Sharp chisels!

[Jeff Bartley]

Sharp chisels yes! But not at the end, on the sides.

I'm just wondering how many here have been cut up by the edges of their chisels?

And does anyone purposely dull the side edges to prevent this?

Jeff (with a slice on his index finger!)

[Derek Cohen]

"Minimal" lands help to avoid bruising the edges of dovetails, but to this end it is the small chisels that are important (1/8" through 1/4"). Side bevels are a good way of reducing blade mass, and this can improve balance and feedback. Still, a chisel is just a tool. And if it is not working for you, then modify it so that it does. Overly sharp lands certainly can cut, and this degree of angle is not necessary, even for dovetails. For example, in my review of the Veritas chisels I recommended reducing the sharp edges from about 1" behind the bevel face. (I use a worn 600 grit diamond stone).






Regards from Perth

Derek

[Al Weber]

Yes, both my inexpensive paring chisels and the LN's I have required some edge modification with a fine diamond stone to remove the sharp edges. Painful little nicks.

[Steve Voigt]

Hey Jeff,

If I'm using a chisel for mortising, I like the sides (on the back) to be that sharp. I occasionally cut myself if I'm not careful. I want the sides to be that sharp so they will cut when I lever the chisel forward. For an ordinary bench chisel, no. Yes, you can dull those edges, but I would do the minimum necessary, just a few strokes across a fine stone. Otherwise the corners won't cut.

[Derek Cohen]

I fully agree with you about mortice chisels, Steve. What a difference when the lands are truly sharp! It is one of the aspects that many may miss if they are using worn vintage chisels. I restore this area back in. Still, I do not think that Jeff was referring to mortice-, but rather to bench chisels.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

Many years ago I cut my finger on the SQUARE EDGE at the top of the blade of a dress sword! It must have been polished by a real master. (I was in the 4th. grade,and my hands were not yet toughened.) There was no rounding off of the 90 degree corner at all!!

Even a square edge can be sharp if it is not rounded over a little bit as they are most of the time.

Then,there are paper cuts!

And,some large grasses can cut you too!

[Jeff Bartley]

Thanks for the input! I usually don't even notice the cuts till I see blood on the work! They sure are a lot like paper cuts.....only hurt after the fact.

Steve, I thought about mortise chisels when pondering this earlier, the culprits here are those Japanese chisels that I recently aquired, which are incidently still not holding an edge! But that's an entirely different topic!

Back to work for me......

[Luke Dupont]

When I first lapped and sharpened my Narex chisels, which had some rough grind marks on them, I created sharp 90 degree corners. Well, actually - it may be that I created tiny serrations. More on that below. I went to paring with them, and after about 30 minutes I noticed all kinds of cuts on my left index finger where I'd been holding the blade.

In my case, I created tiny serrations because I did not lap the full length of the back all the way down past the original grind marks. This created a serrated edge, basically. So, I went back, removed all of the grind marks from the back, and took one pass on the stone to take off the corners.

Stop just before you get to the edge of the chisel when taking the corners off, though - you want the corners of the edge to be sharp.

[steven c newman]

And...wear a Kevlar glove on your "guide hand".....

[Luke Dupont]

And...wear a Kevlar glove on your "guide hand".....

lol.

Well, I realize that's a joke, but! Can't kevlar be cut with an edge fairly easily? Well, maybe not "cut" easily, but I recall hearing that, while it protects against projectiles, it won't actually stop a knife from penetrating.
I'd imagine it's much harder to cut into than to thrust into, granted.

On an, only slightly more relevant and serious side of things, though, I would contest the approach that I often see people taking of just "adding more protection" if there's a danger of getting hurt. The better route, is almost always, to change one's practice and retain (or cultivate) the sensitivity and awareness that working without added protection (which, incidentally, dulls one's senses and tends to give one false confidence) entails. If you're just relying on protective gear for safety, then you're just delaying an even more serious injury than if you learned to be more correct in your form, and more cautious and aware of how you handle your tools.

The above is a phenomenon/misconception that I also see surrounding the modern practice of Martial Arts, too. Rather than learning control and safe habits, people think they just need to gear up more. Meh.

Anyway, I know - none of that is what you were suggesting in earnest, but, I think it's always a good point to bring up in any discussion of safety.

[steven c newman]

Not a joke! We were issued such gloves when I worked at an injection moding factory. kevlar will indeed stop cuts. A Needle will go right through it. Knife cuts? not really. The plant was getting tired of all the cut hands and fingers needing stitches, so they issued the gloves.

They since went to a "Safety" style of utility knife. Still getting cuts, just not in the gloved hands. They also issued the new "Mechanics" style gloves to be worn when using any tools.....they were worthless around anything sharp....


Me? I just round the sharp edges off a bit. More concerned about that sharp edge hopping out and stinging me
IMAG0248.jpg
As they do tend to "smart" a bit.....wasn't any force behind that chisel, other than it's own weight.

[Mike Cherry]

On the topic of mortise chisels, are you guys actually honing the lands on your mortise chisels every once and a while? Or is it just something that you dont bevel on purpose? I can certainly see where a sharp corner on mortise chisels could help when levering a mortise.

[Patrick Chase]

Sharp chisels yes! But not at the end, on the sides.

I'm just wondering how many here have been cut up by the edges of their chisels?

And does anyone purposely dull the side edges to prevent this?

Jeff (with a slice on his index finger!)

Yes, I've been cut, once.

Yes, I dulled the side edges after that, though starting ~1" behind the cutting edge (same as Derek).

[Patrick Chase]

lol.

Well, I realize that's a joke, but! Can't kevlar be cut with an edge fairly easily? Well, maybe not "cut" easily, but I recall hearing that, while it protects against projectiles, it won't actually stop a knife from penetrating.
I'd imagine it's much harder to cut into than to thrust into, granted.

Not a joke. Aramid fibers can be cut, but not easily. The more common failure mode is for a very narrow point to penetrate between fibers.

These work pretty well: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...=1,42207,45887

And these are almost bombproof: http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...=1,42207,45887

[Don Jarvie]

Cloth medical tape is your friend. Wrap your thumb or finger a bit and the problem is solved.