25 degrees on a 720...

[David Gendron]

I have a Stanley 720 chisel that I sharpened at 25 degrees but it chiped right away parring some DF. I was wondering if any body add a similar experience with these chisels at low angles? I have a Buck Brother chisel hone to 25 degree and it last for ever!?!

[Jim Koepke]

There are a few variables to deal with here. Is this an old used Stanley?

Is it possible the edge may have been overheated in the past?

I am not sure what it is about some of the Buck Brothers chisels, but they get a nice sharp edge and just keep cutting. I have a 1" that is at about 15° and can slice all day and do it again tomorrow. It can take a shaving as well and controlled as many of my planes.

Today while cutting some dovetails with my 1/2" Buck, I was thinking of taking that down to a low angle for paring.

jim

[David Gendron]

Indeed it is an old stanley, I will try to grind it 1/8 or so and see what happen! I have an other one, 1/2" that I made into a fish taile, and it was hard work, the steel is realy hard!
Thank you Jim!

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

Some of those Stanleys (I hear this mostly about the 750 line, I think, but the 720s are not excused) were inconsistently heat treated, although there's nothing inherently wrong with the steel. You can fix this yourself with a torch but it's touchy; the grinding may well fix the problem without causing too much trouble.