Do I need new chisels or just a different angle?

Re: Do I need new chisels or just a different angl

Lyn J. Mangiameli

>Well, a lot could be said about just how adequate those Marples are for the task you are putting them too, but for now, lets see how you can make the most of what you've got for the task before you.

The 25 degree bevel angle is too low for what you are asking from your chisels. I'd suggest you go to at least a 30 degree primary bevel and go another 5 degrees on a micro-bevel (i.e. for a total bevel angle of 35 degrees). You can try just going with a 10 degree micro bevel on your existing 25 degree one, but I doubt it will give you sufficent butressing behind the edge for your present steel and task. Still, you might want to try it to avoid major work in changing the bevel back later (assuming you will want to return to 25 degrees for typical chisel tasks).

Anyway, try these angle changes and see if that will be enough to get you through the job.

Re: Do I need new chisels or just a different angl

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Marples aren't great chisels. There's lots of different opinions about which are the best, but Ashley Iles, Two Cherries, and Hirsch are commonly mentioned here. Or watch for used at garage sales: Buck, Witherby, Pexto (see below), and other names are respected.

I own a set of ash-handled Marples chisels, purchased back when a set cost $25 on sale, and I have the same problem with them even on milder woods. I keep them because I keep thinking I'll figure out what they're useful for. On the other hand, I picked up some Pexto (Peck and Stowe) chisels, one of the older names, and I go for six months sometimes (occasional use) between sharpenings.

Re: Do I need new chisels or just a different angl

Steve Kubien

>Hi Randall,

I am familiar with this problem and Marples Blue Chips. The advice I was given was to put a steeper primary bevel (around 30 degrees) and then a slight micro-bevel. Edge retention improved greatly with this but I can't pare softwood worth a darn with 'em. I'm slowly upgrading to Hirsch (from Lee Valley) and will fill some holes in their sizes with Two Cherries (from Joel at toolsforworkingwood.com)

No Affiliation blah, blah...just nice people to deal with in each case.

I hope this helps,

Steve Kubien

P.S. The Hirsch chisels have been great to me so far with thier factory 25 degrees and a slight micro-bevel in all woods. I'm really happy with them

Re: Do I need new chisels or just a different angl

Alan Hamilton

>Randy,

I wonder about your micro-bevels. An 8000 stone is awfully fine, it removes very little steel in a given amount of time. I have an 8000, but I rarely use it; I usually give up after my 6000 stone and go straight to the strop.

What I'm going around and around about is that I wonder if you have put enough of a micro-bevel on your chisels. Before I would do any radical alterations to the primary bevels, I would put on micro-bevels much more carefully to see if that makes any difference.

I'd set up a sharpening jig to ensure I put on a five degree micro-bevel; and I would stone it until I could actually see the micro-bevel on the edge.

It might not work. Perhaps it is unlikely it will work. But the amount of time and effort involved in trying it would be small, and it could save a great deal of time and effort.

Alan

Re: Do I need new chisels or just a different angl

Ron Smith

>I have been researching (and finally bought) the Marples/Irwin BlueChips. Seems a lot of comments about them being very soft. I found one seemingly authoritative test that showed a hardness of R61 . . . . harder than most of the name brands tested. In looking at the individually packages Marples I noticed their sharpening instructions called for honing a secondary bevel . . .I cannot recall, but I believe and additional five-degrees. I bought the 6 piece set, and there were no grinding instructions included. I honed mine with a secondary bevel with a width of about 1/32 of an inch. I simply raised the handle about 2 inches to get a very approximate secondary bevel. I whacked away at some Oak and Cherry with the widest chisel and there was no evidence of chipping or edge folding so often reported by other users. Upon my initial inspection of these chisels I saw NO evidence of a hardness test being conducted. Later, as I polished, I discovered the small pit-and-dimple of the diamond striker, Unmistakable evidence of the hardness test. I haven't used these much, but preliminarily I think they will be fine for my uses. And at 55 bucks for a set of six chiesels, well you cannot go far wrong.

Re: Do I need new chisels or just a different angl

deanj

>FWIW --

I too have the Marples -- And I can say they aren't bad tools by any means. They sharpen well, but after working with them on cherry I can say that they do not hold an edge very long. (25ish degree main bevel, 35 degree honing angle) Now mind you, what I define as sharp and what others may define is different. I bought two extra 1/4" Marples to grind them skew for cleaning out blind dovetails. They last one socket before I need to touch them up. As I said, they sharpen quickly, so in a minute or two I'm back to work.

As for paring, I just don't like them, they work really well for the first few pushes, then you can see the edge crumble. So I stick to my japanese chisels for more demanding work.

Just my observations while working.

Years ago,

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>when FWW did a chisel test, their criticism of the Marples chisels was that the grain of the steel was very coarse and there were a lot of inclusions (chunky carbide crystals and similar "dirt"). This would explain the fragile edges experienced in that test and, it seems, ever since.

Sadly, the Sorby chisels were, at the time, among the best, a plateau from which it seems they have fallen with a crash.