Sharpening chisels

When sharpening a wood chisel is there just one angle on the sharp end? Or two? I have one of those tools (for sharpening) that has embossed on the side ...30mm=30 deg 40mm=25 deg

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ss
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If it's the one with the roller underneath that clamps the chisel I've always sharpened at the 30 deg then lightly finished off on a finer stone to

  1. Seems to do the job.
Reply to
Nthkentman

On 14/04/2012 08:54, Nthkentman wrote:

There are whole books on the subject and many views. The lower the angle, the sharper the chisel but the more easily the edge breaks up under load. For light paring cuts in soft woods a 25 degree angle is OK, but 30 degree is better for harder woods or for end-grain cutting and is the common choice. However, if you sharpen the whole bevel at 30 then you have to remove metal over the whole area every time you re-sharpen. Either way the edge won?t be sharp unless the back face of the chisel is flat at the edge. The way many woodworkers go is first to flatten the back of the chisel. This can take a long time first time out - work with your coarse stone until the back (at least the first inch or so) is completely uniform, then change to finer stone and keep polishing. Once you?ve done this once, the back is never touched by anything other than your finest stone. Once the back is flat, set the guide to 25 degrees and sharpen the bevel until it?s uniformly flat and smooth - once the edge is sharp you will feel a slight burr if you slide your finger down the back of the chisel. Now re-set the angle to 30 and give the edge just a few rubs on a medium or fine stone - you should see a bright line of new 30 degree bevel across the whole edge. Get this as polished as your stones will let you then rub the back on the finest stone again and you?re done. Once the edge is blunt you re-sharpen at 30 and that second bevel will get wider. Every now and again you go back to 25 and use your coarse stone to get back to the 25 degree bevel and re-hone at 30. That way you have to do a lot less work than starting with a 30 degree bevel. You need at least a couple of stones, one coarse and one fine - and they must be flat. Some people use abrasive cloth glued to plate glass - look up "scary sharp".

Reply to
Norman Billingham

Thanks Norman, useful info. I will probably set something up with plate glass at a later date as I have a couple of wider plane blades and the stone I have is `not flat` anymore. My stone will do short term so that I have a couple of sharp chisels to get on with some work I need to do.

Its strange when I think about it as I have been doing odd jobs in woodwork for must be 30 years and my original set of chisels are only now getting sharpened, that set lasted a few years and then my F in law gave me an old set that was sharpened and they lasted me another few yeras and then he moved to a flat and gave me some more that were sharp so I have never had to sharpen any til now.

Reply to
ss

If you?re doing significant amounts of woodwork you should be sharpening your chisels pretty much every day. The experience of working with a truly sharp chisel will transform what you do. With a properly sharpened one you should be able to shave the hairs off the back of your hand.

If your stone isn?t flat you?ll likely make things worse. You can never get a decently flat back on a non-flat stone. Oil stones need quite a bit of work to flatten them but it can be done on plate glass with carborundum powder. Water stones need flattening a lot more often but it can be done very quickly with wet and dry paper on plate glass.

Have a look at:

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and stays flat and does a pretty good job and is cheap. If you supplement with an 8000 grit water stone you?ll get razor sharp edges.

Reply to
Norman Billingham

I'd agree with all of that.

The only comments I'd add are that my collection of chisels and plae blades etc includes some hand-me-downs that are at least sixty years old and the quality of the steel is such that they need much less attention than some of my newer additions.

The other comment will be obvious if you de-munge my address: I don't fear the wear and tear on a sharpening stone: I replace it with a new one and the old one gets added to my collection of different radii stones that I use for levelling fretted instrument fingerboards.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Odell

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>> Is and stays flat and does a pretty good job and is cheap. If you

I got a vast improvement using my `not flat` stone as I was only doing a handful of cross halving joints it will suffice. I tried them on a piece of end grain and they shaved easily and thinly. My next job will require more accuracy and sharpness so will get everything sorted for then. Over the years (as mentioned in previous post) when doing tenon or dovetails the chisels have been spot on and in between it was just some rough joiner work so I never had the need to get excited about my chisels but times have changed and now after many years I actually have time to do some of those `wood` jobs I always promised myself. So far I have planned....

  1. Rebuild my shed.
  2. Build a wooden outdoor table & chairs.
  3. Build a base for a long case clock.
  4. Build shoe rack and drawer units for walk-in wardrobe.
  5. Build a custom sectional toolbox for my tools. And the most important one is a 6 inch piece of moulding I did for an expensive mantle clock about 45 years ago which I did from sanding it out (I didnt have tools then), so looking to see if I can improve on it now. The clock has been packed away for years and just checked ocassionally.

Thanks again to all for the advice it has been most useful for me.

Reply to
ss

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