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Figured every 'premium' chisel was a racket, then a guy in Waco handed me his 1 inch and I ate my words
I have been beating on the same $30 set of box store chisels for about 6 years and I always figured the fancy ones were for guys who wanted to brag more than build. Last month I was framing a cedar fence in Waco and the old timer I was working with kept telling me my chisels were fighting me every cut. I blew him off twice, so on the third day he just handed me his 1 inch bench chisel and said try it on the next hinge mortise. I made one paring cut and the shaving came off in a clean curl instead of crushing the grain like mine always do. I checked the edge with my thumb and it still felt like a razor even after a full morning of work. I went home and looked up what a good chisel actually costs new and almost fell over, but I found a decent used one at a flea market in Austin for $45 and it has been night and day on trim work. Now I am wondering how much of my sloppy work over the years was me and how much was the tool. Anybody got a favorite way to bring an old flea market chisel back to life without wrecking the temper?
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richardrodriguez14d ago
I used to say the same thing about premium chisels being a racket, then a buddy let me try his old Stanley and I felt dumb for all the years I spent sharpening junk. The steel just holds an edge so much longer, and that alone changes how clean your cuts come out because you stop forcing the tool. For flea market finds I just scrub off the rust with steel wool and oil, then flatten the back on wet sandpaper up to 2000 grit, nothing that builds heat so the temper stays put.
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