Bench chisel bevels

[Curtis Niedermier]

Not looking to start a debate on proper chisel bevel angle but ... what angle do you use on your go-to bench chisels?

I bought the five-chisel set of PM-V11 Veritas chisels. The two smaller chisels are (I think) 30 degrees and have a micro-bevel. The three larger are 25 degrees and have a micro-bevel. I seem to like the cutting action of the smaller chisels better for most general purpose chopping, paring, etc., but I'm not sure if that's a result of the bevel angle or the chisel width. Or maybe I am just able to get the smaller chisels sharper than the wider ones. I'm not sure. I really can't explain why I like the smaller chisels better, other than I feel like I can more predictably cut with them, and that I have more control. It's making me consider changing the others over to 30 degrees when the time to grind comes around again.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

[Curt Putnam]

IMO, keep the primary angle at 25° and then do a micro bevel at whatever angle(20 <= angle <= 35) floats your boat. Obviously a 20° micro requires a primary that low and that puts more in the realm of paring chisel than bench chisel. Equally an angle > 40° puts in another specialized world - not for bench chisels.

[Mike Henderson]

IMO, keep the primary angle at 25° and then do a micro bevel at whatever angle(25 <= angle <= 35) floats your boat.

I do exactly the same thing, but I never go lower than 25 degrees.

Mike

[Michael Fross]

I use 25 degrees and the just microbevel a degree or two freehand. I do have a chisel which I sharpen at about 18 degrees. It's special and I just use it when I need to do something in pine or another softwood when I'm dovetailing.

[Jim Koepke]

Not looking to start a debate on proper chisel bevel angle but ... what angle do you use on your go-to bench chisels?

Depends on which set of go-to bench chisels you are asking.

This will be different for different folks depending on everything including the metal composition of the chisels to the nature of the wood being worked and the work being done on the bench.

My lowest angles, in the area of 20º are reserved for paring. For cleaning the waste out of a dado, something in the 30-35º range is better.

jtk

[Jeff Heath]

My paring chisels are all at 20°. My bench chisels are in the neighborhood of 25°, with a 2°-3° microbevel polish. I don't measure it, I just eyeball it. My mortise chisels are all at 30°, as are my butt chisels.

[Zach Dillinger]

Don't know. My Butchers are pretty low, meaning that the length of the bevel is easily more than twice the thickness of the steel (way less than 30 deg). My LNs are whatever they came from the factory with. My favorite paring chisel is probably slightly higher than 15 deg, but not much. In general, I like a low angle.

[David Weaver]

I don't measure mine, they are as low as I can practically get them without the chisels failing in regular use. That's probably mid 20s for bench chisels, and the final bevel on mortise chisels is probably 35.

My chisels get ground at the same angle as my plane irons, but the final bevel on the plane irons is a bit more steep than the primary vs. what happens to the chisels.

[Adam Cruea]

I pretty much try to keep all my blades at 30*. It's worked thus far. :)

[Terry Beadle]

PM-V11 is supposed to be able to do a lower angle and keep sharp doing it. My PM-V11 blade is set at factory main bevel and a micro bevel of about 2 degrees. So far it's doing quite well at these settings.

For chisels, I found my Ashley Isles were not happy until I put them at 30 main bevel and a 5 degree micro bevel.

So it depends on the steel as to what you should use but just importantly is what kinds of woods are you working in. If it's red oak or purple heart, you are going to want a higher
angle of 35 to 38 degrees IMO. If its cross grain stubborn sun hardened pine, the same. But if it's honey pine and cutting cross grain dove tails, then you will want a lower
setting. Paring chisels are always effective below 25 degrees. I've got an old English Swan 1 inch that's happy at 18 degrees but I only use it for dado clearing and glue removal.

So start with 25 degrees, and if the edge curls or it won't stay sharp very long, put a 3 ~ 5 degree micro bevel on it and go from there.

I will say I like smaller chisels because they are easier to sharpen/maintain and they take less force to cut.

Just my opinion freely given...and priced right ! Hoot!

[Clay Fails]

PM-V11 is supposed to be able to do a lower angle and keep sharp doing it. My PM-V11 blade is set at factory main bevel and a micro bevel of about 2 degrees. So far it's doing quite well at these settings.

For chisels, I found my Ashley Isles were not happy until I put them at 30 main bevel and a 5 degree micro bevel.

So it depends on the steel as to what you should use but just importantly is what kinds of woods are you working in. If it's red oak or purple heart, you are going to want a higher
angle of 35 to 38 degrees IMO. If its cross grain stubborn sun hardened pine, the same. But if it's honey pine and cutting cross grain dove tails, then you will want a lower
setting. Paring chisels are always effective below 25 degrees. I've got an old English Swan 1 inch that's happy at 18 degrees but I only use it for dado clearing and glue removal.

So start with 25 degrees, and if the edge curls or it won't stay sharp very long, put a 3 ~ 5 degree micro bevel on it and go from there.

I will say I like smaller chisels because they are easier to sharpen/maintain and they take less force to cut.

Just my opinion freely given...and priced right ! Hoot!

My PM V11's seem to chip and dull quickly at 25 with a microbevel. I plan to re-grind the primary to 30 to see how I like that. My LN chisels, on the other hand, work great at 25 with microbevel.

[Harold Burrell]

I got tired of all this "sharpening" stuff, so now I grind all of my chisels (bench, paring, mortise...) at 90*. It is really easy to do on a grinder. And it lasts forever!

They actually work pretty well too...as long as I use a REALLY big mallet...







OK...none of that is true. I just wanted to add to the conversation. I'll go away now. :o

[Derek Cohen]

PM-V11 chisels do very well compared to other steels. See my comparison here (http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/FourChiselSteelsCompared.html).

The most important factor to keep in mind is that all steel will chip or deform if abused. Using a mallet to drive a chisel into hardwood really puts them to the test. This is a completely different experience to paring. Chopping really needs a bevel of at least 30 degrees. Paring thin shavings hardly stresses an edge and you can get away with 25 degrees, sometimes 20 degrees.

The reason the 1/4" and 3/8" Veritas bench chisels are beveled at 30 degrees is that they are more likely to be used for chopping dovetails. The larger sizes less so. Frankly, I believe all bench chisels could be bevelled at 30 degrees since they are all rounders and likely to be used with a mallet.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Don Jarvie]

28 degrees with no micro bevel for me.