Know Your Wood Chisels
Wood chisels have been around for thousands of years and are essential tools that any woodworker should have in their toolbox. A good quality chisel can make all the difference when it comes to tackling a carpentry or furniture project, allowing you to work with precision and accuracy. Let’s take a closer look at the different kinds of chisels and what how they can be used.
Different Types of Chisels
When it comes to buying a wood chisel, there is a wide variety of options available. The most common types of wood chisels include firmer chisels, mortise chisels, paring chisels, beveled edge chisels, and corner chisels. Each type of chisel has its own specific uses; for example, firmer and mortise chisels are designed for heavier work while paring and beveled edge chisels are more suited to lighter tasks such as trimming or shaping. It’s important to choose the right type of chisel for the job at hand.
A chisel is a steel tool fitted with a composite or wooden handle. It has a single beveled edge on the end of the steep part of blade. Based on the way they were constructed, chisels fall into two general classes: Tang chisels are ones where part of the steel enters the handle. Socket chisels are constructed so that a wooden or plastic handle fits into the handle.
TANG CHISELS
SOCKET CHISELS
The shank of the chisel has a pointed end that fitted into the handle. The point is called a Tang and the chisel is called a Tang Chisel
Tang chisels are usually designed for manipulation by hand, however, some have steel caps on the ends of the handle to be used with a mallet.
The end of the steel blade is shaped like a cup or a socket that receives a plastic or wooden handle. The chisel is called a Socket Chisel.
Socket chisels can be used by hand or they may be used for striking with a mallet.
Wood chisels are also divided into types depending on their weights and thicknesses, the shape or design of the blade, and the work they are intended to perform.
Firmer Chisel
A firmer chisel has a strong, rectangular cross-section blade, designed for both heavy and light work.
Beveled Edge Chisel
A Beveled Edge chisel has a bevel ground on each edge of the blade.
The beveled edge bench chisel is the most common and useful tool for most home and professional shops. They are beveled on the edges to get into tight places like dovetails.
Paring Chisel
A Paring chisel has a relatively thin blade and is beveled along the sides for fine paring work.
It is usually long and thin and designed to be used with one hand holding the handle and driving the chisel and the other hand over the top of the blade guiding the cut. It’s mostly used for paring off thin shavings of wood when fitting joints.
Butt Chisel
The Butt chisel has a short blade, designed for work in hard-to-get-at places. It is commonly used for chiseling the gains for butt hinges on doors, which is where the name comes from.
Mortising Chisel
A Framing chisel…Mortising chisel is similar to a socket firmer chisel but has a narrow blade, designed for chiseling out the deep, narrow mortises for mortise-and-tenon joints. This type of work requires levering out a lot of chips and requires an extra thick blade and shaft to prevent breaking.
Framing Chisel
A Framing chisel is shaped like a firmer chisel, but has a very heavy, strong blade designed for work in rough carpentry.
How To Use a Chisel
A wood chisel should be treated with care. Used correctly, it’s a safe and useful tool. Used incorrectly and it becomes the cause of many wood shop accidents.
A wood chisel should always be held with the flat side or back side of the chisel against the work for smoothing and finishing cuts. Whenever possible it should not be pushed straight into the work, but should be moved laterally at the same time it is pushed forward. This method ensures a shearing cut and is easier for the sharp blade to do its work. The shearing cut, with care, will produce a smooth and even surface even when the work is cross-grained. On rough work, use the hammer or mallet to drive the socket-type chisel.
Pm fine work, use your hand as the driving force on tang-type chisels. For rough cuts, the bevel edge of the chisel is held against the work. Whenever possible, other tools such as saws and planes should be used to remove as much of the work as possible, and the chisel used for finishing purposes only.
Using the Chisel Safely
There are a few basic precautions that you should observe at all times when using a chisel.
- Secure your work so that it cannot move or come loose.
- Keep both hands behind the blade at all times. Never chisel toward you hand or fingers. Many accidents have occurred by woodworkers trying to hold the work with one hand and driving a chisel with the other.
- Do not start a cut on a guideline. Start slightly away from it so there is a small amount of material to be removed by the finishing cuts.
- When starting a cut, always chisel away from the guideline toward the wast wood, so that no splitting will occur at the edge.
- NEVER cut towards yourself with a chisel.
- Don’t try to take off too much material at one time. Make the shavings thin, especially when finishing.
- Examine the grain of the wood to see which way it runs. Cut with the grain whenever possible. This severs the fibers an leaves the wood smooth. Cutting against the grain may split the wood and leave it rough.
Chiseling is an art form that requires skill and precision if you want to achieve the best results. Start by marking out where you want your cuts to be made using a pencil or marker pen. Then, firmly hold the handle of your chosen wood chisel with one hand and strike it with a mallet in the other hand until your desired shape is achieved. Always wear protective gloves when working with sharp tools like this! When you’re done using your tool, make sure to clean off any excess sawdust before putting it away safely in its designated storage place.
The Benefits Of Using A Wood Chisel
Using a wood chisel offers many advantages over other types of carpentry tools including accuracy, control and less effort required from the user. For example, they allow you to get into tight spaces that would otherwise be inaccessible with larger tools like saws or planes. They also give you more control over how deep or shallow your cuts are as well as providing great accuracy, than electric saws which tend to leave jagged edges due to their rotating blades.
Many woodworking projects require precise cutting techniques if they are going to turn out well-finished pieces that meet expectations—and this is where having quality woodworking tools such as a good quality wood chisel can really come in handy! Investing in a few good chisels for your shop is a must if your serious about woodworking.