On 10/9/2010 4:11 AM, David Boyce wrote: > Speak to me of chisels, folks. > > What makes them able to take a good edge or not? Hardness, angle, and sharpening method. Straight razors are made of very hard fine grained steel, hollow ground to a very shallow angle. This gives maximum sharpness at the expense of durability. Mortising chisels, needing a considerably more durable edge, are ground and sharpened at a much steeper angle. Paring chisels are in between the extremes, depending on what you're using them for. Through the years, I've picked up a selection of old socket handled chisels of various makes. Assuming that some troglodyte dipstick hasn't hammered the handle-less socket into the mushroom of death, I like these chisels. Handles are easy enough to make and fit, since they're usually without. They're typically good steel, with long blades. Laminated Japanese chisels are terrific, but I really do like the long bladed paring chisels for most things. I even have an old 45mmx220mm blade, socket handled slick that I find useful more often than you might think. Start with decent quality chisels, and spend some time sharpening them. You can buy a power sharpening system, hundreds of dollars in Japanese water stones, with the expense and upkeep necessary to both, or follow Sham Wow (the path of the Billy Bob) and freehand bevel on a bench grinder (careful with heat), and sharpen on a diamond grit "stone". Ron N
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