Thread: E.A Berg chisels/plane blade+bevel angel

Andreas, my advise would be to just try it & see - you have nothing to lose apart from a half mm of edge, or so. If the edge gets too fine & wants to curl up or chip, just increase the bevel until you get an edge that lasts. If that's too steep for your purposes, try another chisel......

I have some lovely old BE socket chisel (New Haven Edge Tool Co.) that I sharpen with a very low bevel and use strictly for paring. Can't tell you exactly what the angle is, 'cause I don't measure it, but it would be somewhere around 20 deg. That gives a pretty fine edge, & I don't think you'd gain anything practical going below that (just my opinion, of course!).

A couple of my chisels are very hard, to the point they are a bit brittle, so I would certainly not whack them hard, but they stand up well enough under hand pressure & the occasional (gentle!) tap with a light mallet.

Cheers,