Tormek Community Forum

In the Shop => Hand Tool Woodworking => Topic started by: WimSpi on January 16, 2026, 09:21:51 PM

Title: Sharpening an old wood chisel
Post by: WimSpi on January 16, 2026, 09:21:51 PM
In 1970, during my carpentry training at technical school, I received a set of chisels from Nooitgedagt. I used them a lot. Like every carpenter, I also have a 'favorite' chisel, which is the one in the photo.

This chisel has now been ground down so much that it no longer fits properly in the SE-77. It has become too short.

I made an 'emergency attachment' so that I could still sharpen it on the Tormek. It worked quite well. I want to refine it a bit with a slightly better 'grip' and also with a right-angled stop.

I did the deburring 'traditionally' on a so-called 'Belgian chunk'. There is still one quarry in Belgium that sells these whetstones (8000 grit).

Like all carpenters back then, we had to learn how to deburr freehand at technical school, by holding the chisel steady in front of your stomach and rotating the whetstone in circles over the chisel. You use your eye to make sure the stone is flat on the chisel. Once you've mastered that, it works really well. This was called the 'carpenter's deburring method'.

The BESS score is 135. I'm satisfied with that.
(I hope the translation is correct.)