Self Surgery
Posted By Russ Emerson on April 2, 2004 at 2:55 pm
Norm Abrams often uses the term “nice sharp chisel.” He’ll say things like “clean up the mortise with a nice sharp chisel” or “square the inside corner with a nice sharp chisel.”
I keep my own chisels razor sharp — not that I would try to shave with a chisel, any more than I would try to use a razor blade to clean out a mortise, but you get the point.
I had to pare down a tenon (i.e., make it a tiny fraction of an inch narrower), so naturally instead of setting up a power tool I reached for a nice sharp chisel.
Along the way I collected a common little souvenir of the woodworking hobby:
It’s a good thing this wasn’t done with a bad dull chisel — it would have been much worse. As it is, I barely even felt it. The cut was so clean it took two minutes for it to start bleeding. Now, that’s sharp.
And lest I forget to mention it: the tenon was successfully pared, and fits perfectly. Look for a photo or two of the project in the days ahead.
[Update: actually, I think Norm says “nice” rather than “good sharp chisel.” Same thing, but I’ve corrected the post.]