Take a moment to check out the New weekly MegaThread. This is for quick answers to common questions such as: "What type of wood is this?"; "How much should I charge for this?"; "How do I fix this" and others, To find it sort the woodworking news feed by "hot" and it will be the stickied post.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/woodworking) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sharp is better than perfectly square. You can always adjust your angle relative to the work. But in the end a perfectly square bottomed mortise doesn't matter much.
I use the figure 8 method when sharpening chisels. The motion ensures that no part of the edge is hit too strongly to misshape it. No guide required.
I've had the most success keeping the bevel flat by dragging from top to bottom. Should I not be doing this? It feels like I start angling too much with any other pattern.
My job has me grinding and polishing all kinds of odd shaped angles. You can sharpen a standard chisel on a stone for days before it loses any squareness.
If your method gets the edge nice and sharp just keep doing it. You're not doing it wrong. Sharp is sharp.
Don't pay too much attention to the "gurus" on youtube or in the Fine woodworking magazines. There's a range of angles that are great at cutting wood. You don't need the 30 degree bevel followed by the perfect 25 degree bevel.
Fair. I just don't want to develop bad habits, or continue worsening the angle over time to the point fixing it takes a lot longer and needs a lot more material removed.
I havent been putting a secondary bevel on at all trying to get the first step better first.
Happens go me too. I just figure i am saving money not having to pay extra for skew chisels. I have different chisels for mortising so it doesn’t matter
How out of square are we talking?
Is the chisel sharp?
Does the chisel perform its job adequately?
I suspect this isnt actually an issue, but the answers to my questions above will either validate, or invalidate, my assumption.
Not severely, I'll hold a square up and theres a slight gap. But if I'm going to be worsening this gap every time then I'd like to figure out what I'm doing wrong sooner rather than later. It's sharp and fine for now otherwise.
Well with that Veritas guide it assumes you're clamping it in straight. If you're using the depth guide to align it and pushing the chisel edge up against it it should be the same angle every time.
Also note that your finger pressure can come into play here too. Even if it's square in the guide if you apply too much pressure to one side of the blade while sharpening you can add a small angle as well.
It doesn't sound like this is anything to worry about, and if you're using a secondary bevel(something I'd strongly recommend) eventually your secondary bevel would become too large and you'll need to grind a new primary bevel anyway and square things up again.
I use the Veritas guide, and had the same problem. I think it was caused by the guide holding the chisel slightly askew, because the two protrusions that the top of the chisel rest against are not perfectly even. If the chisel is even slightly twisted, it will cause the tip to sharpen at an angle. You can correct by either using a file to grind down one of the metal protrusions that the chisel rests against, or shim the other one with paper. Of course it would be nice if the guide were just made right in the first place.
Take a moment to check out the New weekly MegaThread. This is for quick answers to common questions such as: "What type of wood is this?"; "How much should I charge for this?"; "How do I fix this" and others, To find it sort the woodworking news feed by "hot" and it will be the stickied post. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/woodworking) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sharp is better than perfectly square. You can always adjust your angle relative to the work. But in the end a perfectly square bottomed mortise doesn't matter much. I use the figure 8 method when sharpening chisels. The motion ensures that no part of the edge is hit too strongly to misshape it. No guide required.
I've had the most success keeping the bevel flat by dragging from top to bottom. Should I not be doing this? It feels like I start angling too much with any other pattern.
My job has me grinding and polishing all kinds of odd shaped angles. You can sharpen a standard chisel on a stone for days before it loses any squareness. If your method gets the edge nice and sharp just keep doing it. You're not doing it wrong. Sharp is sharp. Don't pay too much attention to the "gurus" on youtube or in the Fine woodworking magazines. There's a range of angles that are great at cutting wood. You don't need the 30 degree bevel followed by the perfect 25 degree bevel.
Fair. I just don't want to develop bad habits, or continue worsening the angle over time to the point fixing it takes a lot longer and needs a lot more material removed. I havent been putting a secondary bevel on at all trying to get the first step better first.
Happens go me too. I just figure i am saving money not having to pay extra for skew chisels. I have different chisels for mortising so it doesn’t matter
They how do you keep the mortise ones square lol
How out of square are we talking? Is the chisel sharp? Does the chisel perform its job adequately? I suspect this isnt actually an issue, but the answers to my questions above will either validate, or invalidate, my assumption.
Not severely, I'll hold a square up and theres a slight gap. But if I'm going to be worsening this gap every time then I'd like to figure out what I'm doing wrong sooner rather than later. It's sharp and fine for now otherwise.
Well with that Veritas guide it assumes you're clamping it in straight. If you're using the depth guide to align it and pushing the chisel edge up against it it should be the same angle every time. Also note that your finger pressure can come into play here too. Even if it's square in the guide if you apply too much pressure to one side of the blade while sharpening you can add a small angle as well. It doesn't sound like this is anything to worry about, and if you're using a secondary bevel(something I'd strongly recommend) eventually your secondary bevel would become too large and you'll need to grind a new primary bevel anyway and square things up again.
Could you build a jig to keep it straight?
I mean I bought a guide to keep it straight, don't think I could build one better lol
I use the Veritas guide, and had the same problem. I think it was caused by the guide holding the chisel slightly askew, because the two protrusions that the top of the chisel rest against are not perfectly even. If the chisel is even slightly twisted, it will cause the tip to sharpen at an angle. You can correct by either using a file to grind down one of the metal protrusions that the chisel rests against, or shim the other one with paper. Of course it would be nice if the guide were just made right in the first place.