Sharpening wood chisels - any tips please?

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by diymostthings, Mar 23, 2015.

  1. diymostthings

    diymostthings Well-Known Member

    Hi - I have a set of three wood chisels (bought from homebase about 12 years ago). I use them fairly infrequently and then mainly on soft wood. I have just fittted a new hardwood door at home and chiselling the hinge recesses proved very hard going as I suspect they are getting blunt.

    I had two questions:

    1. Is there some kind of test to decide whether they are blunt (I know this sounds daft but I can't tell just by looking).

    2. Is it possible to grind them sharp again as a DIY project - I do possess an electric grindstone and an oilstone - or should I ask an expert to do it for me? Any tips would be very welcome.

    Thank you

    diymostthings
     
  2. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Treat yourself to a honing guide, will make sure you get the correct angle, bevel edge 25 degree & firmer at 30 degree.
    Just use the oil stone with some light oil, bench grinder will kill a chisel, gets too hot, loses temper.
    Plenty of good guides for chisel sharpening on Youtube.




    http://www.screwfix.com/p/forge-steel-honing-guide/1675c
     
  3. Dont use a bench grinder to sharpen chisels itll ruin them use a honing jig and a sharpening stone watch videos on youtube to learn how to sharpen them, to tell if its sharp gently drag your thumb across (NOT DOWN YOULL CUT YOURSELF) the blade do it with a new stanley knife blade first thatll teach you what sharp feels like hope this helps
     
  4. diymostthings

    diymostthings Well-Known Member

    Thanks for that KIAB. Excellent advice and I see the SFD honing guide is inexpensive. I will definitely get one! I certainly won't use my grinder!
     
  5. diymostthings

    diymostthings Well-Known Member

    Thanks for that advice. Excellent. I won't use a grinder and will invest in a honing jig. Thanks for the tip on checking sharpness and the safety warning. I will try this very carefully! Thinking back I remember my dad sharpening his chisels with some kind of guide but i think he only had one side to his oil stone. The other side was stuck in a wooden case. Many thanks to you and KIAB.
     
  6. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    I bet you could take the oilstone out of the case and turn it over. Most oilstones had two grades (at least my India Oilstone did) A rough grade and a smooth grade (on opposite sides no less) .
    Contrary to popular belief, you can re-grind the grinding angle on a chisel using a bench grinder, but you have to grind it very lightly and keep dipping the chisel tip in cold water every minute or so to cool it down. The sharpening angle is usually done on an oilstone, although I use my diamond sharpener these days. ;);)
     
    seen it all before likes this.
  7. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Same here, seldom use a oilstone now, I have a Faithfull 4 sided diamond sharpening stone, has extra coarse 200 grit through to fine 600grit, also have a Japanese water stone which is 1000 & 3000 grit, wonderful for plane blades.
     
  8. Love those diamond sharpeners for a quick sharpen up on the job :)
     
  9. dwlondon

    dwlondon Active Member

    In the workshop you can get up to all sorts of 'correct' ways of doing it, and quite often an area is dedicated solely to sharpening.

    Out on the job keeping a chisel reasonably sharp can be achieved by a flat surface and fine grade abrasive.

    I have a set of irwin chisels which i only use in the workshop just for clean timber, and keep their original edge with a water stone. the other set i use on the job, where i need to cut out existing woodwork, so will come across nails and screws. These have to be ground down after such use. So that set of chisels has an ever decreasing lifespan, but its the cost of doing the job.
     
  10. diymostthings

    diymostthings Well-Known Member

    Thanks for your comments dwlondon. Well as a DIYer I don't have acccess to a comprehensive workshop as such - just a work area in the utility room, a bench and a metal cupboard! Like you however, I have got an old chisel which I abuse terribly mainly for scraping surfaces of old paint etc. With the advice I've got I might try to sharpen it and keep it as a "front line" tool. I think its a good make - Marley? belonged to my dad.

    Kind regards

    diymostthings
     
  11. joinerjohn1

    joinerjohn1 Screwfix Select

    I have some old chisels,bought at car boot sales for a few quid each, which keep a sharp edge for ages. I think the grade of steel was far superior years ago. One, a 1, 1/4" bevel edge only had about an inch and a half of useful blade left when I bought it and with successive grindings to maintain the grinding angle, now has just over an inch left. I've had that one about ten years (never use it on timber that has nails in) ;);)
     
  12. KIAB

    KIAB Super Member

    Very true, far superior steel,I have some firmer & bevel edge chisels by James Mowartn & J. Woodcock dating from the 1900's, & they hold an edge & sharpness for ages,which puts a modern chisel to shame.
    Picked up a Sash mortice chisel by C.F Kemp, the other month,takes a lovely edge, & so robust, must be a 100 years old, beautifully made, shame to use it.
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2015
  13. retiredsparks

    retiredsparks Super Member

    People get very anal about 'How To' sharpen blades.
    If you want to be able to cut a tomato with a blade and not even hold the tomato...there is a sharpening method.
    For chisel and plane blades...the fast and failsafe method is as Dwlondon says.
    VERY flat surface like small polished granite slab. 400 and 800/1000/2000 grit paper stuck to stone.
    Polish the back of blades to from 400 to 800/1000/2000....polish cutting edges to 800/1000/2000.
    Honing tool is easier to use too.
    I will find the you tube vid and post it here.
    RS
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2015
  14. retiredsparks

    retiredsparks Super Member

    This is one.
    Guy is great to listen to.
    Very practical.

    RS
     
  15. dwlondon

    dwlondon Active Member

    back in the bronze age, chisels could only last a few blows and a chiseller had a chisellers mate who constantly kept the bronze chisels sharp. he must have rubbed those on stone to get an edge.
     
  16. dwlondon

    dwlondon Active Member

    Also, cabinet scrapers are 'sharpened' by burnishing. which involves using a harder steel than the scraper and basically squeezing the steel to one side, forming an edge. which is angled enough to provide for scraping.
     
  17. mof

    mof Member

    What a load of fancy waffle, would not like to have this bloke working with/for me, glass plates, polishing bevels etc, get the bl**dy job done.
     
  18. Ryluer

    Ryluer Well-Known Member

    Why would an established master crafts man want to work for someone who saws mdf?
    Paul Sellers clients are worldwide including prestigious examples of his work in the Whitehouse USA.

    He runs this...
    https://woodworkingschool.com/
    Mebbe you should join and learn about real woodworking. Its never too late.
     
    Last edited: Apr 7, 2015
    retiredsparks and Welshdragon1 like this.
  19. mof

    mof Member

    I am afraid it is too late, I am retired now, started working in the trade in 1957,sharpened loads of chisels in my time, we used to compete against each other in college to see who could get the sharpest chisel/ plane blade so it would shave the hairs off our arms.
     
    malkie129 likes this.
  20. diymostthings

    diymostthings Well-Known Member

    I had no idea this thread would still be runnning so haven't checked recently. Just had an email to tell me of more activity. Thanks for all the replies - I discovered that the oilstone ((whetstone?) I had WAS reversible with quite a coarse stone on the reverse. I tried sharpening an old chisel, first with the coarse side then the fine. It certainly sharpened it but the edge was not square when i finished - I need to get that jig gadget for my main chisels.

    I like the idea of the tomato cutting test though!

    Thanks again one and all.

    diymostthings
     

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