How Do you sharpen A CHISEL

salzo

Can anyone give me some pointers on sharpening a chisel? I cant get the darn things sharp, and I wind up buying new ones whenever I need something chiseled.

"The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal governmentare few and defined, and will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace negotiation, and foreign commerce"
-James Madison

E.Williams

You can use a bench grinder,dremel tool,steel file,or a whit rock or oil stone.Just make sure you get the angle right so the tip wont break or wear to quickly.

Eric S. Williams

pigeoncreek1

I do mine on a bench grinder...

Gun control is hitting your target

4GodandCountry

Best to used a wet stone and oil. Take your time and keep the angle true and you'll end up with the best results. As far as using a grinding wheel goes, it really depends on the grit coursness of the wheel.

When Clinton left office they gave him a 21 gun salute. Its a damn shame they all missed....

Tailgunner1954

For normal sharpining match the major angle (about 30^), than raise the handle slightly for 2-3 strokes to create the miner angle (about 35^). Push it along the stone only. Never sharpen on the backside, if you have a ding or burr there than hold it flat on the sharpening stone.
For minor touch up (feels sharp but isn't cutting like new) give it a couple 3 strokes at the miner angle.
I prefer a medimum hard (smooth) Arkansas natural stone, but somthing courser might be needed to bring the major angle back faster.
NEVER take a chisel anywhere near a power grinder or sander.

---

Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.

super chicken

Take them down to your local auto engine rebuild shop or machine shop and have them put them in the valve grinder so they can set the angle EXACTLY like it should be and grind it with their fine stones with coolant.

cbxjeff

I prefer to use a vertical belt sander with a coarse belt. As others have said, have some water handy to cool it down and be darn sure you have that safely gard adjusted on the grinder/sander or you could lose a few teeth!

cbxjeffIt's too late for me, save yourself.

kgnovum

Lots of good advice already given! If you use a grinder the heat can affect the temper of the steel as mentioned above and ALSO many chisels have the cutting areas "hardened" (Case, flame, etc). If you grind through this you will be back into softer steel and then it's time to get a new one as the soft steel will not hold the edge you need. Use the stone for sharpening if possible. KG

Wild Turkey

I use the "scary sharp" approach.

Get a piece of heavy glass (or other really flat surface) and stick some silicon carbide (wet or dry) sandpaper to it. (some use water, others use spray adhesive) I get assorted packs at the local 'mart in the automotive area.

Start by polishing/flatening back. Lay chisel flat on paper, apply light to moderate pressure and polish. Change to finer grit as surface gets polished uniformly.

Then polish the bevel. Put the chisel on the top of the paper, rock gently to feel correct bevel, the pull towards you. Look at chisel, study scratch pattern. Repeat until entire bevel is uniform, then switch to finer grit.

Doesn't take long, and man, if you take it to 600 grit (some go to 2000!) you'll be amazed at how slick they work.

Works for knives, too.

Do a net search for "Scary Sharp" and you should find more reading on it.

When

Wild Turkey"if your only tool is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail"

Iconoclast

salzo, I have a Norton "Professional" sharpening setup with three stones arranged (looking at it from an end) in an equilateral triangle around a central axle. This is secured in a heavy plastic assembly which serves as an oil reservoir. Rotating the handle brings up whichever stone one wants and runs it through the oil in the process. On a chisel, you have to watch two angles - keeping it perpendicular to the shank as well as the angle of the cutting edge. Sharpening on a flat stone pretty well takes care of the first if you don't put excessive pressure on one side or the other. Doing it on a grinder runs the risk of not only wrecking the temper, but putting something other than a straight edge perpendicular to the shaft on the cutting edge. This set-up was pretty expensive ($135 ten years ago on a special deal) but it does quick, accurate work on any cutting edge if the user does his part.

I played with every system I could find for 20+ years before I found this. I've been happy as heck with it. But I will investigate the Scary Sharp thing. Just because I found a great mouse trap doesn't mean there's not a better one out there!

I neglected to mention that I replaced the factory-installed "coarse" stone with an Arkansas Hard. Never seen anything I'd put on a coarse stone. That's what files are for. I do not use bench grinders, ever, for sharpening. I do have two wonderful huge round antique stones with a bicycle-style mount which work great for things like axes, etc. Think of a bench grinder stone on steroids at 10x magnification.

Edited by - Iconoclast on 07/26/2002 09:23:07

v35

Use a bench grinder with a fine grit wheel and a light touch for metal cutting cold chisels, dipping every second or so in water.
For wood cutting hand chisels, use about a 2"x8" hard Arkansas stone with oil and strop on leather until the feather edge is gone.

interstatepawnllc

Put it through college. L.O.L.

96harley

With your teeth

timberbeast

For wood chisels, if you need a bench grinder, that means it's been abused. It's only for cutting wood. Get a plain old fashioned two-side sharpening stone. No factory chisel is sharp. First, faltten and polish the back (flat) side, This also applies to sharpening plane irons. Without the back being flat, it can never be trult sharp. Use 3-in 1 oil as a lubricant. Then polish the bevel. After all the tool marks are out, make a secondary bevel about 5 degrees more than the factory bevel. When you have a slight "wire edge" hanging over the flat side, remove it with only a few strokes on the fine side of the stone. Then rub it back and forth on your jeans a few times. If you do this, I guarantee it will be sharp enough to shave with. It works for me, and I can cut the scrap from hand-cut dovetail joints all day long without even a minor "bruise" in white Cedar. The main secret is to touch it up everytime you use it. If you treat a chisel or a plane well, it will reward you many times over, and you'll never have to use a bench grinder. Also, never strike a chisel handle with anything but a wooden mallet.

Wittum

Very carefully

pickenup

Wood chisel + dry grinder = trash.

If I knew then, what I know now.