A woodcarving chisel is a sharp-edged tool used to shape wood, often into intricate patterns. There are many different types of woodcarving chisel, and each is designed for a specific purpose.
A brief history of woodcarving chisels
Since the days of the earliest tools, humans have adorned every article of their lives and object in their use, from the Egyptian sarcophagi of the pharaohs…
…to the carved wooden canoe paddles of the Polynesians.
Our seemingly inescapable desire to adorn, enhance and decorate the objects we use has led to woodcarving chisels being reinvented and improved over the centuries…
…from the earliest sharpened flint rocks…
…to shaped copper chisels.
Then, with the improvement of metalworking technologies, iron chisels soon replaced their softer copper counterparts.
When humans learned how to mix carbon with iron to make steel, iron woodcarving chisels were superseded by stronger steel varieties.
Though the woodcarving chisel’s basic form and function has remained the same, modern woodcarving chisels are typically now made from hardened steel and honed to razor sharpness.