Rounded bevels?

[Trafalgar]

:-k I have never tried rounded bevels so I can't (at present) comment on whether they they work or not, but something occurred to me yesterday - they are obviously easier to grind than straight ones so why in all the thousands and thousands of new and used chisels I've seen in my life have I never seen one? They are not an innovation, so presumably in the case of second hand ones many people have changed, and then changed back?

I've seen them on vintage tools. I bought an entire set of Marples straight-sided firmers from a UK Ebay'er and every single one of them had a distinct and rounded-under bevel. They cut great off the UPS truck and still do. I just went with what I had. The backs were flat and highly polished as well.

In what context have you seen thousands and thousands of vintage chisels?

 

[Trafalgar]

Ok, what I don't get is this. If you proceed with the "rounded bevel" approach of dipping the handle end of the tool through the sharpening stroke, during only the very first bit of the stroke is the the bit that matters - the cutting edge - touching the stone. For the rest of the stroke you are doing work removing metal behind the edge that makes little difference - so why not keep the angle fixed and have a single bevel (removing less metal) or just grind that bit away using a quiicker method.

I don't doubt that you can sharpen a tool that way. I can see that if you want that rounded shape e.g., on a carving tool, it is a good method. But I can't see why it is any better than any other method.

By dipping the handle you prevent the angle at the cutting edge from growing.

It's fast and the edge tends to hold up better at lower honing angles for me.

 

[lanemaux]

Hi Phil p. Just a word from the colonies here. Most of the tools that I see "in the wild" (surrounded by Mennonites here) have sported the rounding you mention not seeing much of. The tooling that shows up in the boutique second hand galleries (read as tourist and city folk traps) are all glossy and either concave or multi faceted straining for flat ...poorly. I would guess that the user tools of my near silent nieghbours are sharpened for use on stones by the craftsmen Themselves. The others lying on shelves at mad prices as rustically decorative were "tidied" for sales appeal. Just an observation as I spend way too much time with a blissful smile on my face engaging in the zen- like trance sharpening state.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

One edge that is ideal for a rounded bevel is the mortice chisel. I use the English Oval Bolstered variety. These are prepared with the traditional 20 degree primary bevel and a 35 degree secondary bevel. The secondary is ground on a diamond plate, and then honed on waterstones. It is refreshed on a strop with green compound. This keeps it going a long time. The rounded bevel provides maximum strength.

Getting the angle close is easy enough using a sliding bevel set at 35 degrees, and grinding/honing on the pull.

The resulting edge is sharp enough to pare pine and slice its endgrain.

Apologies for the poor picture. It's the only one I have ...

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[carlb40]

Quick and easy. No jigs or fancy kit. Works well on oil stones. It's a brain-off operation, you can do it while you are looking out of the window or watching the telly!

And i can do the same with my jig and scary sharp. :roll: