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getting nicks off of chisels.

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allen levine

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new york city burbs
Its sad that most of my marples chisels and now 2 of my ashley isles have chips in the blades from me hitting steel/metal. Carving out a catch for a door, hitting a pin by mistake, whatever.
This marples had the largest chip, it was almost 1/16, visible from 4 feet.
My question:
After working with the nortons from 220 up to 8000, I got a perfect mirror finish,(tough for me to shoot it, but its like a mirror), the edge is sharp, at least sharp for me, still havent gotten out the chip all the way. Do I just keep hitting the stones till it dissappears, or just wait till I sharpen again and over time Ill catch up.
Id hate to have to grind down ashly isles chisels because of a tiny chip.
Must it be perfectly even?(dont laugh at me. Ive never had chisels so sharp as they are now, they are like razor blades, but Im puzzled with the chipouts, Im trying to be more careful)
IM very close to shipping them up to Ken to see if he can work out the chips. Ken, birthday boy? whatta ya think here?(the chips on the left side, I know they are dirty, but I clean them eventually, I only worry about sharpness)
 

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Hi Allen
I'm afraid having nicks in chisels is just part of the owning and using chisels.
I have several sets that I sharpen once a year with my worksharp 3000
but most folks sharpen them when they get a nick or are their just not cutting like the should. You have to gauge how much sharpening you need to do. If your using the scary sharp method the lest amount of damage to the edge means the higher grit sand paper you start at, or you can just use a diamond hone to do a quick tune up.
If your not getting chips out you have to spend more time on the lower grits until the chips gone, maybe even starting as low as 60 grit and then working your way up through the grits.
 
Allen i would try some course sandpaper and go back at the sharpening with the stones or whatever other method you use to sharpen chisels. If the nick is too deep for sandpaper then hit the grinder and take it out and start again with a fresh edge. You aint gonna loose much on the chisel to grind out a nick but it will make a difference when you use the chisel without the nick in my view at least thats what i have experienced.
 
i would suggest yu take the nicks out as well allen and if yu can get them sharp than you just need to make them nick less first before going threw the whole regime of sharpening.
 
I'd put it on the grinder until the nick is out than put it on your norton stones.

Just make sure to not overheat them on the grinder...
 
I couldnt put the ashley chisels to the grinder.
Not sure I wouldnt ruin them quickly.
My lowest grit on the stones is 220. I worked that stone alot but I started wondering if Im killing the blade by overworking that grit.
I guess the answer is no, as long as the nick isnt out, I can keep going.

I usually sharpen a few of the chisels during my therapy days, but the nurse wont allow me to have that dirt/grit near my arms anymore.

Im going to take apart my few planes and all my blades and spend wednesday this week sharpening up everything before I start to build some beds.
 
You might want to think about getting a cheap set of Buck Bro's for when you are working on doors or close to metal. Cheap, and you could put those to the grinder easily....
 
I'd be glad to fix em for you. I'd tale it straight to the grinding wheel and get past the damage, then re-hone. I'm happy to do it for you, but in all honesty, it's a skill you want to have yourself.

Take your time, dip the chisel frequently, and have at it. If you want me to do it, that's fine too.
 
It's also much faster to sharpen the chisel right after the grinder, as the hollow grind means you are only removing metal from the tip and heel of the chisel, instead of removing it from the entire face. That will take a long time even on a fairly coarse stone...
 
When I get a chip It's time to start right back at the beginning. First up grind the chip out right square into the grinder. This also gives you the chance to re-square the chisel. Than grind the bevel back on and start honing. And you should have seen the guys cringe when Bill G. Started stabbing there bowel gouges into the grinder to take them back to square so they could than be sharpened right.:thumb::rofl::rofl:
Not to mention that he was turning them all sorts of purdy blue colors:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Chuck Thoits said:
When I get a chip It's time to start right back at the beginning. First up grind the chip out right square into the grinder. This also gives you the chance to re-square the chisel. Than grind the bevel back on and start honing. And you should have seen the guys cringe when Bill G. Started stabbing there bowel gouges into the grinder to take them back to square so they could than be sharpened right.:thumb::rofl::rofl:
Not to mention that he was turning them all sorts of purdy blue colors:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::rofl::rofl::rofl:
Click to expand...

oh bill is quit the character aint he chuck:) and he was grinnun from ear to ear while he was doing it:)
 
Grind it till its gone.

I've got a pretty simple system for sharpening chisels. I don't even remember where I got it, but I've got a wet stone grinder with a pretty small diameter wheel that's about 3" wide. The wheel is about 1-3/4" in diameter or there abouts.

After I get a straight smooth grind I use a buffing wheel on another bench grinder and polish it up using some red polishing compound, (the stick type). Doesn't take much and they are razor sharp. Literally, I can lick my arm and shave off the hair.
 
I sharpen out the nicks. But then, I sharpen as I go. If I am doing a lot of chisel work, the sharpening stuff stays out and I touch up as soon as they start to fight me. A sharp cutter takes less effort and rarely a mallet. This really lessens the opportunity for an "oops". I guess in my experience, sharpening frequently and during my work actually takes less time than "trying to get through that one last thing" and slipping into something you didn't want to hit (whether it nicks the blade or not).
 
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