Fishtail Chisels
By Benjamen Johnson
Not every woodworker needs a set of fishtail chisels in their shop, but if you’ve ever wondered how to clean out the back corners of dovetails or other recesses, you might want to take a look at these tools. So named for the chisel head’s similarity to a stylized fishtail, the shape allows you to get into acute corners on either side of the cutting edge.
Lie-Nielsen manufactures their fishtail chisels from 0-1 tool steel hardened to RC 60-62. They sell both long-handled and short-handled versions in 3/8″, 1/2″, and 5/8″ sizes. A single fishtail chisel will set you back $75, or you can get a set of three long-handled or three short-handled chisels for $225. We guess Lie-Nielsen isn’t big on package discounts.
Fishtail Chisels [Lie-Nielsen]
December 12th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Cute!
I’ll think I’ll pass, as I already have nice bench skew chisels.
December 12th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Since these are really paring chisels - I would think that the long handled variety would be better suited to the task. If they are like other LN chisels the handles can be interchanged and you can buy a sort handle to complement the set.
March 1st, 2009 at 5:34 pm
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