Thread: newbie help with chisel work

can't really follow exactly what you want to do.

However, it looks like there's a chip out of the chisel edge telling me it ain't as sharp as it could be.

A good rule with chiselling is taking lots of small chips.
Take multiple chips 2-3mm apart about 1-2mm deep.
You'll end up with nicer looker and more accurate cuts.

Jules,

Welcome to the Forum.

Try making a series of cuts across the grain with the chisel say about 2 or 3mm apart and a couple of mm deep and then tap those out sideways with the chisel. Repeat until at the required depth.

It gives you much more control for the depth and overcomes any problems when the grain is not parallel and straight to your surface.

A sharp chisel is important.

See the pics.

fantastic. thanks guys.

another tip would be to drill out the majority with a spade bit or something larger and clean up with the chisel

Hi There,

I'm not sure how deep you want to go, but I think the idea of boring out the bulk material first is a good one. Perhaps you can get a Forstner bit or similar and drill a lot of it out? A spade bit would possibly result in an odd appearance, as the long point on it would leave little holes everywhere (so will the Forstner bit, but to a lesser degree).

It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but I suspect that your chisel isn't actually that sharp. What you describe, where the chisel basically bounces instead of cutting, is often the result of a blunt blade.

Looks like you're trying to chisel into very hard wood there, and a sharp chisel is essential. I realise that you probably don't want to invest in a full sharpening setup for just this one job, but you might have luck using the "scary sharp" method with sandpaper. You can google it for some more info.

Best of luck,
sCORCH