Hand Tools?

[wilburpan]

Inexpensive chisels are fine, you will just need to sharpen them more often. When you want to invest in better chisels, I recommend Japanese. They take a while longer to sharpen, but they hold an edge for a very long time.

Kari, how do you go about sharpening? I use Japanese chisels, and it only takes me a few minutes to get from dull to razor sharp.

[Kari Hultman]

Kari, how do you go about sharpening? I use Japanese chisels, and it only takes me a few minutes to get from dull to razor sharp.

Wilbur, I don't hollow grind my Japanese chisels, so they take a little longer to sharpen (once you've gone through a couple micro bevel sharpenings) than the chisels that I do hollow grind. I use Japanese waterstones.

[wilburpan]

Wilbur, I don't hollow grind my Japanese chisels, so they take a little longer to sharpen (once you've gone through a couple micro bevel sharpenings) than the chisels that I do hollow grind. I use Japanese waterstones.

Ah. I use Japanese waterstones as well. I don't hollow grind or put a microbevel on my Japanese chisels. Maybe the lack of a microbevel on my chisels is the difference -- that way I don't wind up having to spend extra time grinding through the microbevel area when it comes time to do that.

I don't think the microbevel adds much to maintaining a Japanese chisel since the thinness of the hard steel layer means that it doesn't take very long to bring that layer to sharpness. You may save some time in sharpening by using a micro bevel, but probably not nearly as much as you would on a non-laminated western chisel.

To Jeff: Like Kari, I also would recommend Japanese chisels when you get to the point that you want a better chisel.