent sharpening stops.

That said, it can be fun to experiment a bit later. Exactly what angles YOUR chisels will bear depend on the type of work you do, the timbers you use, the steel your chisels are made of, how delicate or heavy-handed you are, the weather......that's why it's easier to stick to 25 and 30.

 

[Knox-on-Wood]

Thank you to everyone who took the time to reply.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

You can make decent ones yourself. Just get hold of a pair of good quality old 3/8" or 1/2" firmer chisels (at a car boot for 50p - £1 each), grind them shallow (one left, one right) and grind off the top edge of the leading side to give clearance in tight places.