Advice on sharpening a chisel - By: Sarah Haines

Good hand tools deserve to be looked after properly. The best way to look after your tools differs from tool to tool. Since I have been using the same chisel for several years, despite fully refurbishing my camper van, I thought I would look at that.

You are going to need to sharpen a chisel from time to time, but keeping it from getting blunt by storing it properly is the first thing to remember. You should be storing any woodworking tools on a rack ideally. If for some reason you cant do that and you need to keep them in a draw, then use dividers so they dont chip at each other. Knocking against other tools will quickly take the sharp edge from your chisel.

When sharpening your chisel you will need several sharpening stones and a leather strop. Start by adding a little oil to the stone for lubrication. You then need to slide the edge of the chisel gently up and down the first sharpening stone. Hold it at a 20 degree angle while doing this. To get a good edge you will need to work evenly on both sides of the blade. You should be looking to develop a burr, you will know if you have formed that by dragging your finger away from the edge, feel for a roughness as you draw your finger away. That indicates it is time for the next task; sharpen away the burr using a slip stone.

Finally, take a leather strop and draw the blade across it away from the cutting edge. Again this will need to be done evenly on both sides. By the end of this process the whole burr should have been removed and the blade should be sharp.

You can test if the edge is sharp enough by resting it on your finger nail. If the blade sticks to your nail, rather than sliding, then you know it is sharp enough.

Over sharpening is not good for the chisel so try and do it as infrequently as you can, protect the blade as much as you can, the best way to care for hand tools is to look after them in the first place. Make sure that you are only using it for the correct purpose and that it is properly stored. My chisel is already quite old but I expect to get a lot more use out of it.

About the Author

When she isn’t working Sarah Haines loves to travel, often in a beaten up old VW camper van. While renovating the interior and building new furniture she has learned how to care for pretty much any imaginable hand tools and woodworking tools.

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