Sharpening Frustration with "New" Chisels

[Russell Sansom]

I'd re-emphasize the advice to work on the narrower chisels. The 3/4" and 1" chisels take an awful lot of work to flatten the backs, especially if just a corner is low and you, therefore, have to thin down the entire chisel. It's also easy to botch a 1/4" until you know what you're doing. 1/8" is even worse.

[Mike Siemsen]

I use 36 - 40 grit zirconium (blue) sanding belts that I open out flat and glue down. Mike

[Rob Young]

I'd re-emphasize the advice to work on the narrower chisels. The 3/4" and 1" chisels take an awful lot of work to flatten the backs, especially if just a corner is low and you, therefore, have to thin down the entire chisel. It's also easy to botch a 1/4" until you know what you're doing. 1/8" is even worse.

Not hard to do. Instead of running the chisel at right angles to the stone (sandpaper, loose grit, whatever) draw it as close to parallel with the stone as possible. Pull back only so you don't accidentally dig it in.

And with less metal to remove in the first place you can start at a higher grit and still get it done quickly. Plus, with your fingers close in for support it's nice to have a higher grit (or stone) for the inevitable first or second pass where you drag your finger across too. But you will quickly find a grip on the piece that doesn't cause this to happen.

[Matthew Bobek]

Once again, thanks for all the info. I think I will start with the smaller ones and hopefully have some success. Hopefully between now and the end of the week I'll have enough time to get them squared away.

On a separate note, I received the LN catalog a couple of days ago and the description for the chisels says the backs are ground flat and finished to 400 grit. Does this mean I would only have to refine the primary bevel and then add the secondary bevel for these to be ready for work? Thanks as always.

[Trevor Walsh]

I looked at the backs at their event two weeks ago, they are nicely done, Not quite mirror if I remember correct but very uniform. (I was in plane shell-shock, not much else mattered...). I'd still take them up to mirror finish and strop them. I'm debating about a pair of mortise chisels sometime this year so I'll let you know when the time comes.

[glenn bradley]

I have the old Marples version of those chisels. I just used a sharp shop knife to clean the clear-coat off. I sharpen and flattened them in just a few minutes on the Worksharp 3K. I know, blasphemy, but I get a mirror finish toot-sweet and touch-ups take about 3 seconds. I do hand sharpen a lot of cutters but, square chisels are just too easy on the machine.

[Rob Young]

On a separate note, I received the LN catalog a couple of days ago and the description for the chisels says the backs are ground flat and finished to 400 grit. Does this mean I would only have to refine the primary bevel and then add the secondary bevel for these to be ready for work? Thanks as always.

The short answer is "it depends". By that I mean, for some people lapping the back to 400 is sufficient and they won't bother with more.

For others, they want to use the entire back of the chisel as a shaving mirror.

If you work the back on the same grits (stones) you use for the face they will eventually polish up same as the bevel. The good news is they should be FLAT to start with, just happen to have 400 grit scratches in them. That will take you a LONG, LONG way down the slope just having one or two good chisels in the sizes you use the most.

[Terry Beadle]

I'd use much coarser grit sand paper as recommened by some above. 80 grit or even 60 grit if a chisel is way out of flat. Then work your way up to 320 and then hit the stones ( oil or water ). I recommend a 800 grit water stone for initial flattening work. You can go to a 2000 ~ 3000 after that and finish up with a 6000. Above that is really nice to have but not necessary.

The Ashley Isles that I bought folded the cutting edge fairly quickly until in increased the micro bevel to 35 ~ 37. Once done they work flawlessly ( except for my poor marksmanship ! ) and keep an edge very well. I've used them in oak, hickory, and some sun hardened cherry with good results.

I have the Nynex set and they are very good. I think for the price, the best bang for a buck. For a starter set they are really a good value.

Have fun !

[Matthew Bobek]

So, I was in my local Woodcraft today and even though LN has pulled their line from the stores, they still have what they stocked. And, coincidentally, they had the set of five LN chisels sitting there in the display case. Those were some real beauties, they felt perfectly balanced in my hand, unlike these Irwin ones, and the construction was just perfect. I now understand the cost associated with these tools. The backs were dead flat, polished to 400 grit, not super shiny, but I don't understand yet why someone would want to see themselves in the back of their chisel (or plane iron), perhaps in due time. Back to the point, I am totally sold, unfortunately I do not have that kind of spare coin, but Christmas is coming and perhaps I'll find out how caring my family really is . I do believe there is a place for vintage tools and "value" priced tools, but I honestly just want to get down to working wood, and spending umpteen hours getting a tool to work is not at the top of my list. By the time I take into account what my time is worth and the investment in materials and the tool itself, I would much rather have a tool that's ready to go and allows me to work that wood. That's what were all here for anyway, isn't it?

Happy wood slicing!

[Trevor Walsh]

So am I. I just have this one, which I bought recently specifically to use for dovetailing (learning how, that is). Working in 3/4" pine, I had decided to make the pins 3/8", so I bought a 3/8" chisel to pare the endgrain in one pass.

On a side note Andrae, if you are having frustrations with the pine for dovetails switch to poplar for the first few, it's way cleaner cutting than the pine endgrain.