Chisel Won't Hold Edge

[Michael Peet]

Hey all,

I have this 1 1/4" Marples chisel I got at the borg before I knew any better. At first it was pretty easy to keep sharp, but now after a bunch of sharpenings it seems like it will simply not hold an edge. I can get it to arm-hair-removing-sharp easily, but the moment I put it to wood the edge just folds over. I'm talking doug fir and no mallet.

I have never used a grinder on it - only waterstones and sandpaper - so I don't think I could have done anything to remove its temper. Is it possible it was just case hardened and I have worked through the hard layer?

Any ideas?

Mike

[Prashun Patel]

I have those BORG Marples chisels. They work fine for me. I assume yr sharpening to a 'regular' 25? Are you micro beveling?

Does seem like the temper's been compromised...

[george wilson]

That is very strange,Michael. I have an old 1964 set of Marples,which is my primary set of all the sets I own( haven't finished putting new handles on my Pfiel set yet!).

I hope Marples hasn't succumbed to making them too soft like the rumor I heard a while back. I heard that because of fear of liability,of someone getting a broken off steel splinter in their eye,some chisel makers were making them much softer.

Without special equipment,the best thing for you to do is take a new Nicholson smooth file(a triangular will do.) See how easily the chisel will file. If it's decent,you should hardly get it to file at all. The type,and condition of the file is important in this test. If your file has shiny teeth at at all,or is of an inferior make( less than a Nicholson or Grobet),and not a smooth file( a smooth file will file harder steel than a coarser file),you won't get a valid test.

If your chisels file easily,they are way too soft.

It is also possible that you just got a bunch of bad chisels,and need to return them. Since all my Marples chisels are at least 30 years old,I have no idea what the new ones may be like.

[Sam Takeuchi]

I have a set of Marple chisels I got as my first chisel set some years ago. They don't hold edge for worth a crap As far as I can gather, a lot of people said they hold reasonably good edge, but I've read some people reporting soft edge as well. Maybe we just got a bad batch of chisels. Mine never had good edge retention. So time to get a real chisel

[harry strasil]

go to the corner chisel post and follow the directions I posted there to reharden and temper your chisels, if after accomplish that and they are too hard and a bit brittle, increase the wifey's oven temp to 450° and if still too hard, go to 500° and it is not necessary to quench after temper heat, just turn off oven and let them cool in oven.

[george wilson]

Could be that the newer ones are just soft. Sorbys sure are! Get a Pfiel. Narex sets aren't very expensive,and still seem to be good. Hirsch's are good,except they have slightly rounded edges from being buffed to death. You have to flatten their bottoms till the round edge is gone. The same for 2 Cherries,IIRC.

You can buy 1 Pfiel from Woodcraft Supply,just to try. A whole set costs a bit. A whole set of Narex's is probably your safest bet,and are pretty low cost. They,and the Pfiels aren't buffed,either.

[John Keeton]

Here is another vote for the Narex! For the money, IMO it is the best available. Here is a link. Handles aren't the best, but the metal, and the factory grind are exceptional. I had very little work to do getting them ready to use.

[george wilson]

I am sure that the chisels will warp like crazy if you try to reharden them. They have bevels on 1 side,so the different surface area will cause warping. Maybe if you only hardened the first inch it would be o.k..

Trouble is,if you don't know how to do it correctly,you would be in worse trouble!!!

[Bryce Adams]

I bought a set of Narex chisels last year and they were un-usable. Primary bevel at 25 degrees with a 27 degree micro-bevel and the edge broke down under light use. Looked like I'd been cutting nails with it. My original problem was in Cocobolo, which I understand is tough on chisels.

I re-ground and re-sharpened at 30 degrees with a 32 degree micro-bevel and tried some very light chopping in white oak. I cut a 1/8" deep mortise with very light tapping with a mallet, and the edge broke down very quickly.

After talking with technical support, I ended up returning the set for a refund.

Later I read about how new chisels often don't hold an edge well, and grinding them down may get to better steel. I did re-grind one with poor results.

Just my experience.

Bryce

[Zach England]

A general newbie question instead of advice for original poster:

Could this result from the edge getting too hot during power sharpening?

[Doug Shepard]

My starter set of chisels were Marples. I still use the ones in the 1"-2" range but I switched to LN chisels a while back just because I got tired of trying to keep up with the edge retention. The Marples work well when they're sharp. They just dont stay that way for very long.

[Prashun Patel]

Could this result from the edge getting too hot during power sharpening?

When the edge gets too hot, the temper of the blade gets compromised, so 'getting too hot' and 'losing temper' do usually mean the same thing for power sharpening.

[Julian Nicks]

I have the marples chisels and love them for banging out dovetails. I wonder if yours are just not hardened properly as previously stated.

[george wilson]

O.K.,as usual,completely conflicting info for the original poster to puzzle through!!!!!

My OLD Marples are quite fine,I can't vouch for the new ones. However,from all OTHER reports about the Narex's,they seem to be an excellent bargain at less than $27.00 for a whole set. You'r going to pay that much,or more,just to buy 1 Pfiel to try out.

I have never owned a set of Narex's,but from several comments I remember from this,and other fora,they are recommended,and you won't break your bank. Hirsches are what?,well over $100.00 a set,and their edges are rounded a bit. 2 Cherries about the same.

[Zach England]

Are we talking about the "Irwin" labeled Marples or the Marples with the black and blue rubber handles?