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By chisel design I don't mean butt, firmer or mortice rather the blade and handle design of the common bevel edge firmer. Thanks to you guys I've been picking up old chisels I find at flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales. I'm noticing quite a range of designs, the bevels, the side flats, blade thickness and handle shapes. We talk about steel, but what makes a design special?
A man of foolish pursuits
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Downwindtracker2 said:
By chisel design I don't mean butt, firmer or mortice rather the blade and handle design of the common bevel edge firmer. Thanks to you guys I've been picking up old chisels I find at flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales. I'm noticing quite a range of designs, the bevels, the side flats, blade thickness and handle shapes. We talk about steel, but what makes a design special?
Comfort while using. There are some designs that have survived because they are dang comfortable to use.
For example, the Stanley socket chisel (750?) design (I have the LN clones) feel so nice when I use them. I know that they won't work for hogging out giant mortises in timber framing, but for bench work a balanced chisel is a pleasure to use.
The Veritas & Japanese chisels are also wonderfully balanced and comfortable to use. It's a great time to be into handwork!
The shape of the edges is important too. Beveled edges allow you to get into tight places, like the corners of dovetails. Straight edges are probably a little stronger and are useful for prying and cuts with straight sides. Long blades give you a lot of control for paring cuts, and occasionally you need the length to reach into hard-to-get-to places.
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The edge running up the length of the blade matters, too. What you called the "side flats," and some writers are calling the lands, can make a big difference to whether you can get into tight corners. Even on classic chisels, a lot of the narrower chisels have a fairly high "wall" on those edges, which limits your ability to tuck into a corner. I've got a couple of Buck Bros chisels (1/4" and 1/2"), short tanged designs, with edges that are almost sharp. One of my projects is cleaning those up for paring use.
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I think this is a case of form following function.
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