Grinding bevel on chisel

T

TN metalman

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Oct 28, 2015
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Hey guys, I'd like to make my own bench chisels, but before I start, is there any other way to grind the beveled sides aside from free handing it with a belt grinder? I've got a belt grinder, drill press, and bench grinder, so I could use a combination therein. Thanks!
 
I'm sure there are lots of ways to do it other then a belt grinder. I have made a handful of chissels in the last few months and have just done them all by hand. Let me see if I can round up a pic. I made one by using 1/4"X 1.5" wide flat stock and rolling the handle area into a tube and forge welding. Then forge the chissle shape out of the end that wads till flat stock. Used 5160 and it worked really good. Customer LOVED in
 
Rough shape them on the belt grinder and the bench grinder. Once close to the desired shape, switch to a flat surface (granite surface plate/block is best) and 100 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. Work it by hand with the paper taped on the block. Use soapy water to lubricate the sanding. When the surfaces are right, switch to 180 grit then 400 grit. Square the edge so it is straight and about .030" thick. HT and repeat starting at 220 grit. Finish on a FLAT water stone or DMT diamonds plates. Take the cutting bevels to 800 grit or higher. For the best cuts, polish the edge and bevels with rouge.

Steel type is important. 1095 and W2 are two good bench chisel steels.
 
Thanks guys! Stacy, I've heard that the best chisels have used a forged welded high carbon bit on a mild steel frame. Is this necessary? I have the equipment to forge weld, but it would add quite a bit of time to the process.
 
Also, my preferred steel is O1, simply because I can get it easily and cheaply off of Amazon, and because I can heat treat it without a kiln. Would that work?
 
That was the way when high carbon steel was scarce. Today, just use a suitable size bar of steel. You draw the tang and main shank to a lower hardness. Think about it, if the cutting edge is the same, is there any real difference in what the shaft and tang are?

Many purist woodworkers like their plane irons from iron with a welded steel cutting edge. Again, the difference is not significant. If anything, the weld does more damage than just using all steel.

Mainly, the reason to do the weld is because it becomes a "Hand Forged" tool. That changes a $40 chisel into a $140 dollar one. On planes the difference can be $300-$500.


We just had a thread the other day about the legendary chisels that sell for several thousand dollars. They hype them as being made from some mythical " best steel in the world." In truth, it is about the same as the Hitachi Blue #2 or Super Blue steels. The same plane iron could be made by most proficient bladesmiths for $10 in materials. The wood plane is just a pine block.

In Japan, I probably would have the Yakusa hunting me down for saying all the above. They take the legend and lore of their tool making blacksmiths very seriously. However, probably 90% of the sales pitch is hype.
 
Are you wanting to make these chisels because you want to try making them, or because you want nicer chisels than you can get at the local stores?

If the first, best of luck, and enjoy the process. Don't overlook how you will fix the handle on so that striking forces are accounted for; tang shoulders or sockets.

If the latter, there are more cost effective ways to get good chisels ;). I wanted some nice chisels and after looking at new prices, and at making my own, decided to buy second hand vintage. Managed most from tool shows, old Sorbies mostly. £12 max each, + 20 minutes max each regrinding, flattening backs and sharpening. Making my own would have taken vastly more time.

I got into bow making cause I wanted a bow to shoot and was too cheap (student) to buy one. I enjoyed learning to make bows, but in the end I spent more money on tools and materials learning to make good(ish) ones than a couple of store bought bows would have cost. I would also have become a better archer if I had bought one good bow rather than using a series of imperfect home builds.
 
The main reason is that I believe I can nearly make as good of a chisel as they can, but one that requires less work to prepare, for much less money. I shouldn't need to hone and flatten an eighty dollar chisel before I use it; there's no sense in that. I've made a couple of chisels that were incredibly basic, but worked extraordinarily well. I guess it boils down to I just want to get into it and try it. BTW, I'm going to do a tang chisel.
 
I had made saya nomi "on the fly" with knife steel's cut offs since i needed 'em for an handle project i was into. You could make more refined tools, but it actually boils down to the refinement of the edge and the soundness of the heat treatment.
If you make thick chisels, immediatly a forge welded thin hard steel edge makes sense....a lot less time involved in sharpening thanks to the upper bevel being softer.
 
I don't know what kind of a belt grinder you have, but this is how I'd do it on mine: After making sure my flat platen was perfectly square to the table, I'd cut a 30 degree block (also square to table) to act as a guide and rough in the chisel end to about 220 grit or better. I'd then finish up on a surface plate to about 1000 grit or so, following by polishing compound. All of this would be done post heat treat and temper of course, making sure to alreading have your tang shaped for a handle as you see fit.

Here's a quick drawing of what I mean, in case it's not clear. The block would need to be square both to the table and the belt face of course.
View attachment 607710
 
TN metalman said:
The main reason is that I believe I can nearly make as good of a chisel as they can, but one that requires less work to prepare, for much less money. I shouldn't need to hone and flatten an eighty dollar chisel before I use it; there's no sense in that.
Click to expand...

That is mainly because craftsman woodworkers like to set up their chisels for different work and to their individual preferences. There is no one wrong or right way. Some guys like low bevel angles because they are using them strictly as paring chisels while other guys use higher angles because the are set up strictly for chopping while other guys use them for an all around purpose and fit in the middle somewhere. Some guys prefer a flat bevel while others use a microbevel. Some guys prefer a hollow grind for ease of registering the chisel on a stone for freehand sharpening speed while others use a convex bevel for their sharpening style and strength behind the cutting edge...

Generally speaking though, most premium chisels will come flat and just need a bit of honing...
 
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