Just realized I've been sharpening my chisels wrong for 10 years

So I was at a demo at my local Woodcraft last Saturday and this old guy named Larry watched me sharpen a chisel. He goes 'you're taking way too much steel off with that angle, man'. I had been using a 20 degree bevel for everything. Larry showed me he uses 25 for general work and 30 for hardwoods. Took his advice and tried it on a piece of red oak I had in the truck. Night and day difference in edge retention. Has anyone else been using the wrong angle this whole time?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_dylan5d ago

Larry at Woodcraft knows his stuff. I had the same problem until I started using a 25 degree bevel for my bench chisels on pine and fir, then switching to 30 for anything in the maple family. That little change made my chisels last way longer between sharpenings and cut cleaner too.

lily_schmidt535d ago

Been doing 25 on all my bench chisels for years now. Even on maple it works fine if you keep up with the sharpening. Honestly switching angles mid project feels like a pain. Just sharpen more often and stay with one bevel.