View ChannelsFeatured: Finance
View ShowroomsFeatured: Radiantec - Radiant Solar Heating

BobVila.com

Home

How to Sharpen a Chisel

A sharp chisel is an essential woodworking tool and will cut easily and cleanly across a grain. Here is how to sharpen one properly.

DIFFICULTY RATING:

Get Adobe Flash Player to see this content.

View text version of this Step-by-Step

Download for iPod

What materials were used in this video?

Chisel Goggles Grinding wheel Honing oil Leather Sharpening stone

Clip Transcript For:

How to Sharpen a Chisel

computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Third, the top edge is hollow ground to a keen edge. Holding the chisel square to a medium grit grinding wheel, gently grind the edge of the chisel until the end is flat and straight and ready for sharpening. Next, apply oil to the sharpening stone and holding the end of the chisel square and perpendicular to the stone. Drag"

" of the face. Now gently bring the face of the chisel up against the wheel working the chisel back and forth until the front face is evenly ground. This is called hollow ground. Now oil the sharpening stone and firmly holding the bottom of the chisel, flat against the stone. Polish the bottom of the chisel until it is smooth to a mirror finish. I remove the burrs from the cutting edge by placing the chisel flat against the stone and making a few gentle passes. In the same way using the finishing side of the stone, remove the final rolled edge on the bottom of the chisel stopping to carefully feel until the burr edge is gone. The last step is to hone the edge on a piece of leather. Carefully pulled the chisel across the leather to remove the remaining micro burrs to create a razor sharp edge. The result, if it wasn't for the rust it would be impossible to tell which chisel used to be the dull chisel. Once you've mastered this technique, the joy of a sharp chisel is yours forever."

[-]

More Videos »Related Videos

Installing Molding

Dress up the rooms in your house with a variety of custom moldings. These moldings are available in many historic profiles. You can add a one piece baseboard molding for a 19th century look. Poplar chair rails and picture moldings add detail and take paint well. And for a more elegant look add a multi-piece crown molding to the ceiling.

Ladder Work

Here are some tips that will make working on a ladder easier. Use elastic cords to secure a small plastic basket to the top of your stepladder to hold your tools. If you're on an extension ladder, slide a broom handle through a hollow rung and hang a bucket for tools from that. Keeping your tools close at hand, you'll save several trips up and down the ladder.

Hanging Wallboard

When hanging wallboard on an angle, try this technique. Measure the length from the edge of the wall to the end of the angle. Next, measure the height - think of it as outlining a triangle. Mark the measurements on your wallboard and snap a chalkline.

High Efficiency Plumbing Fixtures

Here is some valuable information about new products for the bathroom. New codes require that plumbing fixtures use less water. To comply with these standards, look for high efficiency products. For example, toilet tanks are only allowed a capacity of 1.6 gallons. New models adjust to these codes by having larger water areas, bigger 2" traps, and powerful siphoning jets.

More Content »More Content

How To Sharpen a Chisel

…straight and ready for sharpening. Hold the chisel…
… Apply oil to the sharpening stone. Hold the end…
…Remove burrs from the cutting edge. You can remove any burrs from the cutting edge of the chisel by placing…

Planer/Jointer Knive Sharpening

…accurate enough scale. A commercial sharpening shop rate of about $1/inch is reasonable…
…LIFETIME my jointer knives will need sharpening. It might be a different result in…
…still have $82 in my pocket for future sharpening.

sharpening jointer knives

I have a 6" jointer that is leaving nice stripes on my wood. Do you use your Tormek or send them out for sharpening?

Saw sharpening

…afterward. Normally, when you have a set in the teeth, you sharpen the teeth at an angle. But it looked like you were sharpening all the teeth at the same angle (90deg to the blade). Is that right? Also, when you remove the set, do you have problems…

Browse Topics

Click on a letter to browse content by topic alphabetically.