Question for old chisel experts

Shallow bevel 

Don in Northern Arizona ex-Kenmore, NY resident

>

Yes Don, 15� to 20� bevel on paring chisel

Andrew F in Australia

>Hi Don,

As paring chisels are designed to do exactly that (pare/slice) they have a shallow grind, much lower than a standard bench chisel.

Cheers,

Andrew

Re: Question for old chisel experts

Doug Reynolds in Seattle

>Does it make any difference if the wood is hardwood because I find the shallow angle to be very fragile with cherry and pecan/hickory? Should I sharpen at a steeper angle? I'm using a vintage Sorby.

I'm old and I have a chisel...

Neal in San Jose

>But maybe not an expert. The basic rule for edges is if it is too fragile, steepen the angle until it holds up. If 15 degrees works, then it is right. It isn't unusual to have chisels, even in the same set, sharpened to different angles. Maybe a steep one for hardwoods and a shallower one for softwoods. I know craftsmen with two complete sets; one for hardwoods and one for soft. I have two sets of augers; one with a steep pitch for softwoods and one with a shallow pitch for hard. Same idea.

Nice Shot!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond, CA

>That's a great pic Don. Yes, paring chisels have shallow angles 15 deg seems to fragle for me. I like 20 deg bevels on these kind of chisels.

Re: Question for old chisel experts

Robin Corell in Atascadero, CA

>Most of the paring chisels I have are in the mid 20's for bevel angele. it is a very functional grind, but keep in mind it will not hold up to abuse. it will stand up to a mallet, by abuse I mean that it will not tolerate being used to pry chips lose. When using a paring chisel you should always seperate the chip by a clean cut, or by backing the blade out and paring down from another angle to seperate the chip with a cut, never try to break the chip loose by prying it with the chisel

As far as I can tell your chisel looks to have an angle in the mid 20's. The blade on that chisel should be about 3/16" thick near the tip and for it to have an angle of 15 degrees the bevel would extend back 3/4", which it dosen't seem to be from the pic. an angle of 30 will extend back about 3/8".

Those handles will hold up just fine to a wooden mallet, and for that matter so will an angle of about 25. The gouge I use most often is an Addis #5 and it has an angle in the mid/low 20's, and I always use a round wood mallet on the non hooped wood handle. other than when I hit a knot I have not had any problems with the edge being too fragile.

Nice looking chisels.

Robin Corell