"AAvK" wrote in message
news:USmYd.6878$KK5.3120@fed1read03...


Try a Stubai chisel, superlative. But, have you ever chopped into douglas
fir?
It has grain that is seriously thick with a rubber-like hardness. You'd
wind up
doing a bit of slamming.

The Stubai, as I said, did not take burs. I think when I used the 2" Buck
chisel it
was the wideness of the blade causing too much resistance, the Stubai
being only
1" (26mm). Same reasoning behind making a proper low angle block plane's
blade 1-3/8" wide rather than 1-5/8" wide, less resistance on end grain.

As with chopping into the DF wood, these were the "cheeks" that are around
the
tenons, which is end grain. Very tough stuff.

--
Alex
cravdraa_at-yahoo_dot-com
not my site: http://www.e-sword.net/

I'm not sure what DF wood is. I have a scrap of fir in the shop. I'll have
to chop a large mortise in it to see how it goes.

When I build wooden fence gates, I put a header across the gate posts at 90"
above grade. I make the connections in the 4"treated pine M&T joints. I was
using a 2" carpenter's slick but some previous owner has lost the wooden
handle and generations have struck the steel socket with a steel hammer. I
decided this both dangerous and sacrilegious. I went to the local hardware
man and purchased a 2" plastic handled Stanley no. 60 (recent manufacture)
After giving it the treatment, the chisel performed reasonably well chopping
mortises in the treated pine (with it's wet stringy fibers).

My strop is a piece of rawhide glued to a flat board. I have a "brick" of
wax impregnated with aluminum oxide. The strop is charged with this
compound. This waxy surface will almost polish the edge to a mirror sheen. I
wouldn't want to use a nice horsehide strop in that manner either. Each of
us use the sharpening technique we like and I certainly was not impugning
those that scary sharpen their tools. :-)

I think obviously you are not satisfied with the Buck Brothers chisels. With
you having examined the conditions surrounding their use, I think
conversation with the people that sold them to you would be appropriate, to
determine if they thought your set is defective. I would be inclined to take
some of the hardness out of your chisels and see if it made an acceptable
difference. See the Jim Cummings tape to learn the technique.

I hope you get it worked out. :-)