Cabinetmaking Chisels Explained

The chisel is a fundamental woodworking tool and is invaluable to any woodworker, regardless of the size and type of work. Whether you are making standard furniture or a grand work of art, a good quality chisel is one of the first tools you should buy.

If you are looking to delve into woodworking in particular cabinetmaking, having some knowledge of the variety of chisels used is quite important. The following is a list of the chisels that are typically used in cabinetmaking.

Bevel Edge Chisel

The bevel edge chisel is uniquely shaped, in that it has a tapering edge on both side-edges as well as the point. The taper is only biased on one side while the other is completely flat, for easy sharpening of the point.

A bevel edge chisel is used to chip away large amounts of wood, as well as create finer shapes such as dovetails.

Butt Chisel

A butt chisel is basically a cabinet making chisel that has a blade shorter than 10 cm. It gets its name from short blades used in fixing butt hinges. The handle of the butt chisel is often short and bulbous towards the end, with a flat surface for hammer striking.

Cranked Neck Chisel

A cranked neck chisel has a unique offset handle and a neck that is sloped downward. This allows the blade to run more flat on the wood surface, and work like a plane, removing glue and excess wood. It is very useful for difficult to reach places and can be used with a hammer more easily, as it can provide a more direct contact point between the blade and wood, with the blade point angled correctly.

Cabinet Corner Cleaning Chisel

This type of chisel has a blade that is angled around a third of the way towards the end. This angle lets the chisel work at a very high angle, which is good for evening out corners, as the name suggests. The blade is generally long and narrow, and the point is sometimes tapered as well.

Cabinet Mortise Chisel

A mortise chisel is quite tough, with a thicker blade and stronger handle, which can sustain heavy hits from a hammer. The common usage is to break mortise joints, which needs a stronger blade and tougher point. The mortise chisel can come in a number of sizes, but they are on the larger side.

Cabinet Paring Chisels

This chisel is used for removing much smaller and finer quantities of wood, for mostly decorative work. The chisel is very similar to a bevel edge chisel, with the only difference being the thinner blade and handle, and the different usage. Additionally, the blade of a cabinet paring chisel is slightly flexible, though this may not be the case with most cabinet paring chisels.

Skew Paring Chisels

A skewed paring chisel has a frontal point that is leaning on one side, which gives it a sharp point and a leaning edge. They are used to clean out the dovetail sockets, a task that requires a slight one-sided taper on the point.

Spring Loaded Corner Chisel

A spring loaded corner chisel uses a compact, cuboid design which is held on top of a corner, and the point is then hammered down to remove wood from the corner of the cabinet. The blade is hidden inside the frame and retracts back to the loaded position after the wood has been removed with a hammer strike.

What to Look for in a Router Table

A router table is one of the handiest inclusions in your workshop. If you want to do moulded edges, dadoes, mortises and multiple curves that match a template you will be wise to invest in a good quality router and table to match. The router table allows you to have both hands free from holding the tool and converts a portable power tool into a stationary power tool making it more versatile and usable.

Convenience

A router table means your router is always ready to use. There is less set-up time required and less mess because your dust extractor is attached and ready to go.

A router table needs to provide good support and guidance for your workpiece.

Attachments

There is a range of individual accessories and combinations that you can use on your router table. These include guards, fences, mitre gauges and dust extractors.

Choose a fence opening that can be easily adjusted and look at the surface of the table to make sure any material can pass over it safely.

A router table also allows you to use feather boards, a mitre gauge and hold-downs which wouldn’t be possible with a hand-held router.

Safety

A router is one of the most dangerous woodworking tools available. A router table can make your router safer to use than a hand-held router.

When the router is moving between 3,000 and 25,000 rpm, you don’t want to slip or make a mistake. Your hand or a finger can be seriously injured. It doesn’t matter how careful you are; accidents can happen. A moment’s lapse of concentration is all it takes. Spend the time to set up your table with the right guards and fences for the project you are currently working on. If you are unsure how to use the safety equipment, take the time to find out from the manufacturer or online.

Make sure you use a table that is compatible with your router. Obviously, a heavy duty router needs a heavy table to hold it properly. The more accessories you attach to your table the more weight it adds to the table. Before upgrading your router and accessories, check if you will need to replace your table to hold your upgrades. Read more about router table safety here.

More about Router Tables

If you're still not sure about what you want in a router table, it is recommended that you speak to an expert who can present you with more information on what to look for in a router table that would be beneficial to your business. 

Sharpening your Woodworking Tools – Hand Planes

The skill of sharpening your tools is as important as the skill of using your woodwork hand tools. A good sharpening session can turn your grandfather’s old plane into a sentimental but highly valued tool. A brand new, budget plane can perform as well as their higher priced cousin with the right sharpening.

Machine Marks

If you have bought a premium plane, you may not need to do much to it once you have taken it out of the box. Less expensive planes may need a little more attention. Inspect the blade carefully for any machining marks. If you find any marks, you will need to flatten and polish the back of the blade. Start with the coarsest grit and work your way up through the grits until the marks are removed, and you have a mirror finish. Only worry about the edge of the blade’s back as the rest of the blade won’t touch the wood so the machine marks can remain.

Bevel Edge

The primary bevel of your plane edge should be 25 degrees unless it’s needed for work on a difficult grain. If your bevel is not the right angle, the edge isn’t square or is damaged, you will need to re-grind it. A water-cooled, large grinder will make the job easy but with a little patience you can do the job with sandpaper. Once you are happy with the edge, you can start to polish it. Use various sandpapers to get a polished mirror finish. A honing guide will help you achieve the desired result.

If your blade is in poor condition with rust or bad nicks, it may be wise to replace the blade. You can spend hours trying to get a blade into a usable condition and find it is too severely damaged. Make the call early and decide if it can be salvaged or not. Several manufacturers still make blades to fit the width of old planes, just ask.

Micro Bevel

Once you are happy with your bevel edge, it is time to start work on the micro bevel. This secondary bevel should be around 2-5% higher than the primary one. No new planes come with a micro bevel so all blades need some work to achieve this. Start with coarse sandpaper to establish a thin, even line across the blade’s tip. Use your highest grit and then polishing stone for another mirror finish.

Once you have a perfectly sharp and honed plane blade, you will only need to work on the micro bevel with a fine stone regularly.

Camber or Left Straight

One decision woodworkers need to make about their new planes is whether to camber the edge or leave it straight. Newbie woodworkers can benefit from a cambered edge because it is more forgiving than a straight edge. If you don’t set the blade at an equal depth on both sides, it can dig in more on one side.

To camber use your stone to take slightly more metal the further from the middle. Count the number of strokes you use on the first side so you can repeat evenly on the other side. You should see a slight curvature on the cutting edge. Planes used on heavier timber can have a greater curvature.

If you want to reduce the time, it takes to camber your plane and, you want to preserve your stone, use a power or hand-cranked grinder.

Make it a habit to check the edge of your plane’s blade every time you begin a project. A perfectly sharpened and honed blade edge can make the job easier and the result more precise.

More information on Hand Planes

If you still need more information on tools for sharpening woodwork, it is best to speak to an expert who can guide you with information on the right type of hand planes for your business. 

Woodworking Tools to Get Started

So you’ve decided to start a woodworking project, you will need some tools. With thousands of tools to choose from how do you know which ones you need now and which ones can wait? We’ve put together a list of what we consider to be essential tools to get some basic woodworking projects under your belt. With time you will be able to add to your tool collection and tackle more difficult projects, but this list will give you the basics every workshop needs.

If you are on a tight budget, be wary of buying more cheap tools rather than fewer quality tools. There is a good chance you will need to replace the cheap ones with a better quality product within a few years.

Workbench

Without a sturdy surface you can’t start any projects. You will need something to secure your wood to before planing or sawing. You can put in a fixed workbench or buy a mobile bench if you need the flexibility of moving it around your workshop. Just make sure your workbench will be big and sturdy enough to handle a vice.

Chisels

You will need a set of bevel edge bench chisels to get you started. A few different size blades will ensure you have the right chisel for every paring and chopping job. The multipurpose bench chisel is so named because they are used often enough that they are rarely put away. A mortise chisel is needed for heavy chopping of mortises. A paring chisel is thin and more delicate for slicing wood. Choose between wood or plastic handled chisels.

Later, when you have a project that calls for it, you can add some specialty chisels like paring and fishtail chisels.

Saws

A back saw is needed for accurate, fine wooden joints. A fine, rip teeth saw will allow you to cut along the grain. A tenon saw will be needed for heavier cuts along the grain. Fine crosscut teeth on a carcass saw can cut across the grain. A large mitre saw and mitre box will be needed if you need to cut your wood to accurate lengths and square for building boxes. A coping saw is required for removing waste if you are doing any dovetail joints.

Clamps

There aren't any general purpose clamps available for all projects. Several deep-throat bar clamps are fairly versatile because they have a long-arm stretch and deep reach. Spring clamps will act as a third hand when you need to hold the wood for painting and glueing.

Planes

If you are going to do traditional woodworking, then a plane is essential. There are multiple types you can invest in, but the two most common ones needed for the job are a block plane and jack plane. A block plane is smaller and can be used with one hand while the general purpose ‘jack of all trades’ plane can do some of the work of smoothing and jointer planes.

Squares & Tape Measure

Measure twice and cut once. Make sure you have a few tools including a good pencil for measuring and marking before cutting your wood. A combination square will help with measuring angles, determining flatness and marking.

Woodworking tools for your workspace

Choosing the right set of tools for a woodworking project can be a bit daunting. There's so much to choose from and if you're not careful, you may land up working with something that doesn't do the job. Since you're starting out, we recommend you have a quick chat with an expert who can help you decide which tools you'd need for your new woodwork project. 

Sharpening your Woodworking Tools - Chisels

If you look after your woodworking tools, they will most probably last longer than you. Part of taking care of your tools is keeping them sharp, so they are safe and enjoyable to use. A sharp tool will also give you the best result and will be ready to use whenever the next job calls for it.

Chisels require more sharpening and maintenance than most other woodworking tools to keep them in good order. Like most things, there is more than one way to sharpen a chisel. Some people prefer to use a jig while others prefer to do the job by hand with an oilstone, water stone or diamond stone. It’s personal preference which method you use, but a waterstone is a popular choice.

Waterstones are slightly softer than oilstones so you are left with clean sharp grit as the stone is worn away. Waterstones are available in a variety of sizes from 300 grit to 8000 grit. Reversible waterstones are also available to save you buying multiple stones of different grit. The 1000 grit side can be used for preparing and dressing the tool while the reversible 6000 grit is for sharpening.

To use your waterstone for sharpening your chisels:

1. Place your stone in water for around 5-10 minutes, so it’s soaking wet. For stones in excess of 4000 grit, you won’t need to soak them, just drop water on top. Place the stone somewhere that it won’t slip such as a waterstone holder but if you don’t have one, a piece of fine grit sandpaper secured to your workbench can do the job.

2. Next place your chisel into the honing guide with the bevel facing down and tighten the guide when the bevel is sitting flat on the bench. You want the entire bevel to touch the stone so it needs to sit flat in the guide. Place the honing guide’s wheel on the edge of the stone and place your fingers on the blade and thumbs behind.

3. Apply even pressure and give it several passes by going forward and back. Try to use as much of the stone as possible and also flip occasionally, so you don’t end up with a groove down the middle of your stone. Keep the stone wet by applying water.

4. Wipe the blade clean with a rag and check where it has been making contact with the stone. Wipe the residue off the stone. If needed change the chisel position and continue with the passes.

5. Move up through the finer grits of stone until you are happy with the edge you’ve created.

6. Your chisel will now be shiny and sharp. Some woodworkers stop here while others prefer to add a microbevel.

A microbevel is a very small bevel right on the edge of your already bevelled chisel. This is a future time saver as it allows you to sharpen just the microbevel if you are in the middle of a job and your chisel isn’t as sharp as you would like.

7. Adjust the honing guide so that you can slide the chisel back a tiny distance. Wet your stone, place your chisel down and pull the chisel back with steady strokes. Repeat a few times making sure the handle is at the same angle. Check to see you have a thin line on the end of the chisel blade.

8. Check the back of your chisel for any burrs. To remove a burr, place the chisel completely flat against the stone and do several passes.

The Different Types of Hand Clamps

There are so many clamps available on the market; it’s hard to know if you should buy one or two in every style or a fairly universal one that will cover most of your clamping requirements. But your workshop probably has limited space so buying one of everything is probably not going to work. Look at the types of projects you most commonly do and find a few clamps that will cover most of the projects you do.

Spring Clamp

Also known as pinch clamps, the spring clamp is small in size but big on power. Spring clamps are good for small repairs and as a third hand for holding items you need to glue or paint. The spring clamp offers easy release and even clamping pressure.

3-Way Edge Clamps

The 3-Way clamp is the traditional spring clamp with an additional spring that applies a third direction of pressure. The clamp can give you more than 10 kg of clamping pressure, providing a far better bond than tape alone.

Band Clamp

If you need to clamp curves, closed contours and other tricky clamping jobs, then a band clamp may be your friend. A canvas band clamp can provide even pressure on mitre joints and can have adjusted angles from 60 to 180 degrees. Pressure is applied by placing the band around the workpiece and pulling tight to lock in place.

Face 90 Degree Corner Clamp

This clamp allows you to align joints to a 90-degree angle when compressed. A swivel head allows you to adjust for material thickness.

Face Frame Clamp

If you are doing any pocket hole joinery, project construction or general clamping, a face frame clamp may be what you need. Swivel pads ensure there is no marring of your work piece and even force clamping.

One Hand Clamp

When you don’t have enough hands to hold the project and fit the clamp, invest in a one hand clamp. A lightweight clamp allows you to exert plenty of clamping pressure while only using a couple of fingers to complete the job. A good one hand clamp will allow you to swap between flat or angled grip pads within seconds.

Parallel Clamp

As the name suggests, this clamp allows the jaws to remain parallel to each other and stay at 90 degrees keeping your work piece square. A Parallel-K clamp can be used on right angles, round and pointed work pieces.

Pipe Clamp

Often lighter and cheaper than the traditional T-bar sash clamp, choose a pipe clamp with taller feet and a cast crank handle for tensioning the work piece.

Toggle Clamp

If you have a lot of repetitive clamping to do, the toggle clamp can save you time on your wood or metalwork projects. The clamping thickness can be increased by mounting a spacer under the clamp base.

Throat Clamp

Also known as F-clamps, look for a throat clamp that has a soft grip handle and flexible cast-iron heads that won’t crack under pressure.

Miter Clamp

Used for gripping two mitred edge pieces together at right angles. There are internal (upper) and external (lower) types available.

Hand clamps for woodwork projects

Choosing the right hand clamps is crucial and you can't afford to go wrong. We highly recommend that you speak to an expert at Timbecon who can provide more information on the different types of hand clamps to make working on your woodwork projects easier.  

How to Choose the Right Vice

The design of the bench vice hasn’t changed much in years. It's still a very handy tool to have, but with so many on the market, it's hard to choose the right one. Make the wrong choice however and you will have years of frustration trying to use a vice that doesn’t hold parts firm or isn’t big enough to accommodate your workpiece. But how can you tell which is the right bench vice for your workshop and what should you consider when making a purchase?

What you Will Use the Vice For

Different types of vices will suit different jobs. A woodworker will want a different vice to a machinist, model maker or homeowner.

What to Check when Buying

Size matters when you are purchasing a vice. You want one that is big enough to handle the projects but not too big that your budget or workbench suffers.

Length of Jaws - a 4 to 5-inch length of the jaws from end to end will be able to handle a household DIY job but may not be sufficient for a woodworker.

Throat Depth - the throat depth is measured from the top of the jaws to the top of the slide below. The longer the throat, the larger the pieces it can hold.

Weight – if you are going to be whacking the vice with an anvil, you will want a vice that can take the punishment. However, don’t always go for the heaviest vice you can find if your workbench isn’t a solid construction.

Rotation – consider if you want your vice to be able to swivel 360 or 180 degrees once mounted on the bench.

Mounting – if you want to move your vice off your bench or move it around regularly then you will want one that can be easily removed. Look at the way it's mounted to the bench – bolts, suction cap or clamp – and find the one that will suit you best.