Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey all,

Got this from Woodcraft in the email...
http://www.woodcraft.com/Articles/Artic ... e=09IN08NL
It talks about sharpening carving chisels vs dovetail/paring chisels....

I have tried using a paring chisel with a dead flat back for carving braces and the like... Didn't like it. It can be quite difficult to get it to behave nicely when doing fine carving work...

On the other hand, my old bellied Patternmakers chisel (That definately doesn't have a flat back) seems to carve braces with ease... especially when it is well stropped.. (Horror of horrors... Stropping the back of a chisel! Box makers look away!) Of course, that one doesn't clean up dovetails nearly as nicely...

This makes me think I really need to consider either a carving chisel made specifically for the purpose... or just give up on this whole "Flat backs" thing and go with what works.

Anyone else?

John

I use the chisel in the inverted position when I carve braces. That way, the chisel wants to lift out instead of digging into the work. I also, on a couple of them, sort of put a radius on the bevel. That is I ground it to a rounded bevel, ala, Coumpiano. Works great.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Truckjohn: The last few years I've used the Hirsch cranked trimming chisel from Lee Valley and am very pleased with results.

_________________
A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

-

As usual, there's a 'right' tool for any job. Or, actually, several, depending on your preference. But there are definitely 'wrong' tools for certain jobs.

Bench chisels, with a flat back and flat or hollow-ground bevel, are really made for paring cuts. You can lay one down on a surface and just skim off the high spots, or, with a little pressure (assuming the tool is sharp) take off the merest whisper of a shaving. It's the only way to fly when fitting mortices, dovetails, and V-joints.

An edge made from the intersection of two flat surfaces will not make a smooth concave cut. For that you need to round off the bevel, and use it bevel down. With the back flat (no back bevel) you can still use it for paring. I use violin makers round bottom planes for these sorts of cuts on braces. I don't like a chisel like this for cleaning up glue with the bevel down, as you don't have as much control and it's likely to dive in.

Double-sided carver's chisels, with two round bevels, are like a short sectino of knife blade. They're nice for carving heels, or you can just use a knife as I like to do.