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I laughed when "Kobalt" was brought up. Yes, I have a Kobalt chisel. It sucks. I will invest into a better chisel with higher quality steel. I have used the sandpaper and glass method and it works well. I used it on the Harbor Freight chisels and they got razor sharp, but they did not stay sharp because they are cheap. Thanks for the information everyone. This has been very informative.

So, "vintage" chisels may be good, but what modern chisels are decent? What hardness for steel is ideal for chiseling hardwoods?

Rockler sells the Stanley "Sweetheart" line of chisels. They are quite good. About $35 apiece as I recall, more or less, but you need only a couple. I've got 1/8", 1/2" and 5/8", plus a 3/8" Greenlee, and they seem to cover most of what I need to do. I've also got 3/4" and 1" Stanley butt chisels, a set of assorted gouges, and other random stuff, but I use the Sweeheart chisels the most.

I hate to see anyone spend too much on tools. I have a good assortment of very nice vintage chisels - including original Stanley Sweetheart tools from the 30's. PM me if you are interested.

Ed

Make sure the water stones are flat. I flatten mine often. It does not take long to put a curve on the surface. A curve will happily round the edge.

johnnparchem wrote:Make sure the water stones are flat. I flatten mine often. It does not take long to put a curve on the surface. A curve will happily round the edge.

That's why I use either diamond stones or the Scary Sharp method. No curves.

I learned finish carpentry in the early 70's from man born in 1901. He wore dress pants and a white shirt and had a pair of overalls in the truck. He was a real gentleman.

His large stone had a different grit on either side and both sides had a big dish. Every tool he had was sharp sharp. Lesson was - you can make anything work just fine.

That said, I use sandpaper on glass - the Scary Sharp (tm) method - never forget the (tm)

Ed

been around a long time as far as sharpening goes. Once you learn how , is the key.
My observations are
A: A good tool is an investment a cheap tool a cost
B: A tool is 50% of the job Skill the other 50%
C: There are more than one way to do anyone thing so find what works for you

The one think I did invest in , is a tormek sharpening system. 13 yrs as a meat cutter and 25 yrs as a machinist I learned how to sharpen. The Tormek is fast accurate and saves me time , but my requirement is different than a hobbyist. I can sharpen a chisel in about 2 min.

I have very good chisels , the Stanley Sweetheart set is by far some of my best. I also collect tools from the 17th and 18th century. Look for old chisels at flea markets. There are some good ones out there and many bad ones. The names to look for
Underhill
Stanley
Millers Falls
you find them you should be ok.

Add to that:

Swan (my favorite)
Addis
Witherby (later Winstead)
Beatty (local to you John)
Sargent
Marples
Ibbotson
Sorby
Buck
Ward
D R Barton
Berg
Greenlee
PS&W (later Pexto)
Ulmia
Japanese chisels are a little different but very nice generally

Remember that the big guys made tools for others - early Craftsman are always good, Montgomery Ward, Winchester, Remington, HS&B, etc

Go to flea markets and look at and handle a lot of tools and you will get a feel for what quality looks like

And here is the ideal set:

http://www.jimbodetools.com/Dead-Mint-S ... 29543.html

Ed

Also a set that is handy is a stanley #45 plane iron set. I use them for many things

If I had to list my most used chisels

1/2 in paring chisel
1/2 in firmer chisel

1/2 in Stanley and a 2/4 in Stanley

1/8 in chisel from a 45 plane set .
these are my standard go to pieces.

find the ones you like and find other uses. The ones you feel the most comfortable with are the one you will find the best . We all have different body mechanic.

Ed has a pretty good list there.
Look at them close for pitting , that is a no no.
you can bring old chisels back to life with a little practice.

if they don't shave they are just pretty pieces of steel

Joh

Would you post a picture of the handle you put on the 1/8" 45 blade?

And here is the post from 1995 by Steve Lamantia that started the current sandpaper on glass craze. He named it Scary Sharp and added the (tm) trademark to it. He also came up with counting your nose hairs in the polished surface and was in the group that came up with the Neanderthal name and the Galoot name for hand tool woodworkers:

https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en# ... GAGAPR-6ks

Steve has since passed away, but his writing style is great and his ability to put things in perspective is admirable. It's a good read on sharpening.

Most don't use all of the grits he used 21 years ago. I have settled on 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000, but usually start at 400 or 600 and sometimes stop there too. I finish off with green crayon on pine for stropping. Most times I end with a blade that makes the hairs on my arm "jump out of the way" in just a minute or two.

Ed