Frequency of sharpening chisels
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19 December 2013 at 8:18 am #24131
I have a set of Stanley FatMax chisels as they were all I could afford at the time. However, it seems that I can just about chisel out a mortise before I have to resharpen. If I use Oak, then I might not complete the mortise.
Obviously, I’m losing my edge but I don’t see Paul sharpening that often in the videos. The chisels are sharpened with a 25 degrees.
I’m thinking of going to 30 degrees but was wondering whether it’s more to do with the quality of the tool/steel. So I have 2 questions:
1) What is the ideal angle to sharpen your chisels too for chopping and paring?
2) What would you recommend for a quality set of chisels?19 December 2013 at 8:56 am #24133For mortise chopping 25-degrees is to too shallow and especially is this so in woods like pine or spruce. The better angle, and this is where the only advantage to a secondary bevel is, is a 35-degree angle. Don’t sweat the angles either, just lift up the chisel on the stone or plate and rub three or four times. This really strengthens the cutting edge. The only time you really need low angles like 25-degrees is for hand paring with chisels dedicated to paring practices.
The steel on your Fatmax Stanley’s is likely to be fine. I am sure it will be your angle. Please et me know if this is right and it works out for you. I just chopped 40 mortises with one sharpening on the cheapest UK chisels available and it’s still going strong.
The other thing; I only sharpen to 250-grit for chopping practices. So the chisel isn’t necessarily surgically sharp and it chops just fine. Try it. Yes there is a difference for hand pressure, end grain paring and such but for chopping mortises it is unnecessary unless you you just like it that way.19 December 2013 at 8:59 am #24134As a PS from PS, soft woods have alternating hard and soft aspects to the growth rings and it’s this that causes edge fracture to the chisel edge. Most hardwoods have consistent hardness throughout the growth rings and so no problem.
20 December 2013 at 7:38 am #24237Thanks Paul. I’ll give it a try over the Christmas period. Merry Christmas everyone!
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