Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
chisel bevel angles
Jonathan Peck - N.Y.
>I have two sets of bench chisels that I use. Both are made by Sorby. One set has double hoops and I have the sharpening bevel angle at 30 degrees for hardwood.
The other set is not meant for pounding. I keep them sharpened at a compromise of 25 degrees. This works ok for both hard and sofwoods and paring. I'm thinking of changing the bevel to 20 degrees for dedicated softwood use and paring.
What do y'all do?
Re: chisel bevel angles
joel
>20 degrees with a microbevel is pretty standard for paring and certainly works better than the higher angle. 20 degrees without a micro bevel should also work very nicely but you may have problems with the edge bending. I would say see what happens and if there's a problem just add a microbevel.
Re: chisel bevel angles
Jonathan Peck - N.Y.
>Hi Joel,
These are not paring chisels (Sorby gilt edge chisels), they can be struck with a mallet and I use them for both light chopping and paring.
If I use them for chopping in soft woods only, and paring in both hard and soft woods, would 20 degrees work better?
Re: chisel bevel angles
joel
>I understand that they aren't true paring chisels but you did say you plan to use them for paring - so I think 20 degrees or so will be ok -if you do mallet them - especially in harder woods I don't think the edge will hold up.
Re: chisel bevel angles
Jonathan Peck - N.Y.
>Ok, I'm thinking that I should probably just leave them at 25 degrees and get a paring chisel, probably 3/4" or 1". The thing is, I just tend to use what I've got in my hand for trimming/paring.
I have a nice old Witherby 1" paring chisel that I wanted get into service. I forget what they call it, but the handle is bent upwards. After getting it cleaned, there was more pitting than I thought and I got a little too agressive on the drywall screen and dubbed over the sides a bit. In any case, I don't think that it will be much of a paring chisel, but it is very handily dulled and good for scraping rust off oldtools.
New question
Jonathan Peck - N.Y.
>Do any of you have prefered bevel angles? If so, what charecteristics are there about them that you like. I would also like to hear any observations from the Non-bevel measuring 1/2 the thickness of the blade camp
Thanks again
Re: New question
Jim in Burlington Ontario
>On my hirsh I shoot for a 25 degree angle the other 2 sets I just eye it up when grinding them on a disc sander or grinder to 30-35. The hirsch see right thru the 8000 and the stanley's see the 4000 stone and marples blue chip get a belt sanded to 1200 and honed with compound for house reno work mostly.
Re: chisel bevel angles
Jay Samuels
>John: Go with Joel's advice. If you are really interested in paring, as opposed to some hybrid use, the difference between 20 degrees and 25 degrees is dramatic. I have my 20 degree paring chisels ground to a 25 degree skew, so I have rights and lefts. You can never have too many chisels. Jay