Bay Area Dave wrote:
your point being that the chisels I bought are "paring"? I thought what
I got were bench chisels. certainly not firmer or mortise, but just as
certain they aren't paring, either.

No what you got was a cross between a bench chisel and a butt chisel.
Both have bevel edges, Butt chisels tend to be shorter and are designed
for abuse. Bench chisels are more for clean-up type work, glue-lines,
stray trash on edges, things like that. In a pinch they can be used as
a paring chisel to clean up dadoes or dovetails, but they really aren't
as good as the longer and thinner paring chisels. Firmer chisels look
like Bench chisels but the sides are square to the faces, Mortise
chisels are thicker top to bottom than they are side to side, but are
also square to the faces. Does that help? Take a look on the net or in
an antique shop for a much better idea. Once you see them and can
handle them it'll be satori.

Dave in Fairfax
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daveldr at att dot net
American Association of Woodturners
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