[Beginners Guide] Chisel: Everything You Should Know

A chisel is one of the essential hand tools for carving, cutting, and shaping materials like wood, metal, and stone. They always come different shapes, designs, styles, and sizes for various purposes. Your choice of a chisel type depends on the workpiece and the project.

This post explores what a chisel is used for, the main types of chisels, and how to use a chisel correctly. Now, let's keep reading and learn something.

What is a Chisel Used For?

Wood chisels are hand tools that cut, carve, and trim wood edges, especially in woodworking, furniture-making, and carving scenarios. They are also able to groove, create mortise and tenon joints, and remove excess wood. A chisel typically consists of a blade (with a sharp cutting edge at the end) and a handle (usually made of wood or rubber).

Features of Chisels

Chisels are powerful hand tools in woodworking. Their designs and ways of use have unique advantages in specific scenarios, but they also have certain limitations.

ADVANTAGES

• Precision: Manual operation allows you to adjust the depth and direction of the cut, making it suitable for high-accuracy work.
• Flexibility: no need for electricity or complex equipment, suitable for small spaces and complex angle machining.
• Cost-effective and durable: high-quality chisels are long-lasting and low maintenance, requiring only periodic sharpening for repeated use.
• Eco-friendly and quiet: no noise and dust pollution, suitable for home or small workspace.

DISADVANTAGES

• Inefficiency: it relies on human labor, and removes wood in bulk much slower than mechanical tools such as electric planes.
• Skills are needed: the operator needs to master a lot of skills, and novices tend to make the cut surface uneven, etc.
• Safety hazards: improper operation is easy to cut your hands, and knocking may hurt your eyes due to splashing wood chips.

Types of Chisel

Chisels are available in different designs, sizes, and shapes for different machining needs. In this section, we will discuss the various types of chisels.

Bevel-edged chisel (bench chisel): It is the most common chisel that has a beveled edge for finer acute angled cutting and trimming. It allows maximum access to dovetail joints. You should use it with a mallet.

Firmer chisel: As the name suggests, it has a thicker blade, making it stronger than a bevel-edged chisel for heavier-duty and rougher work. It can withstand the strikes of a hammer or a mallet.

Mortise chisel: A strong and heavy chisel with a thick and rigid blade. It is particularly useful for cutting mortises and levering out waste woodwork. Due to its design, it is long-lasting and can withstand repeated mallet strikes.

Paring chisel: Both the blade and the handle are thin and long. It is ideal for cleaning grooves and accessing tight spaces for precise cuts. There’s no need to use it with a mallet.

Skew chisel: It is suitable for finish carving, and is always used with woodturning lathes for carving out shapes. Skew chisels come in all sizes and many different styles, including rectangular, oval, and round, each has its own strengths.

Dovetail chisel: It is specifically designed for cutting dovetail joints. It features a long blade and a bevel cutting edge. It doesn't require hammering.

Corner chisel: It has an L-shaped cutting edge, and specializes in cleaning out square holes, cutting 90-degree corners.

Slick chisel: It’s a very large chisel used to take long, thin slices off a wood block. No need for hammering but manual pressure driven.

How to Use a Wood Chisel?

Knowing how to use a wood chisel correctly is a essential factor to create a beautiful slot or a joint. Next, follow the steps below to handle a chisel and shape your wood.

1. Wear an eye-protection like goggles.
2. Choose the right chisel with the right width for the hole size you're chiseling.
3. Use a ruler and pencil to mark the dimensions of the square hole you want to cut on the board.
4. Clamp the wood to ensure it remains stable during the chiseling process.
5. Hold the chisel perpendicular to the wood and position the bevel side down against the wood.
6. Use a mallet to gently strike the chisel (if applicable).
7. Take off little bits of wood at a time, especially with hardwood.
8. Clear the wood chips in the slot with a chisel to ensure a clear view.
9. Apply an even force to keep the depth of the cut consistent each time.
10. Work with the wood grain to avoid tear-out and take your time to achieve a smooth finish.
11. Clean up the wood left in the four corners and surfaces to avoid roundovers.
12. Sand the walls with sandpapers to make them smooth.

Note: You need a protective cover to shade the chisel’s blade when not in use. If your chisel is dull, use a honing stone like a diamond stone to regularly maintain it. In this way, the chisel can stay sharp and ready for use.

To Sum Up

Chisels, an indispensable tool for traditional woodworking, have robust functions and come in different types. Proper use of techniques and regular maintenance and sharpening can improve accuracy and efficiency. The central key is to be safe and to choose the right chisel for the characteristics of different woods.

FindBuyTool offers a premium quality chisel set to help you complete various woodworking projects. Those chisels feature sharp cutting edges, making you to cut, scrap, and shape wood. To produce an excellent result, try cooperating with a mallet.

If you find this post helpful, please click the buttons below to share it with your friends. We would be very grateful!