Popular Woodworking 2001-02 № 120, страница 31

The most expensive chisel does not

always hold the best edge. Our tests show that some cheap chisels give you a real clean cut.

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Woodworking chisels have been an essential part of a woodworker's tool kit since neolithic times (8000 to 3000 B.C.), but it wasn't until the 16th century that Germans developed the bevel-edge chisels you can now buy at almost any hardware store.

Bevel-edge chisels are designed for most general-purpose woodworking tasks. The bevel on the long edges allows you to get into tight places other chisels could never go, such as the bottom of a dovetail joint. As originally designed, bevel-edge chisels were not supposed to be struck with a mallet. You used your weight and a keen edge to pare and slice your wood. If you needed to chop a mortise, you reached for a brawny mortising chisel. These days, however, many manufacturers add on handles made from tough plastic or metal-reinforced wood that simply beg to be banged. You're not likely to break your chisels this way, but you will end up sharpening them more because the cutting edge of a bevel-edge chisel is not typically designed for striking operations.

So What's in a Chisel?

Chisels have a number of parts that are important to know when shopping. The handle is obvious; at the point where the steel meets the handle is sometimes a piece of leather called a shock washer, which helps absorb shock. The rounded area of metal below the handle is called the bolster. The remainder of the chisel is the blade. The

"face" of the blade is the underside; the bevels on the edges are actually on the "back" of a chisel. It sounds backward, I know, but you'll soon find that the face of the chisel is most often what is touching the work and is of primary concern. Finally, the "cutting edge" of a chisel is the end that you sharpen.

What to Look For

Chisels are a personal choice for woodworkers. It's no good to have the best steel in the world on a handle that tortures your hand. You need to find a chisel that performs well and feels comfortable. Here's how: • Handle: You can get chisels with plastic handles or wood. The handles can be round, vaguely square, octagons or even odder shapes. Find a handle that feels good in your hand and know this: round-handled chisels will roll off your bench and onto a concrete floor, usually blade-first. • Blade: There is a lot to consider when choosing a blade. First, the face of all chisels must be lapped reasonably flat, especially at the cutting edge. Only one set of chisels (from Freud) was dead flat out of the box. The others required varying degrees of lapping to flatten. The face can bow one of two ways. If the face bows out in the middle, it is said to be "bellied." Personally, I'd return a chisel that had more than a little belly to it. These take a lot of work to fix, sometimes with a belt sander. If the face bows at the ends, the chisel is said to be "hollow." Japanese chisel-makers intentionally make their chisels with a hollow face. A hollow face certainly makes it easier to lap the face at the cutting edge. However, too much hollow and you're in trouble; your chisel will want to dig into your work.

Another thing to consider is how hard the blade is. Western chisels are typically hardened to a Rockwell hardness between 58 and 62. This is harder than a scraper or a hand saw, but softer than carbide on a sawblade or router bit.

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Popular Woodworking February 2001