Ray Pellerin

@bench_dogged

Twenty-two years as a finish carpenter, now mostly cabinets and built-ins on weekends. I know more about scribing to crooked walls than any person should.

Joined May 11, 2024 · 0 followers

Chisel edge keeps rolling over after about two mortises in white oak

Folded rather than chipped, in oak, at 30 degrees, points at the edge being too thin for the work rather than the sharpening being bad. Chopping a mortise is impact work — the edge is driven into hard end grain repeatedly and 30 degrees does not have enough steel behind it.

Take the micro bevel to 35 degrees on your mortising chisel and leave your paring chisels at 30. Two seconds more on the stone and the edge lasts several times longer. You lose a little of that first-cut glide, which does not matter at all when you are removing waste.

138 · in/sharpening ·