Hello,Vic! My guess is that your blank had dried down about 1/2" -
and was still wet below that. Wet wood cuts easy compared to dry
wood. So you got used to pressing firmly in to make that chisel cut
into that 'dry cement' of the first 1/2" - - then - when it hit the
wet wood with that same amount of pressure -- - it just took off!


On Nov 20, 10:01*pm, "Vic Baron" wrote:
Newbie question -

was using a 1" x 3/8 square chisel hollow end grain in a maple blank. The
depth was about 4". Started the cut and for the first 1/2 in depth the
chisel appeared to be cutting fine but then it grabbed and the chisel cut
down to the full depth like going through butter with a streamer of wood
ribbon shooting *out. Made several more cuts to complete the hollowing and
each cut did the same thing - slow cut first and then whoosh - actually
scared me a bit when the chisel dug in.

M question - *was this something with the wood or possibly I didn't have the
chisel at the right cutting angle until I was in 1/2 in?

Still don't have the hang of using a gouge for hollowing but if the chisel
keeps cutting like that I won't worry.

Vic