Chips and shavings

Sometimes we’re so focused on getting work done, that we hardly ever take notice of what happens to the material, particularly the parts that are removed as part of a cutting action. The chips below beautifully show the gradual progression of the chisel when cutting a mortise.

The piece of Norway spruce the chips were cut from, marked and ready to be cut.

Another example are these shavings, resulting from cutting a 6mm groove in the above piece with a combination plane.