Woodcarving Chisel Maintenance and Care

3rd March 2020

Woodcarving chisel maintenance and care


	Shop for Wood Carving Chisels


		Keeping your woodcarving chisels sharp
		Protective caps Some manufacturers will supply chisels with protective caps that will keep the chisel’s cutting edge from becoming blunted or damaged in between uses. If your chisels are not supplied with these, you can purchase them from most hardware stores. Note: these protective caps are not designed for gouges or other curved or shaped chisels.

		Storage roll/wallet A storage roll or wallet can be purchased to keep your woodcarving chisels and gouges in order as well as reducing the risk of them being damaged in between uses.

		Storage case Keeping your chisels and gouges in a handy storage case in between uses will help them keep their sharp cutting edges. It will also be easier finding the specific size of chisel you need at a moment’s notice. Storage cases are typically a box made of wood with space for each chisel or gouge.

		Sharpening stone A sharpening stone is used to resharpen dulled chisels and other sharp-edged tools. Many sharpening stones are double-sided, with a coarse grit side and a fine grit side for different stages of sharpening.

		Conical slip stone Slip stones are specially-shaped sharpening stones designed to accommodate the curved blade of a woodcarving gouge. The concave side can be used to hone the outer bevel and the convex side for the inside bevel.

		Honing strop A honing strop has an intricately shaped platform which is used to hone the inside and outside edges of woodcarving gouges and parting tools.

		Leather strop Leather strops are soft, flexible pieces of leather which are used to polish the sharpened cutting edge of a chisel, gouge or other cutting tool.

		Cutting oil Cutting oil is a lubricant which you put on a sharpening stone prior to resharpening a chisel or gouge. The oil eases the movement of the tool’s blade along the stone. (Note that some sharpening stones are not designed to be used with oil).

		How to sharpen woodcarving chisels, gouges and parting tools
		Keeping your chisels and gouges sharp is of the utmost importance. Sharp woodcarving tools are actually less dangerous than using blunt ones.

		Gouges
		Step 1 – Secure sharpening stone Secure a sharpening stone (fine side up) in a vice or on a suitable worktop. This will stop any unwanted movement when you come to start sharpening your tools.

		Step 2 – Oil stone Apply some lubrication (preferably cutting oil) to your sharpening stone. This will ease the movement of your tool’s blade as it is rubbed across the stone.

		Step 3 – Sharpen outer bevel Hold your gouge horizontally and at a right-angle to the sharpening stone, with the back of the blade resting on the stone. Raise the handle so that the bevel lies flat on the stone and begin moving the blade back and forth along the stone, twisting it as you go.

		Do not over-twist as you move the gouge back and forth along the stone. Over-twisting could lead to rounding off the corners of the blade’s cutting edge.

		Step 4 – Sharpen inner bevel Using a honing strop or conical slip stone, turn the gouge over, raise the handle, and begin sharpening the inner bevel. Always pull the gouge backwards when honing the inner bevel.

		Step 5 – Polish outer bevel Once you have honed the bevel to your required sharpness, remove any burrs and polish up your cutting edge by rubbing it against a leather strop.

		Step 6 – Polish inner bevel Fold your leather strop over to create a curved surface and repeat the polishing on the inner bevel.