Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Bevel Angle for Japanese Chisels
Mark Schroeder (Norfolk, VA)
>I recently purchased some Japanese, laminated steel chisels (bench chisels and paring chisels). As supplied, the bevel on all of them is fairly blunt, on the order of 40 degrees or more.
I intend on using them on domestic hardwoods and was wondering if they would work well at a sharper angle. For those of you who use chisels like these, what angle do you sharpen them at and how do they hold an edge at that angle?
Re: Bevel Angle for Japanese Chisels
Wiley Horne--Glendora CA
>Hi Mark,
I just checked a few. On the bench type chisels, some brand new Tasai dovetails all checked between 30 and 35 degrees, say 32 to 33 degrees. I like to keep the bench chisels in that range. For paring slicks, I checked Tasai, Funahiro, and Imai, and they all checked at between 25 and 30 degrees, say 27 to 28. Again, I think that's a good place for em to be.
None of those chisels will chip at those bevel angles in ordinary semi-abuse on domestic hardwoods--you don't have to baby em, but they're allergic to being dropped.
I don't see a thing wrong with just going ahead and using your chisels. And as they need sharpening, drop them a couple of degrees at a time, and just stop when they suit you and the way you work. I think at the outside, the very most I would do would be to grind back one of the chisels, using 100grit sandpaper on glass (cause that's lots of metal to remove), hone, and then test against those still at 40 degrees, and decide whether a big grinding project makes sense.
But I'd be inclined to just relax and take it easy and lower them gradually over time as you sharpen. You didn't mention where they came from: it could be that the maker set em at 40 degrees for a reason. What a concept!
Wiley
Re: Bevel Angle for Japanese Chisels
Mark Schroeder (Norfolk, VA)
>Wiley-
All of these chisels are made by Nishiki. Thanks for the info.
Mark
Re: Bevel Angle for Japanese Chisels
Wiley Horne--Glendora CA
>Mark,
Great chisels!! By all means, check with Joel and use his as the 'first opinion'.
Enjoy your great tools! Wiley