ian maybury
07-21-2014, 8:52 AM
Just wondering what the thinking on a single bevel sharpening angle strategy for Japanese white steel chisels is these days - reading throws up a million views ranging from about 25 - to 35 deg. Hollow grinding (not me) may change the picture a bit for some too.
The issue arises now that the sharpening set up is dialled in (the Veritas Mk 2 thread) - it's time to sort out the rest of the set. ( Matsumuras from Dieter Schmid in Germany - hope they are OK - some of each type: http://www.fine-tools.com/matsumura.html , and http://www.fine-tools.com/zinkenstemmeisen.html ) So far I've been sharpening a few ad-hoc to 30 deg single bevel and had no issues in use, but it's not been very demanding work. They look mostly like being used on oak and walnut - mixed chopping (some) and paring. I'm easy on tools. The plan is to buy a few long handled paring chisels in due course, and to sharpen them at a lower bevel angle for exclusively hand use.
All being equal i'm tempted to set all of the current chisels up at 30deg, and go 25 deg or a bit less with the paring chisels in due course. My impression is that it's not a particularly critical factor anyway unless problems arise in the context of a specific job - but my experience is fairly limited and I don't want to end up with edges chipping all over the place...
The issue arises now that the sharpening set up is dialled in (the Veritas Mk 2 thread) - it's time to sort out the rest of the set. ( Matsumuras from Dieter Schmid in Germany - hope they are OK - some of each type: http://www.fine-tools.com/matsumura.html , and http://www.fine-tools.com/zinkenstemmeisen.html ) So far I've been sharpening a few ad-hoc to 30 deg single bevel and had no issues in use, but it's not been very demanding work. They look mostly like being used on oak and walnut - mixed chopping (some) and paring. I'm easy on tools. The plan is to buy a few long handled paring chisels in due course, and to sharpen them at a lower bevel angle for exclusively hand use.
All being equal i'm tempted to set all of the current chisels up at 30deg, and go 25 deg or a bit less with the paring chisels in due course. My impression is that it's not a particularly critical factor anyway unless problems arise in the context of a specific job - but my experience is fairly limited and I don't want to end up with edges chipping all over the place...