Choosing a set of wood chisels

A chisel is a fairly simple and well-known cutting tool. In capable hands, he is able to perform virtually any task: to process a groove or chamfer, to make a thread or to make a depression.

The chisel is used for planing, it removes a small layer of the processed surface. During work, you need to put pressure on it with your hand or hitting with a mallet. Impact chisels are called chisels. They feature a massive, reinforced handle and a thicker work surface to prevent tool breakage.

The carpentry type can be divided into several groups.

• The straight chisel has a flat work surface. With its help, you can remove the excess on the outer plane of the product or make a rectangular depression. This is the only type of instrument that can be operated with the muscular strength of the arms or with a mallet.
• The difference between an undercut chisel and a straight chisel is the length of the blade., which is almost twice the length of the straight blade. The scoring type of tool is used for machining a long or deep groove.
• The groove or tongue can be machined with a straight "elbow" chisel. Its handle has an angle to the working surface of about 120 degrees and reduces the likelihood of hand injury from the surface of the product.
• The curved chisel is a flat type of tool, which has a bend along the length of the entire blade and the cutting part.
• "Klukarza" - a tool with a sharp curvature of the blade at the very beginning at the cutting edge. It is widely used in everyday life. With its help, door locks are cut in.
• An oblique chisel, like a straight chisel, has a flat working surfacebut has a beveled cutting edge. This type is used to perform work in hard-to-reach or semi-closed parts of the product, for example, such as "dovetail". Usually two bevel chisels are required: one with a left and right beveled edge. There is a specialized fishtail chisel, which combines left beveled and right beveled.
• The angle chisel is a V-shaped tool with an angle of 60 to 90 degrees. This is a tool for embossed or contour carving.
• If the tool is made in the form of a semicircle, it is called a radius or "semicircular". This is the most requested tool. With its help, they achieve a smooth, accurate transition when deepening into the material of the product.
• A narrow selection of material is made with staple chisels. Their edges have bumpers of different heights and different angles.
• Cerazik is used in artistic cutting of products. The working part of such a tool is made of thinner metal and has a semicircular shape.

Despite the fact that all of the above types of chisels are used for wood carving, their intended purpose is different.

Manufacturers from Canada, Japan and the USA rightfully occupy the leading positions in the premium class. Their products are notable for the high quality of the materials used, balance, ease of use - "they themselves fit into the hand." Manufacturers of Russian, Swiss, Czech, Dutch, German and Latin American brands can be attributed to the middle (second) group. Their tools are made at a high level, the materials used are of high quality. The service life is slightly inferior to tools from the premium segment and requires minimal rework before starting to use.

Less attractive for professional carpenters are tools of the third group, produced without the use of modern materials or technologies, with a broken geometry of the cutting part, unbalanced. Part of such a tool requires significant improvement or cannot perform its functions at all. In terms of their cost, they can be comparable to the instruments from the second group or be much cheaper. Most of the manufacturers from this group are located in the post-Soviet territory, in China and Taiwan, Poland and Serbia.

Premium chisels are much more expensive, their cost may exceed the cost of analogues from the second group by several dozen times. They say about such a tool: "He cuts himself." In practice, this means that the cutting part of the tool receives and correctly redistributes the force applied to the handle over the entire cutting part of the chisel.

Manufacturer Blue spruce - handmade tools from the USA. Used high speed steel A2, corrugated maple handle, perfect geometry. For a set of 4 chisels, you will have to pay almost $ 500.

Handmade chisels are also offered by Lie-nielson, USA. The characteristics of the tools are almost similar to the previous manufacturer, but the cutting part has a so-called skirt at its base - a conical recess for attaching a handle. The cost of sets of 5, 6 and 7 pieces ranges from $ 300 to $ 400.

In this price category are tools from Veritas, Canada. Their latest development is a cutting blade made of PM-V11 alloy. This powder steel keeps sharpening more than 2 times longer in comparison with high-speed steel A2, is more wear-resistant, has increased strength and ease of sharpening. Sold in a set of 5 pieces.

Japanese manufacturers of the premium segment are represented by several companies. Shirigami offers a set of 10 flat chisels for over $ 650. These are hand-forged chisels made of two-layer steel in a special way. The handles are made of red oak and end with a metal ring. Akatsuki has introduced a 10-piece handcrafted incisor set to the market. The tools are made of double layer steel with a wooden handle and are priced at over $ 800.

The middle segment is represented much wider. Their price range is in the range of $ 100 - $ 220. The leading positions are occupied by the Swiss Pfeil chisels. Their working surface is well polished and the edge is perfectly sharpened. In terms of operating time, they are minimally inferior to the premium segment. Their working part is made of 01 high carbon steel and the handles are made of elm.

The main competitor of the Swiss is the Mexican manufacturer Stanley Sweetheart. They offer sets of 4 or 8 chrome vanadium steel chisels. Chisels from Lee valley, Ashley iles, Robert sorby, Kirschen and some others are quite similar in their characteristics and problems. Their cost does not exceed $ 130.

There are many manufacturers from the third segment. Their cutting surface quality is low, so they quickly become blunt. The instrument is poorly balanced or unbalanced, poorly "lies in the hand", requires long-term additional processing.

You need to buy carpentry tools only in specialized stores.It is necessary to decide: for what purposes and for what type of work a tool is needed, what set of tools will be used to complete the task. For example, if the execution of the work requires cleaning the surfaces of 6 mm, 12 mm and 40 mm, obviously, you will have to purchase at least 3 chisels for each size. No master will be able to level a plane 40 mm wide with a chisel with a width of 5 mm.

Analyze the work ahead, study all the stages on your own, consult with specialists in this field and with consultants of a specialized store. Now that the entire scope of work is already clear and the set of chisels that need to be purchased has been thought out, choose the appropriate price segment.

One of the most important evaluation criteria when choosing a chisel is the time that the chisel can perform its functions. If the chisel becomes blunt during the working day, then it is either poorly sharpened or unsuitable for work.

The quality of the cut and the durability of the cutting edge will depend on this. Pay attention to the width of the chisel blade. If it changes by more than 0.05 mm, it is unlikely that it can be sharpened properly.

The next important factor when choosing a chisel is the sharpening angle. It is determined based on the quality and composition of the working part of the chisel and the necessary tasks. The usual sharpening angle of a flat chisel is 25-27 degrees for European and American manufacturers. Japanese manufacturers sharpen their tools at an angle of 30-32 degrees. If the sharpening angle is reduced, the cutting edge will be damaged due to the hardness of the metal in the lower cutting edge.

Cutting chisels when working with soft wood are sharpened at an angle of 25 degrees, if it is necessary to work with hard wood - 30 degrees. All impact chisels with a thick working surface must be sharpened at an angle of at least 35 degrees.