dovetail chisels.... whos got them

[shim20]

are they worth it?? or would i be better of grinding some to an angle, what are people views on them?? thanks

 

[OPJ]

I bought some old Record ones off a forum member for a very reasonable price last year. :wink: They are useful and are great for getting right in to the tight corners on 'lap' or blind dovetails. I'm not sure that this isn't something you can do (with a bit of care) using a 3mm/1/8" chisel...

If you have some chisels to spare then, re-grinding them yourself is probably worth a go. You'll be removing a lot of steel so, be very careful not to overheat the edge! :shock:

 

[Bean]

Tony on here has a set, very nice they are too. Maybe you could ask him.

 

[Waka]

are they worth it?? or would i be better of grinding some to an angle, what are people views on them?? thanks

A must for any tool cabinet :lol: :lol:

 

[woodbloke]

Depends if you intend doing a lot of hand cut d/s. I use LN chisels which are perfectly adequate for all normal bench jobs and cutting fine dovetails. So yes, nice to have a set of Blue Sprucers but not really necessary - Rob

 

[dunbarhamlin]

I have Sorby bevel edge chisels, and BS DT chisels, and truth be told, the latter are just nice to have not necessary, since the Sorby side bevels are low enough.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

nice to have a set of Blue Sprucers but not really necessary

Hi Rob

As with most woodworking tools, only a few are truly "necessary" - still, it makes life worthwhile to have the others

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[woodbloke]

nice to have a set of Blue Sprucers but not really necessary

Hi Rob

As with most woodworking tools, only a few are truly "necessary" - still, it makes life worthwhile to have the others

Regards from Perth

Derek

Agreed Derek, but I'm trying to get meself off Nibbo's hit list :lol: - Rob

 

[Lord Nibbo]

are they worth it?? or would i be better of grinding some to an angle, what are people views on them?? thanks

A must for any tool cabinet :lol: :lol:

Stop it Waka or I'll have to post this as a warning

:lol: :wink:

 

[Waka]

are they worth it?? or would i be better of grinding some to an angle, what are people views on them?? thanks

A must for any tool cabinet :lol: :lol:

Stop it Waka or I'll have to post this as a warning

:lol: :wink:

Well I was taught by the master :lol:

 

[PAC1]

I have a set of Blue spruce dovetail chisels.

They are not necessary and expensive but a real pleasure to use. You can shave the hairs of a gnats b%!!&?^s with them!

I use them for dovetails and pairing tennon shoulders on angled tennons. I think the quality of my work improved, but I know I have raised my game generally the dovetail chisels are just a part of it.

 

[Benchwayze]

I have a set of Blue spruce dovetail chisels.

They are not necessary and expensive but a real pleasure to use. You can shave the hairs of a gnats b%!!&?^s with them!

I use them for dovetails and pairing tennon shoulders on angled tennons. I think the quality of my work improved, but I know I have raised my game generally the dovetail chisels are just a part of it.

I feel sorry for 'Nat'! :lol:

 

[Joints]

I recently got a set of these for Christmas and they have been everything I've needed from them.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psProdDet.cgi/1311311

 

[shim20]

thanks for all the replys, i do tend to do alot of handdovetails as its the only way we do them at work, so sounds like a set might be worth it :lol: , as i do find it fiddly sometimes in the corner with a 1/4" chisel.

 

[PAC1]

Shim20

Get the fishtails as well to really clean the corners. I got the left and right angled ones before the fishtails came out and regret it because I spend more time swapping chisels then cutting.

 

[bugbear]

are they worth it?? or would i be better of grinding some to an angle, what are people views on them?? thanks

Do you mean skew chisels?

BugBear

 

[Benchwayze]

I always seem to get by with a 1/8" bevel-edged chisel as the smallest I use. I was once advised by a cabinetmaker friend to grind down a spare to 1/16", but knowing my 'skill' with a grinder, I never bothered. Maybe I never made dovetails small enough then!

 

[custard]

I treated myself to a pair of Blue Spruce skew chisels recently, retiring my "user ground" mismatched pair of one old Sorby and one old Marples chisels.

The Blue Spruce skew chisels are very pretty (although the flat sides weren't particularly well finished, and took a lot of work to get a mirror surface), but in all honesty they don't do any better job of cleaning up dovetails than my old "home made" chisels.

If your woodworking pleasure comes from handling beautiful tools (and there's nothing wrong with that) then by all means buy dedicated chisels, but if money's tight or you're more about the finished item then I'd say grind your own.

 

[Karl]

The Blue Spruce skew chisels are very pretty (although the flat sides weren't particularly well finished, and took a lot of work to get a mirror surface), but in all honesty they don't do any better job of cleaning up dovetails than my old "home made" chisels.

Interesting - I was contemplating whether to buy a BS fishtail chisel or convert one of my other chisels for the purpose (Cosman style). Think i'll try the home made version first.

Cheers

Karl

 

[graween]

I've always wondered if fishtails are better then skew chisels.

I'm also interested in having the point of view of people that might have both.

With a pair of fine skew chisels I've always managed to do everything on all the dovetails I've made so far.

But with a fishtail, i'm not sure you're able to go in the corner with a single size. If the edge of the fishtail is not wide enough and the dovetail is big than you might be not be able to reach the inside corner no ? Whereas with skew chisle you can make it. But you must change from left to right, to get the job done.
Maybe for the same price, you can get two sizes of fishtail and it might do the trick for all sizes. In that case Fishtail chisel might be a better option.

Who has both and could give us an opinion.

Best Regards.
Graween.