Woodworking
Setting up a new bench chisel
Chisels arrive ground, not sharpened. Nothing about a factory edge is intended to be used as supplied.
The back matters more than the bevel
A chisel cuts where the flat back meets the bevel. If the back is not flat, that meeting line is not straight and no amount of work on the bevel will fix it.
You do not need to flatten the whole back. Only the first 20 to 30 mm behind the edge. Work it on a coarse stone until the scratch pattern is uniform right up to the edge, then follow the same ladder you would use on the bevel.
How long it should take
About twenty minutes per chisel on a decent stone, once. Some will take five minutes; a badly ground one might take an hour. It is a one-time cost. You never flatten a back again.
Primary and secondary bevels
Most bench chisels are ground at 25°, which suits general paring and light chopping. Adding a small secondary bevel at 30° gives a more durable edge and. More usefully. Means each resharpening only touches a sliver of steel rather than the whole bevel face.
For mortising, knotty stock or anything approaching abuse, go straight to 30°. For paring softwood, 20–25° cuts more sweetly and dulls faster.
Steel choice changes the maintenance
Chrome-manganese takes an edge quickly and loses it quickly. It is forgiving, cheap to maintain, and ideal while you are still learning to sharpen.
High-carbon at 60–61 HRC holds an edge considerably longer and polishes keener, but it rusts readily and is less tolerant of a mis-hit. Oil the blade before it goes in the drawer.
Storage
Chisels should not touch each other. A chisel rattling against another chisel in a drawer is the most common way a freshly honed edge gets chipped before it ever reaches the work. A canvas roll with individual pockets solves it for the price of one chisel.
How we write these. Guides are written by the people who pick and specify these tools. We sell the products mentioned, and we say so, but where the honest answer is that a cheaper tool does the job, that is what the guide says. If you think something here is wrong, tell us at support@exelprod.com and we will correct it and note the change.
