Reply To: Ashley Isles Chisels
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@ed — is that you in the first post as well? I thought it was some other ed, since it didn’t have (and still doesn’t have, at least in my browser) the “@ed” text under your name, as your subsequent posts in this thread have
Anyways, yes, have used them with a mallet in white oak a number of times, hard rock maple a couple of times, walnut, cherry, sapele, all the usual suspects.
Agreed on the work involved in removing large amounts of A2, and quick re-sharpenings along with fast angle changes in any steel, are the gigantic plus with hollow grinds. Even if you don’t like powered grinders, or don’t want to spend $150 for, say, a Chinese Tormek copy, you can buy a hand-powered grinder, install a nice Norton 3x wheel and Bob’s your uncle. Much harder to burn an edge (although still very possible), and still very effective. Re-sharpenings become far quicker operations, and stropping in between sharpenings is 30 seconds, tops. I use hollow grinds for router plane blades, too — Vic Tesolin has a video on the Derek Cohen method for getting a hollow grind onto a router plane blade using a drum sander in a drill press. That makes it easy to keep your router plane blades as sharp as your chisels or plane blades, and just as quick to sharpen (except for the LV 1/2, which are already pretty easy to sharpen, but it still makes it quicker to sharpen those).
Your posts suggest to me you spend quite a bit of time and effort keeping your tools nice and sharp, and I really think hollow grinding would be a big plus for you. As an added bonus, hollow grinding makes it much easier to sharpen freehand, and IIRC you have that skill set in your bag of tricks.
Anyways, my LN handles were loose when they arrived, but I used their suggestion of a little light adhesive and a quick couple of raps and they never came loose after that. I would freak if one of them fell out of the socket and down onto my feet, I can see why that is so vivid in your memory. Luckily there are lots of other excellent chisels in the world!
Also, the backs of my AI’s are similar to what prbayliss drew, and I don’t find it an issue, although I can’t say there aren’t situations where it would be an issue. The front 35mm or so is dead flat, then a very minor hollow for maybe the same 35mm, then flat again.