How to set up a brand new chisel
How to set up a brand new chisel
I will explain how to sharpen and set up a brand new chisel, and how to make it look neat.
1. If your chisel’s handle is Red or White oak, wrap a paper and secure it with a duct tape or plastic tape so that the handle won’t be soiled by the sharpening particles of the sharpening stones.
2. You start with uraoshi. Remember to press the blade side more, and try to apply as less pressure as possible on the handle side of the back. Refer to the “How to sharpen a plane blade part1”. Never grind beyond the line indicated in Pic1. Keep your index finger and thumb around the neck and use it as a guide so that you don’t let the neck ground. If you let the neck get onto the stone, the chisel (butt side) will be raised and the tip will be ground off. Make the back flat (as long as the tip of the blade is touching the stone, not all the back have to be touching the stone. I don’t try to make it completely touch the stone if I need to grind a lot. I don’t want to make the hollow too small. See Pic2.) and polish up the back.
http://www.geocities.com/soatoz/phot...ng/Chisel1.jpg
3. If the bevel is very rounded, or if it is a black blade (kuro-ba: sometimes when the chisel come straight from the blacksmith the blade isn’t sharpened at all) there will be a long way to go, so set it onto a honing guide if you have, and grind off the excess putting much pressure on the blade, leaning your body weight into it. Wash the stone clean often and flatten the surface often as well. TAFE seem to teach their students go straight to the grinder, but I strongly recommend not to do this, for it will easily temper the steel and make it soft. I know it is tempting to use the grinders but, this initial set up is only one time thing, so persevere the hard work and you’ll be rewarded with a hard steel.
4. Once you get the whole bevel touching the stone, follow the steps explained in the “How to sharpen a plane blade part2” article, and sharpen up the edge to the max. Take off the honing guide and proceed. (If you are sharpening freehanded, refer to coming article “How to sharpen a plane blade part2”.)
5. Take off the hoop. This is sometimes quite tricky. You can use a nail setter and a hammer to take it off, but if it doesn’t come off you use a vise and a piece of rounded stick. See Pic3. I learned this method from Tasai.
http://www.geocities.com/soatoz/phot...ng/Chisel2.jpg
6. Take off the protective lacquer from the body of the chisel and the handle, using a paint striper.
7. Sand the handle coarse, med, fine. Then apply several coats of linseed oil, then Danish oil, then lacquer or French polish it.
8. Put the hoop back on, tap it with mallet until it gets lowered as shown in Pic4. If the hoop doesn’t go down, you can either shave the handle a little with a knife and make it a bit slim, or use a nail setter or a special tool to set the hoop as shown in Pic5.
http://www.geocities.com/soatoz/phot...ng/Chisel3.jpg
9. DONE!
