My New Paring Chisels

[Glenn Samuels]

I just receive a new set of Sorby Paring Chisels. Would you add a micro bevel to them?
Thank you

[Russell Sansom]

Yes. First you need to take the surface grinder marks out of the backs. Then it's tedious match the large flat bevel angle on the fronts to remove the grinder marks from them. To do so would be a waste of time and stones. So some kind of secondary bevel is the most practical approach.

[David Weaver]

If they need it (e.g., if you use them and the edge folds). If they don't, then keep them where they are.

[Ryan Baker]

It's not hard or tedious to get the grinder marks out of the primary bevel on Sorby paring chisels. They are pretty soft and hone out quite easily and quickly.

I expect you will want to keep tham where they are for paring, but don't expect them to hold an edge very long. I have a couple, and they still have the stock primary bevel only. They work fine when sharp.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I also have (4) Sorby paring chisels, and they have served me well. One was a bit soft, but grinding back around 1/16" or so got to good steel, and it is fine. I use a 25 degree primary bevel, with no need for a secondary bevel. These are a "finesse" tool and meant only for paring and not pounding.

[Jim Matthews]

I grind by hand, these days.

I can't trust my eye to grind on either a belt or wheel.
How do you intend to use the coarsest medium?

I'm attempting to get a completely polished bevel on my chisels and that has made paring notably easier than earliere attempts.
(Stropping as a final step.)

[Glenn Samuels]

I have been working to have the manufacturer's grinding marks disappear. I have been using Stu's sigma stones in 1000, 6000, and 13,000. On my 1 1/4" paring chisel, so much for it being easy. I have used the 1000 grit for more than 1 hour and there is still one corner where the marks are still visible Most of them do come off easy but there is usually one spot where they got too aggressive in their grinding. Mine are set to 20 degrees which is just fine with me. I may have to touch them up more often but it is worth the effort. I do have some Japanese 30 degree bevels when I need to get a bit more aggessive.

[David Weaver]

Norton 3x stuck down with 3m spray on something hard and very flat. That's what you want to remove mill marks. 100 and 180 or 220. Use it dry. If you try to use it without adhesive, you'll be chasing the dubbed corners.

Any decent 1k stone can chase the marks from 100 or 200 grit sandpaper in a couple of minutes as long as the substrate the sandpaper is on is very flat and it's uniformly adhered.

[Sam Stephens]

yeah, if you'd started in the 100-200 grit range, you would've been finished in a few minutes removing the grinding marks. live and learn.

why would you microbevel the edge? isn't the point of a paring chisel the low angle cutting edge? at 25 degrees it's a bench chisel, no?

[Chris Vandiver]

If your are spending an hour(or more) on the bevel of a 1/4" chisel with a 1000gr stone and you can still see machine marks, then there's something wrong. Probably technique. A lower grit stone(400-800) to start with would be helpful. Or, like David says, sandpaper stuck down to a flat surface. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to remove the machining remnants.




I have been working to have the manufacturer's grinding marks disappear. I have been using Stu's sigma stones in 1000, 6000, and 13,000. On my 1 1/4" paring chisel, so much for it being easy. I have used the 1000 grit for more than 1 hour and there is still one corner where the marks are still visible Most of them do come off easy but there is usually one spot where they got too aggressive in their grinding. Mine are set to 20 degrees which is just fine with me. I may have to touch them up more often but it is worth the effort. I do have some Japanese 30 degree bevels when I need to get a bit more aggessive.

[Glenn Samuels]

I'll be going out to get some spray adhesive and sandpaper later today. As was posted above "live and learn".. Thanks for all your suggestions. I will not be putting a micro bevel on the chisels. I like the 20 degree bevel and don't want to increase it. Thanks again.

[Glenn Samuels]

One more question. I noticed that after using the 3/4" paring chisel, there were little nicks in the end. I have a grinder with the white stone but don't feel real comfortable with it yet. I'll use the grinder with some cheap chisels for now. Will the 100 grit sandpaper with spray adhesive clean up the nicks or do I need another method to smooth the edge?

[David Weaver]

Yes, they'll clean up the nicks. Those nicks are telling you that the chisel would like to be ground at a steeper angle.

If you have a belt sander, you could also use that lightly.

I mentioned the sandpaper assuming that the tooling marks were those on the back flat face of the chisel. It works for the bevel side, too, just make sure you don't feed the edge into the paper, but instead away from it. And clean the paper with a vacuum, brush or the koepke(R) method of using a magnet when it becomes full of black swarf.

[Chris Vandiver]

Sandpaper will work fine for the edge nicks. Blunt the edge until the nicks are gone and then resharpen. The grinder should be fine on your chisels. Just go slowly with a light touch and don't overheat the edge. There is loads of info on sharpening published on the web and in book form. Check it out.

[Jim Koepke]

One more question. I noticed that after using the 3/4" paring chisel, there were little nicks in the end. I have a grinder with the white stone but don't feel real comfortable with it yet. I'll use the grinder with some cheap chisels for now. Will the 100 grit sandpaper with spray adhesive clean up the nicks or do I need another method to smooth the edge?

This really depends on how bad are the nicks. Yesterday one of my chisels had a few nicks in the edge that were easily removed with a 4,000 grit stone. It is rare that one of my blades is nicked enough to require anything coarser than a 1,000 grit stone, ymmv.

jtk

[Glenn Samuels]

I just started using my 8" slow speed grinder which has the white wheels. I also have the diamond bar wheel dresser from LV. I'm using Veritas Basic Grinding Set which is basically a flat plate that is adjustable to the wheel. My question is how do I know that I am 100% square when truing the wheel. It's not difficult to be off 1-2 degrees.

[David Weaver]

It'll never make a difference if you're off a little. You want a little bit of a crown on the wheel anyway, work the outside edges off a fraction of a mm or so to start with your dressing tool so that the iron only contacts the middle of the wheel when you have it straight on.