Chisel sharpening questions
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Tagged: chisel, sharpening, sqy
- This topic has 8 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 6 years, 2 months ago by
Matthew Salisbury.
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12 May 2018 at 3:00 am #544486
So tonight I was sharpening a couple chisels, free hand Paul Sellers style and I noticed the ends are not as square as they could be, which led me to wondering for a chisel, how important is having a square edge?
12 May 2018 at 3:33 am #544511Id say absolutely critical. Get it back to square, and take note of your movements and body posture. Just knowing you have a tendency to sharpen towards( favor ) that angle tells you to be conscious of it in the future. check your self every now and then on the coarse grit stone and adjust accordingly.
And I’d say the opposite…
So long as it’s roughly square you’ll be able to use it just fine for most things.
The situation where squareness is most helpful is when cutting a mortise, but so long as it’s not too far out you can get away with it so long as your first cuts into the wood are on the gentle side, until you’ve established the opening.
Having said all that squarer is better, and it shouldn’t be difficult to maintain square on larger chisels.
Good luck,
Regards,
MattI can’t remember which video or blog post I read it in but I believe Paul has said it is not “critical” though we all certainly strive for perfectly square… Probably more critical that the back has been properly flattened. I personally find it nearly impossible to sharpen anything under 1/4″ perfectly square (and I know of no honing guides that can accommodate a blade so narrow). And if you’re using a mortise guide it probably shouldn’t be an issue because the guide should help you overcome any challenges that arise from not having a perfectly square edge. But as Matt said above, it should be easier to attain square edges on your larger chisels.
Depending on what you’re using them for, a non-square edge would essentially skew the presentation of the chisel edge which may actually be beneficial in some exercises if you are approaching grain head on.
12 May 2018 at 4:13 pm #544931These were 3/4 inch chisels that I was using to cut mortises with. They’re definitely sharp and the backs are flat, but edges aren’t square. I haven’t checked them against a square to see how far out they are but it’s noticeable, most likely because one of them had been sharpened by someone else previously that had obviously used some sort of honing guide and put a micro-bevel on it. I previously owned a Veritas honing guide but sold it as I seemed to get better results freehand and didn’t have to take the time to set it up.
Anything I should look for with my work to tell whether or not the non-square edge is affecting anything?
If you’re cutting mortises and they aren’t fitting or you are getting joints noticeably out of square despite your measurements (presumably) being precise, you may attribute some margin of error to the chisels being out of square. But as long as you are chopping thoughtfully and maintaining the tool perpendicular (edge slightly less) to your work, I’d think you should be OK. Hardwoods may be a bit less forgiving if out of square.
The only way to really find out is to do some practice joints. But as I said, for paring work, I don’t surmise it will matter at all as long as you are have marked the line/knifed a line that you are paring to.
12 May 2018 at 6:39 pm #545035you can definitely use an out of square chisel, heck you might even want to purposely grid a skew to get into tight areas. I noticed; when sharpening i had a similar condition a while back, now because i am conscious of my tendencies it doesn’t happen as much.
19 May 2018 at 6:33 am #547956I’m very anal when sharpening chisels. It drives me nuts when they look out of square. I have put them up to my square to see if the edge is parallel many times and have spent a lot of time trying to get it perfect.
I think that if it becomes a skew chisel then you might have a problem, unless you want a skew chisel. I have this problem with narrow chisels mostly, they are the most difficult ones to sharpen.
So what is your application? If your chopping some delicate dovetails and yor chisel is out of square one part of the knife wall will be deeper on one side than the other. By what amount, depends on the width of the chisel right? How abought a mortise, what’s the difference in the bottom of a mortise? It’s certainly not going to be a huge amount and you won’t see it anyway. My mortise bottoms are pretty choppy anyway, if I wanted it perfect I’d use a (gasp) electric router with a carbide router bit.
So the last thing I can think of is a stopped groove or dado where you need a square corner and your chisel can’t clear out the “fuzzy bits”.
So then you need to go and square up that tool so it will work for you.
In other words don’t obsess about it too much until it becomes a problem for you, get on with your project! After some practice you will make your chisels do what you want.27 May 2018 at 12:22 pm #548213I made this from scrap and haven’t seen anything like it before. The ramp is at thirty degrees to the horizontal and it works by gently pushing the tool into the business side of the stone and moving the stone back and forth while the tool is stationary. The sides protrude 1/8″ above the ramp and register the tool at ninety degrees to the platform. It works fine and cost nothing.
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