O Galoots:
This one rambles a bit before it gets to the poin, but with patience we can get
aroound all four bases.

When we went fleaBAGging in December, Bill Kasper gave me a couple of little
handleless chisels he had picked up to me. One is a 1/4" Dunlap, not a stellar
brand, with about 3" of blade, but in good condition----back reasonably flat,
discoloratin but no corrosion. I put it to the back of my mind and cooed over
the other one, a bevel-edged socket Ward's Master Quality 3/4" wide whose only
drawback is that I already have quite a number of 3/4" chisels. Then Bill Ghio
sent me, unsolicited, a dead pretty little Buck Cast Steel 5/8" of about the
same length (3-1/2" blade) with a short, comfy handle and a note that "I was
given this chisel several years ago by another Galoot. I liked its small size so
much that I decided to make up a set of butt chisels for the bench. Over time
that grew into a complete set of short PEXTO chisels and this one became
redundant. However, I have felt that since it was gifted to me I could not sell
it. Today while wrapping my Galootaclaus gift I noticed it and it occurred to me
that you would appreciate this little guy<" I do indeed; I love small chisels.
Thanks, Bill, I am looking forward to this doing its business again, and forming
the nucleus of s set of 3-1/2" bevel-edged butt socket chisels. If it turns out
to be a set of uniform Ward Master Quality, then I will pass your Buck along to
yet another galoot. And in the meantime I have it sharp and ready to use on my
desk, sitting next to the Ward from Bill Kasper. I keep wondering if I will end
up with a whole set of chisels obtained from guys named Bill.
I'm joking, but what I mostly feel is joy at having good friends.
So, back to the other chisel Bill Kasper gave me, a non-stellar Dunlap BE
socket. After a month or so it occurred to me that it is just about a match for
another I have, a Fulton (another non-stellar brand), one of my first chisels
and long since relegated to the "second or third set" box. I bought this one
before I grew snobbish about chisel brands and it gave good service for years,
but was replaced in my bench rack by a longer, more elegant Swedish chisel. With
two fairly close in shape and quality, I have a potential pair of 1/4" skew
dovetailing chisels.
Twenty-five or thirty years ago I ground a couple of nice 3/4" chisels into a
skew set, and have never found a use for them. I don't think I have used them
even once. Then, maybe ten years ago, a big box of cast-offs burped up a couple
of cast steel tang chisels worn down to 2-1/2" of blade, and I ground them skew
and put them in matching ebony London Octagonal handles. Around the same time I
read that skew could be used for cleaning out dovetails, and experiment showed
me that this waas indeed a good use for them.  However, for the size dovetails I
was doing (in boards under 1/2" thick) even a 3/8" chisel seemed too large and
heavy; so I've been looking for a couple of quarter-inchers to regrind. I was
imagining another pair of thin tang chisels worn short, but with the Fulton and
Dunlap falling into my lap....
So I'm regrinding my non-stellar pair. They are, as 1/4' chisels often are,
grossly thick, as thick as they are wide near the socket, so to get them thin
enough for a dovetailing pair I will have to grind off at least half the
thickness in the inch or two nearest the edge. I've taken the Fulton down to
1/8" at an inch from the edge, and 1/16" a quarter inch from the edge. This
completely removes the bevel-edging in the ground areas; I haven't yet decided
whether to re-bevel the edges. I would hesitate a long time before doing this
much surgery on a name chisel, or even one marked "cast steel" and nothing else,
but hey, it's a Dunlap and a Fulton--- no great worry if the regrinding proves a
frost.

And we get to the point of this email. I'm almost ready to grind the skew on the
front. And I need to decide what angle is best for small dovetails. Opinions
seem to differ on this. Anyone care to give an opinion about what angle is right
for a dovetailing skew? Lie-Nielsen does a very mild 20 degree skew. Most makers
seem to favor a more pronounced skew; some seem to go all the way to a 45 degree
skew. I'd probably go for a pretty pronounced skew, maybe 30-35 degrees (my
first set was around 40 degrees, and y second around 25). But I'd like to hear
what other galoots think is most useful.
Also, I have to decide on ha dle size. I might retain the conventional handle on
the Fulton, and make one similar for the Dunlop. The fulton is 8" overall, with
a handle 3-3/8" long and a blade 2-3/4" long to where the shoulders would be on
a wider chisel. However, I am strongly tempted to give both chisels burin-style
mushroom or palm handles,moving the right hand closer to the edge. Again: Anyone
have opinions or experience on handle length for a dovetailing skew?
Enquiring minds want to know.
Tom Conroy