More on chisels

Some nomenclature. The chisel on the left, a small carving gouge, originally had a thin brass ferrule that cracked. I replaced it with a small piece of malleable copper pipe, more for aesthetics than a practical need. The middle tool is a woodworkers paring chisel with a socket for the handle. The handle is an antique, with a leather ferrule at the end. That is a practical position for a ferrule, in that it helps prevent the mushrooming of the handle end from mallet blows. Handle and chisel are not original to each other. I only sometimes strike the paring chisel with a mallet; it's more of a hand powered tool. To the right is an unhandled skew chisel, showing the tang and shoulder. Skews are used for cleaning undercuts, and as long carving blades.

Basswood

A Basswood tree, early winter. Officially winter isn't for another three weeks, but with ice and snow, I'll just accept that it is winter.

The bracks and nutlets are hanging on; the leaves were gone about 2 1/2 weeks ago, after some wet and windy days.

Late November, Crows

Crows, in the greasy, gray skies of late November. They fly over around twilight, stopping to alight in the trees in the alley behind the studio, to stare off to the west. (They are all facing west???) It's a brief interlude; then off to wherever a cauldron of crows roosts for the night. Somewhere back in my posts, I've noted similar behavior. It's probably a religious thing.

Some thoughts on carving tools.

Two different brands of carving tools. Bottom tool, a shallow gouge from Henry Taylor, UK. The quality of the steel is fine, holds an edge well. Top, is a shallow gouge from Pfeil, Switzerland. The quality of the steel is also fine. There are some things I like better about the Pfeil tools. The metal is polished overall. This really adds nothing to the working qualities of the tool, though it looks nice. The handles are oil finished, and octagonal in shape, so the tool won't roll. The Taylor tool has some kind of lacquer type finish; you can see the shine in the photo. The handle finish does affect the working quality, the oil type finish being more comfortable. The Taylor tool also came with an enormous sticker on the handle, which required removal, as it was uncomfortable. I'm ambivalent about the ferrule issue; if I'm beating hard enough on the tool to cause the wood to break, I should probably be using my chain saw. There are other brands, including some antiques, in my tool chest, though when I buy additional tools I prefer Pfeil, for the reasons above, and a comfort level with their working quality.

Woodcraft carries Pfeil tools here in the US. Pfeil's website has distributers listed for other parts of the planet. The film is worth watching.

Pauvre Petits

And in other news, we have snow that is sticking. Cold well below normal. Gah! Ahh well, as the Swedes say: "there is no bad weather, only bad clothing". 

Autumn

I seem to have been neglecting the blog.

Meanwhile, autumn is peaking:

And, a faint dusting of ... frost: