Now, once you’ve got the back flat, and the front sharp, you’re pretty much ready to go. Using these chisels is very simple. There’s basically two operations you’re going to do with chisels. One is called paring, which is a horizontal, slicing motion. The other is a chopping, or mallet work, where you’ve got the chisel in a vertical position and you’re chopping down into an opening, trying to square something. Paring is often used when you’re just cleaning up the face of the joint that might be rough from saw marks.
Now, holding the chisel, you’re going to want to take your primary hand, if you’re right-handed that’s your right hand, on the handle and use your left hand to support and control the blade. It’s also providing a level surface for the chisel, to guide it along the work. Here, we’re going to cross the end-grain, which is one of the most difficult grains to get across because all of the little wood fibers are sticking up. If you can see what I’m doing, I’m just taking off little bits, little shavings at a time. That’s the goal, with paring. Don’t go for big chunks, you really want to take little shavings off of your work. One thing that happens to most beginners when you chisel, is that you end up taking more wood off the back of the cut than at the front. Just be aware of this. Check your work every now and then, and see if you’re lower in the back. It’s because when you’re in depth over here, you’re pushing down harder. So, that’s horizontal paring.
There’s also vertical paring. Vertical paring is pretty similar to horizontal paring, you’re just working in the vertical plane. For instance, I have these sample mortises, we were testing out a jig for, and one of the jobs you always have to do, when using a router to cut mortises, is square them out. You can see, the rounded ends have to be squared, like this one is. So, that’s a job for the chisel as well.
In a joint like this, we’re going to have to use the chisel to set some guide-lines as well. The technique for doing that is to take a big chisel, one with a lot of surface area, place it on the inside wall of the mortise and just tip it up. It will carry that line of your mortise wall to the top of the wood. So, basically what I’m doing is trying to create an extension of the wall of my mortise, past this curve, so that I can have a place to cut into it. You also have to do the same on the back, to create a straight edge along the back wall. Here, I’m just using hand pressure. I don’t need to use the mallet for this, so I’m just going to create my lines. Now, why am I doing this? I could have done this in pencil. One of the reasons, is now I can just drag my chisel across, and it will drop right into that line that I’ve drawn. I don’t really need to pay too much attention. Now that I’ve carefully placed that, so now I can just begin my chopping.
With something like this, with a mortise, you want to chop this out. There’s no way you can pare-down, into this much wood, by pushing, so you’re going to want to use a mallet. There’s two kinds of mallets you’ll see, and this is called a carpenter’s mallet. It’s perfect for this kind of work. The other kind is called a carver’s mallet. They both do the same thing, just different styles. We’ll use the carpenter’s mallet for this, it’s a little better. You need to pay attention to the beveled side, versus the backside when doing this kind of work. The backside should always be facing the wood that you’re keeping.
Another way to look at it is, the beveled side goes with the waste. So, if I had placed the beveled side facing the good wood, it would cut into the wood. I wouldn’t be creating a straight line. So, let’s start here. You can start by chopping the ends. One tip about this is you want to, of course, make sure your chisel is straight up and down. Just give it a good, firm tap to get it started. The fewer taps you do, the better in my opinion. If you do a lot of little taps like this, that’s more chances for the chisel to move around in between blows. I’ve got my chisel almost all the way down to the surface of this mortise, I’m just going to pry it out. Now, we’ll go to work on the sides. So, I do the same thing. I’ve got my little guideline, that I can just drop this into and chop that mortise out.
Now, we’ll move to the other side and do the same thing. So, with most of the wood removed, I’ve got my square roughed out. If you’re a beginning woodworker, it might be a good idea to get a starter set of these chisels. They’re not too expensive. Then, you can practice sharpening on them, you can get used to how they work, a
Content
4.19 -> now once you're once you've got the back
6.87 -> flat and the front sharp you're pretty
8.97 -> much ready to go though and using these
10.86 -> chisels is very simple there's basically
12.84 -> two operations you're going to do with
14.25 -> which is two categories of things one is
16.77 -> called paring which is sort of a
18.449 -> horizontal slicing motion and the other
21.81 -> is a chopping or mallet work where
23.699 -> you've got the chisel in a vertical
25.14 -> position and you're chopping down into
27.449 -> an opening trying to square something
29.63 -> herring is often used when you're just
32.099 -> cleaning up the face of a joint that
33.96 -> might be rough from saw marks now
35.94 -> holding the chisel you're going to want
37.32 -> to take your primary hand if you're
38.64 -> right-handed that's your right hand on
40.89 -> the handle and you're going to hold your
44.129 -> hold your chisel with that hand use your
46.2 -> left hand to support and control the
49.98 -> blade it's also providing a level
51.87 -> surface for the chisel to kind of guide
53.73 -> it along the work and here we're going
56.07 -> across endgrain which isn't one of the
57.48 -> most difficult grains to get across
60.539 -> because all the little wood fibers are
62.19 -> sticking out if you can see what I'm
64.26 -> doing I'm just taking off little bits
65.85 -> little shavings at a time and that's the
69.03 -> goal with paring don't go for big chunks
71.28 -> you really want to take little shavings
72.659 -> off of your work now one thing that
76.08 -> happens to most beginners when you
77.549 -> chisel is that you end up taking more
79.439 -> wood off the back of the cut and at the
81.84 -> front and so just be aware of this check
83.88 -> your work every now and then nco am i
85.439 -> lower on the back it's just because when
87.36 -> you end up over here you're pushing down
89.13 -> harder
89.7 -> so that's horizontal paring there's also
92.81 -> vertical paring and vertical paring is
96.829 -> pretty similar to the horizontal pairing
99 -> so if you're just working in the
100.979 -> vertical plane so for instance I've got
103.649 -> these sample mortises we were testing
105.869 -> out a jig for here and one of the jobs
109.409 -> you always have to do when you're using
110.61 -> a router to cut mortises is square them
112.619 -> out you can see the rounded ends have to
114.329 -> be squared but this one is so that's a
117.06 -> job for the chisel as well so in a joint
119.219 -> like this we're going to have to use the
121.17 -> chisel to set some guidelines as well
122.67 -> the technique for doing that is to place
125.52 -> take take a big chisel with a lot of
127.799 -> surface area place it on the inside wall
130.289 -> of the mortise and just to
131.969 -> and it will carry that line of your
137.98 -> mortise wall to the top of the wood so
140.769 -> basically what I'm doing is I'm trying
142.03 -> to create an extension of the wall of my
146.17 -> mortise past's this curves so I can have
149.439 -> a place to to cut into it we'll also
151.719 -> have to do the same on the back to
154.659 -> create a straight edge along the back
156.4 -> wall and here I'm just using hand
158.65 -> pressure I don't need to use the mallet
160.84 -> for this I'm just going to create my
163.359 -> lines now why am I doing this this is I
165.4 -> could have done this in pencil one of
167.47 -> the reasons is that now I can just drag
169.09 -> my chisel across and they'll just drop
170.829 -> right into that line that I've drawn I
172.75 -> don't really need to pay too much
174.099 -> attention now when I was to carefully
176.26 -> place that but knit and now I can just
178.989 -> begin my chopping so for something like
181.599 -> this with a mortise you'll want to chop
183.4 -> these out there's no way you can pare
185.049 -> down into this much wood by pushing so
187.93 -> you're going to want to use a mallet now
190.569 -> this is a there's two kinds of knowledge
192.579 -> you'll see and woodworking this is
193.78 -> called a carpenter's mallet it's perfect
195.729 -> for this kind of work the other kind of
197.53 -> looks like a cylinder it's called a
198.94 -> Carver's mallet they're both do the same
201.639 -> thing just different styles will use the
205.12 -> Carpenters mallet for this it's a little
206.47 -> better you need to pay attention to the
208.599 -> beveled side versus the backside when
210.31 -> you're doing this kind of work about the
212.26 -> back side should always be facing the
215.889 -> wood that you're keeping in other words
217.72 -> or another way to look at it is the
219.489 -> devil side goes with the waist so if I
222.4 -> had placed the beveled side by facing my
224.799 -> good the good wood here I would have
226.81 -> it's going to cut into the wood I won't
229.87 -> be creating a straight line here so
232.389 -> let's start here you can start by
235.199 -> chopping the ends now one tip about this
238.599 -> is you want to of course make sure your
240.099 -> chisel is straight up and down when
241.509 -> you're doing this and just give it a
243.79 -> good firm tap to get it started the
247.18 -> fewer taps you do the better in my
250.239 -> opinion if you do a lot of little taps
252.069 -> like this
253.52 -> that's going to be more chances for the
255.83 -> for the chisel to move around in between
257.51 -> blows so I've got my chisel almost all
260.42 -> the way down to the surface of this
261.79 -> mortise I'm going to just pry it out and
