Thread: A "Shearing Chisel"

I assume you'd have to pick up a different chisel to get into the corners.

Looks to me like an overpriced solution to a non existent problem. Just sayin'

Cant say as have never seen it done like that before but if you have an old chisel doing nothing why not give it a go. The guy doing the demo must like it or he would not have bothered.
Got me thinking now and a pointed shape would perhaps work the same and be easier to sharpen. You would also only need one pointed to replace right and left hand skews.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by Fergiz01

I assume you'd have to pick up a different chisel to get into the corners.

He only used it on through dovetails, so that wasn't a problem, but yeah, it would be useless in any kind of corner.

We each find little quirks that suit us for one reason or another, so whatever works, etc.

Pushing a curved edge into a cut means (at first) there is only a small bit of edge cutting, which gives an impression of enhanced sharpness. For me, I think the slightly more involved sharpening process to get a curved edge really sharp would soon outweigh the small advantages it might have in some circumstances. And it would be hard to place that curved edge straight on a scribe-line, so I guess you'd still want to make the last chop or two with a conventional BE chisel?

As it is, I try to minimise the number of tools needed to do a job (though given the clutter on my bench, at times, you'd wonder how I could say that with any conviction!). But efficiency (aka laziness) impels me to try & use the minimum number of tools for a particular job. That way, I have a better chance of picking up the right one as I need it. However, since I like to vary the sizes of dovetails across a wide board, I commonly end up with half a dozen chisels on the bench at once, so it can become a bit of a lottery. Adding yet another to the mix would probably not improve my chances of winning.......

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

And it would be hard to place that curved edge straight on a scribe-line, so I guess you'd still want to make the last chop or two with a conventional BE chisel?

Well he did it in kind of the reverse order. He had already done his chopping when he reached for this. It was only used to clear that last little but if material out of the acute corners at the bottom of the tail socket.

You make a good point about the sharpening time outweighing the time savings in use.

I feel like this little "invention" may fall into the category of things that more than a couple of people have come up with over time, but the idea didn't have any longevity because it simply wasn't practical. Maybe if you were in a 19th century joiner's shop and you were the poor soul tasked with cleaning out all of the dovetails then this would be worth it, but who wants to be that guy...

A rounded shearing chisel might well be effective but I still worry about the sheep.

Y'know I often (mostly often) get the impression that Kevin Drake just uses different tools to be different - to market his "different" tools. As Ian says, it'd be a cow of a thing to hone. He makes "out there tools" to sell, so to keep up the image he uses other "out there tools", presumably to promote comment/discussion/questions at the various shows.

The two handled pistol grip DT saw has to be the grandaddy of them all. Even the "Wild Wild West" name reeks of a marketing ploy for a near to useless tool for beginners to be sucked in by.

OTOH, I could be wrong......

Well I tend to agree with your sentiments, Brett, 'tis hard to see the 'logic' behind some of the gadgets folks dream up, but 'one man's meat', & all that.

I guess we shouldn't be too judgemental (at least publicly! ). Occasionally, the way-out thinkers stumble on something valuable, and we take a small step forward. Not sure I'll be going anywhere with a two-handed backsaw any time soon, though.........

Cheers,

Originally Posted by orraloon

Got me thinking now and a pointed shape would perhaps work the same and be easier to sharpen.

Liked pointed router plane cutters?

spear.jpg

https://paulsellers.com/2014/10/ques...router-planes/

It was the pointed router blade that prompted my suggestion. It also manages fine getting into corners. I have been known to use a marking knife at times to get into those nooks the chisel cant get.
I was not aware that when I made the suggestion that the guy in question was also the inventor of the 2 handed DT saw. Kinda changes the outlook a bit.
Regards
John

I think a fishtail chisel does the job and would be easier to hone.