# Sharpening bench chisels



## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

I have been away from woodworking for about 7 years, forgot quite a few of my old tricks.

This week-end I was cleaning up some tenons, with bench, or bevel-edge chisels and I noticed that the last time I sharpened these, I finished them on a buffing wheel and there was a micro-bevel on the back from the buffer. They were sharpened at 30 degrees.

One needed re-sharpening, so out came the two diamond stones, then a 1000 water stone for the final few strokes. This time though flattened the back, no micro bevel. Definetly not as good as before, the micro-bevel did wonders.

What do you do?


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

In all honesty flattening the back is not what reduced the quality of the edge. The back of chisels should be dead flat and polished. The micro bevel comes into play on the beveled side. 

I use 3m wet paper on glass using a roller guide. I start on as low a grit as i need to and work up to 2000, Micro bevel at 2500, then dry strop on leather. I micro bevel all my blades and it's eye balled. If I had to guess I'd say the angle is about 3-5 degrees higher than the main bevel.


******************************************************
*Disclaimer: the above is my opinion based upon my personal experiences, what I've read, been taught and overall what works best for me. There tends to be mixed opinions on who the authority is on certain topics. A few say this guy, a few say that guy and the rest appoint themselves as the authority. Take it all with a grain of salt and experiment... Who knows!?!?!?... Maybe one day you'll be your own authority too!...

~tom ...it's better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt...


----------



## H. A. S. (Sep 23, 2010)

I have always put the micro bevel on chisels. Angle depends on what I'd use it for, more acute on softwoods.


----------



## rrich (Jun 24, 2009)

Actually, I think that the key is 30°. That is a bit steep for a bench chisel. I would try 28° or 27° or even 25° until you have something that you like the way it cuts. I've noticed that the really cheap chisels need 27° or 28° to maintain their sharpness while Maples or Buck Brothers are fine at 25°. Now that Marples are Irwins and being made in a metric factory I don't know what angle that they like.

BTW - For those of us that work in the Imperial measurement system, (Inches & fractions) there is nothing more irritating that picking up a chisel marked in metric and the (not really exact) Imperial equivalent only to discover that the chisel is too wide to cut the mortise, there is hope. Now that Marples > Record > Irwin has gone metric, the cheap Buck Brothers, made in USA, (Home Depot) chisels are truly Imperial sized and as good as my (UK Made) Marples. The only trick is to flatten the back and sharpen to 25°.


----------



## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

What I have forgotten, came back to me.:laughing:

Depending on the application, a micro bevel on the back side of a bench chisel is usefull in some instances, for me anyways.

In tuning a mortice tenon, I want to remove, or peel 1/1000 of an inch in certain places. With a VERY SMALL micro bevel on the back, I can ride on the bevel, while peeling off my thin slice of wood. If the back is flat, it tends to dig in and it is more difficult to slice the whole distance uniformly. If I turn the chisel around, to work off the main bevel, with it's micro bevel, the angle of push at 30 or whatever degrees, makes it more difficult to control.

Final finish with a hard slotted wheel with a compound on a bench grinder gives a razor sharp finish in seconds and the back bevel takes just a slight rub to give the result.


----------



## Possumpoint (Oct 13, 2011)

I was taught that the only time a micro bevel is used on the back of a chisel is when that surface is badly pitted and you can't polish it. That same rule applies to plane irons. All of my chisels are polished to a mirror finish adjacent to the edge. In other words, I don't care if the back of a chisel is hollow so long as it isn't at the edge.


----------

