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What are the different shapes of wood chisel blade?

What are the different shapes of wood chisel blade?

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wood chisels, chisel, carpenters tool, hand tool, chipping, chopping, carving, scraping, chiselling, wonkee donkee tools DIY guide, how to use a chisel There are many different shapes of chisel blade to choose from, but which is which? And what are they best suited to? Read the guide below and get in the know.

Blade faces

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Flat face

Chisel blades with flat faces are most often used for chopping tasks and for cleaning up 90 degree angles and square edges.

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Bevel face

Chisels with bevelled faces are frequently used to cut and pare joints that have sharp internal angles. Note that these are slightly different from chisels with bevelled edges – the bevels here meet in the middle, but bevelled edges (see below) are not so wide, leaving a flat section in the middle of the blade (see below).

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Oval face

Chisel blades with oval (or “rounded”) faces are the least common and are found mostly on chisels designed for paring and carving.

Blade edges

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Square edge

Square edge chisels are sometime referred to as “straight edges” or “plain edges”. A square edged chisel has a rectangular cross-section.

wood chisels, chisel, carpenters tool, hand tool, chipping, chopping, carving, scraping, chiselling, wonkee donkee tools DIY guide, how to use a chisel A disadvantage of having a chisel with square edges is that you cannot get into the corners of acute angled joints such as a dovetail joint.
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Bevel edge

Chisels have blades with bevelled edges. This means that the edges have been ground down so that they can be worked into the corners and joints with acute angles. The bevel edged chisel has a trapezoidal cross-section.

wood chisels, chisel, carpenters tool, hand tool, chipping, chopping, carving, scraping, chiselling, wonkee donkee tools DIY guide, how to use a chisel The chief advantage of chisels with bevel edges is that they can be worked into the corners of dovetail joints and other joints with acute angles.

Blade and cutting edge

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Bevel

Most bench, bevel, paring and dovetail chisels have a fairly thin blade and a cutting edge with a ground angle of between 20 and 30 degrees. These chisels are often hand-manipulated and used for removing very small amounts of wood by scraping, paring, and shaving. The finer angle means that the blade is very sharp but may not withstand the force of heavy mallet blows.

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Firmer

As the name suggests, firmer chisels are typically manufactured with a thicker, sturdier blade. This is because they are frequently used in conjunction with a mallet for heavy-duty cutting and chopping tasks. The cutting edge is usually ground to an angle of between 25 and 35 degrees, giving the cutting edge greater strength when heavy mallet blows are needed.

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Mortise

Mortise chisels have the thickest blades of all as they are frequently struck with heavy blows from a mallet. They are often used for chopping out excess timber from mortise joints and to pry out chopped fibres, so they need to be able to withstand high levels of stress. The cutting edge is usually ground to an angle of between 30 and 40 degrees, giving the mortise chisel a sharp edge that can bear up under heavy-duty work.

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