Stabbing in chisel

[hortonstn]

I see small chisels used in stabbing in designs with the bottom rounded question is there a 20-25 degree angle on the bottom or is it just flat
Thanks
Paul

[BillF/TRF]

The cutting edge on most of the commercial palm and standard length chisels and gouges come with a 22.5° bevel (of course they can be ground into any °bevel depending on their use--hardness of wood).  The Stubai (Austria) Tools seem to have slightly rounded edges  on their gouges but not so much on their chisels.  Most other brands have squared edges.  I like the rounded edge gouges for stabbing in and "walking" along an outline of a design.  They come in various sweeps and widths.

[hortonstn]

Thanks Bill

[Long John]

Paul

I rarely stab in carving but I do stab when I let in parts.  Same process just different context.  I have one chisel that is a standard palm chisel. 1/8th inch wide with the standard 20 to 22 degree bevel for straight line segments.  The second chisel is the same model chisel, 1/8th inch palm, but the back, un-beveled side, is ground to a convex curve cross-section and polished to 1500 grit.  This chisel allows me to cut curves of virtually any shape by making a line of stabs one after the other, overlapping slightly.  When the back side of the chisel is ground to a rounded cross-section the edge becomes curved.

This is what I used when I stab in sections of carving where preferred.

This works for me.  I hope this is of some help for you.

JMC

[elkhorne]

Long John,
Is there any way to show us a photo of your chisels you described above. You know what they say, “A picture is always worth a thousand words.” Thanks.
elkhorne

[BillF/TRF]

Paul

I rarely stab in carving but I do stab when I let in parts.  Same process just different context.  I have one chisel that is a standard palm chisel. 1/8th inch wide with the standard 20 to 22 degree bevel for straight line segments.  The second chisel is the same model chisel, 1/8th inch palm, but the back, un-beveled side, is ground to a convex curve cross-section and polished to 1500 grit.  This chisel allows me to cut curves of virtually any shape by making a line of stabs one after the other, overlapping slightly.  When the back side of the chisel is ground to a rounded cross-section the edge becomes curved.

This is what I used when I stab in sections of carving where preferred.

This works for me.  I hope this is of some help for you.

JMC

I too would like to see Long John's chisels.  I couldn't get my mind around what that chisel would look like so I found an old craftsman 1/2 inch chisel and ground a nice curve on the unbeveled back side.  I tried it on a piece of pine and it did give a nice curve on the ground side but since the beveled side was still flat, it left a bigger gap in the wood where the thicker middle part had to push more wood aside.  Since a gouge is concave on the unbeveled side and convex on the beveled side, less wood needs to be pushed aside.  Now maybe for tools as small as John is talking about this would not be an issue.  Also, the thinness of the tool  would be a factor.  Or, depending on the type of relief carving, that "pushed aside" wood doesn't matter.  There are pictures of some similar tools with Acer Saccharum's tutorial on Stabbing for Relief Carving.

[okieboy]

  "Since a gouge is concave on the unbeveled side and convex on the beveled side, less wood needs to be pushed aside."
 Wish to mention that there are two different designs of gouge sharpening. The type mentioned sharpened by beveling the outside of the tool is called an "outcannel' and is what most people are familiar with. But, the are gouges that are sharpened by beveling from in side to the outside and they are called "incannel".  They excel on concave work and would be a good choice for generating the edge of a curved mortise.