Woodworking Chisels
Chisels have a wide variety of uses. Many types of chisels have been devised, each one specially suited for its intended use. Different types of chisels may be constructed quite differently, in terms of blade width or length, as well as shape and hardness of the blade. They may have wooden handles attached or may be made entirely of one piece of metal.
Wooden furniture making requires special chisels for shaping and bringing out the features and grain of your wood. Woodworking chisels range from quite small hand tools for tiny details, to large chisels used remove large sections of wood, in 'roughing out' the shape of a pattern or design.
Ordinarily, in woodcarving, one starts with a larger tool and gradually progresses to smaller chisels to finish the detail. According to their function there are many names given to woodworking chisels.
- Butt chisel: a short chisel with beveled sides and straight edge for creating joints
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- Carving chisel: is used for intricate designs and sculpting: cutting edges are many: gouge, skew, parting, straight, paring and V-grove to name a few.
- Corner chisel: it resembles a punch and has an L-shaped cutting edge. It is used to clean out square holes, mortises and corners with 90 degree angles.
- Flooring chisel: it has been designed to cut and lift flooring materials for removal or repair: it is ideal for tongue-and-groove flooring.
- Framing chisel: this tool is normally used with a mallet: it is similar to a butt chisel except that it has a longer and slightly flexible blade.
- Slick: a large chisel driven by manual pressure.
- Mortise chisel: it has a thick, rigid blade with a straight cutting edge and square sides to cut mortises or other similar joints in wood.
- Paring chisel: designed with a long blade which is ideal for cleaning grooves and accessing tight spaces.
- Skew chisel: is made with a 60 degree cutting angle and is used for trimming and finishing.
Blades are made of high-quality carbon, heat-treated steel with precision ground cutting edge. Blade is hardened and tempered high chrome, carbon alloy steel.
Chisels require regular sharpening to keep them in top condition, for your convenience purchase a sharpening stone when you buy your chisel. Also, a pair of safety glasses is a must have for any tool shop.