What the heck is a dovetail chisel or fishtail chisel? What’s the difference between Western bevel and Japanese bevel? And where do you recommend to buy them?

As I wrote before, Japanese chisels are forged with two types of steel that are welded together during the forging process. One thin layer of very hard steel and a thicker layer of softer steel that will support it. The hard steel will become the back of the chisel and the cutting edge and this is the reason Japanese chisels will keep a sharp edge for a longer time than a western chisel.

Some tests like the Bench-Chisel Review published by Fine Woodworking Magazine will give you a clear evidence of this.

All Japanese chisels that I know of have a hollow (or more than one in wider chisels – see top photo) in the back which makes it easier and faster to flatten the back. Otherwise it would require a lot of work to flatten a large surface of very hard steel.

Usually Japanese chisels are somewhat shorter than western chisels, and I like this feature since my hand is closer to the work and I find it easier to control. Other than these I would say there aren’t any more differences between Japanese and western bevel edged chisels.

As far as the shape of the blade goes, you can find chisels in many different shapes and some are best suited for certain tasks. Bevel edge chisels are the most common since they are the workhorse of a cabinet shop and useful for most tasks.

A timber framing chisel, often used for more heavy duty tasks, won’t have bevels on the sides of the blade and while these can be very good tools for chopping large mortises in a 4×4″ or for paring tasks, for smaller projects you’ll find that the lack of bevels will usually become a problem when reaching the tight corners of a small mortise.

A dovetail chisel on the other hand has a triangular section, which means that it will get into the tight pin socket between two tails (provided that you’re cutting thin tails like our friend Kaleo Kala enjoys – the photo on the homepage of his website is a good example of this) and this is the task where they really excel.

You should avoid to use these for more general tasks as they’re not as strong as a bevel edge chisel.

Currently you can find western type dovetail chisels, i.e. made with just O1 or A2 steel like the ones made by Ashley Iles or Blue Spruce Toolworks.

Fishtail chisels are yet another specialty chisel. The cutting edge is shaped in a way that it will get into the tail sockets of half-blind dovetails and you can use them to clean the left and right side of the sockets. An alternative is to use skew chisels (usually sold in pairs – right and left skew angles) but this will require two tools instead of one.

Again, like the dovetail chisels, you can get western type fishtail chisels. It’s just a question of preference. I tend to favor the Japanese ones.

As far as where to buy them, I would recommend you to check out the online stores (these will often have a wide range of brands and prices to choose from) and then see what’s available locally.

In Europe I would recommend you check out:

• Dieter Schmid
• Dick

In the US you will have more choices but these are my favorites:

• Tools For Working Wood
• The Japan Woodworker
• Garrett Wade

In the end you can’t go wrong with either a good quality western or Japanese chisel, some will prefer the western tools while others will favor the Japanese ones.