I can't tell you how many times I've tried finishing up a hand-cut dovetail with a square bench chisel only to find that the nice sharp detail I worked so hard to add ended up just beyond my reach. This is where a skew chisel shines because the angular design of the cutting edge allows me to trim the fuzz out of the minuscule corner of a half-blind dovetail or finish off any number of other little details on a project without fear of damaging the surrounding material. I was very excited when I finally got the chance to get my hands on some of the Narex Skew Chisels now being offered here at Infinity Cutting Tools. I have always been impressed with the tools Narex produces, like their bench chisels and rasps, and I was quite hopeful that these new skew chisels would leave me equally enamored.
Sold as a left and right-hand pair, the skew chisels come packaged in a very charming wooden box with a clear view plastic window, which was a detail I would've expected from a much more expensive set. The hornbeam handles balanced very well in my hands, being neither too big as to be unwieldy nor so small I would worry about losing my grip. These tools definitely hit the sweet spot, which is what you want in a precision instrument like a skew chisel.
The machining on the chisels is very clean, and when I took them to the sharpening station I was able to flatten their backs on my Water Stones in surprisingly short fashion. One of my favorite qualities of all of the Narex chisels I have used so far is just how quick and easy it is to put an edge on the chrome-magnesium steel blades which Narex has hardened to 59 on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. I could blather ad nauseam about different grades of steels and the best sharpening methods for each, but I think it suffices to say that I have always been happy with how easy I've found the process of putting that first hone on a set of Narex chisels. The only thing that makes me even happier is discovering how long they hold that edge before needing to be resharpened.
There are more sharpening jigs on the market than you can shake a stick at that will handle the odd blade angle of sharpening skew chisels, but I found that the 25° primary bevel with 30° skew was easy enough to locate by hand on my sharpening stone, and my set sharpened up without having to go back and relocate and start again, which was actually a shock to me because I don't do a lot of hand sharpening as a general rule.
Once trued, my new skew chisels were ready for a test run. The 12mm pair are a great size for most work, like cleaning out the tight corners of a dovetail, touching up tenons, or paring away fiber fuzz that gets jammed in tight like lint in your pocket. For those impossibly small pieces of joinery, the 6mm set will get into areas that even a 1/8" bench finds claustrophobic.
Adding a set of skew chisels to your tool roll is certain to open you up to more joinery options, and Narex has proved once again that their formula for combining high-quality materials with excellent craftsmanship at an affordable price will consistently produce a great hand tool.