chisel thoughts

[Ken S]

Those of you who have read my past posts know I am a believer in starting with a simple chisel to become familiar with the Tormek.

Last weekend I repaired some dinette chairs.  Cleaning out some old broken tenon parts from mortises was the kind of job one would not do with a prize chisel.  This afternoon I resharpened those chisels.  My shop is presently in flux, so I set my Tormek on an old countertop sitting on two saw horses in the shaded front of my garage.  This sounds quite primitive, but the open shade daylight was excellent light and the day was comfortable.  The importance of really good light cannot be emphasized too much.  Before I tried setting up the Tormek outdoors, the angle master seemed very iffy and poorly designed to me.  I was amazed how much difference really good light made.

The first chisel was a one inch Fuller butt chisel. It  bears a remarkable resemblance to some of the off brands manufactured by Buck Brothers.  It is about fifty years old and has seen jobs a prize chisel wouldn't touch.  The blade length is barely long enough to work in the SE-76.

I carefully squared the chisel in the jig, and noticed the jig would not slide properly.  The problem was that I had inadvertently inserted the chisel backward.  (mdelgado, maybe this might have been part of your problem, too) 

Given the rough nature of this chisel's work, I decided to change the bevel angle from 25 to 30 degrees.  (New Lie-Nielsen chisels leave the factory with a 30 degree bevel.)  With the stone graded coarse, the new bevel was established in reasonable time.  Actually, due to the short length of the blade, I only ground the new bevel about halfway. I ground until the bevel not only looked good, but raised a burr the whole width of the blade.  I graded the stone fine and ground a little more.

Then some stropping with the leather honing wheel and some rust preventative spray.

The second chisel was a quarter inch crank neck Buck Brothers.  It is not as long as some of the patternmaker chisels, but is very useful.  The chisel was not really dull, but the edge was not quite square of straight.  The Tormek made quick work of it.

This afternoon reaffirmed my belief in the value of beginning with a chisel to become familiar with the operation of the Tormek.  I would repeat Herman's suggestion of beginning with a chisel which isn't too far away from being sharp.

I'm not completely sold yet on the leather honing wheel. Since Jeff uses is so successfully, I will leave the jury out for a while.  I am sold on the Tormek for grinding which never overheats the steel, and is easier on my hands than stones.

I would welcome your comments.

Ken

[mGuitars]

Hey Ken, what do you use instead of the honing-wheel?

[Ken S]

Hey, mguitars, I actually used the Tormek leather honing wheel. In the past I probably would have used my Norton 8000 grit waterstone.  Presently, the biggest constraint with the leather wheel is operator inexperience.  That's why I'm leaving the jury out.  It wouldn't be fair to rate it poorly until I am very fluent with it.  My shop time is presently very limited.

Thanks for the question.

Ken