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Secondary Bevel on Paring Chisels

A

Andy Kev.

Nordic Pine
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Paring chisels generally have a lower bevel angle than bench chisels. This is obviously helpful if you're going through end grain. Therefore, I wonder if a secondary bevel on a PC is desirable as it steepens the bevel a bit.

It's not exactly a massive effort to have the whole bevel on the stone when sharpening. Therefore I've been thinking about binning the secondary bevel on my paring chisel in order to maximise the benefit of a low angle bevel.

Any views?
 
It's all very marginal, Andy. A few degrees here and there makes no difference. It's a pain trying to hone the whole face, but a useful compromise might be if you have a hollow ground principle bevel, when honing "flat" on the stone would produce a secondary bevel by default.
 
My Japanese paring and dovetail chisels are ground at 20deg and honed at 25 and are strictly for use without a tapometer; that few degrees for hand paring does make a difference - Rob
 
Thanks for the replies.

My paring chisel with secondary bevel does work of course so I don't suppose it's such a big deal.

As for hollow ground: nice idea but that would involve an investment in a Tormek or similar system. I don't suppose there are any hand powered grinding wheels available these days. I don't say that out of tight fistedness but rather because I try to avoid machines where reasonably possible.
 
I use a hand crank grinder for grinding my chisels and plane irons. It has one of those Lee Valley/Veritas tool stands.

For bevel down plane irons I grind at 25 and hone at 30 degrees.

But for chisels that aren't beaters I experiment with angles. A potential paring chisel I might grind at 20 and hone at 25, or even 23 degrees. Sure beats trying to get the whole bevel at 25/23 degrees!

If the steel won't hold an edge at that angle I just hone steeper bevels until I find an angle that won't collapse (and find another chisel for paring). I'm too tight to buy real paring chisels.

I keep a note book detailing what bevels are on what chisels (as i use training wheels I just note the settings on the V mk2 guide).

HTH.

Cheers, Vann.
 
Hi Vann,

that's useful info.

If I ever see a decent hand grinder offered by one of the good second hand dealers, I will snap it up. It's another tool that I think modern manufacturers could consider offering. A foot-powered one would be really brilliant.

Andy.
 
Hold out for one with a 6" wheel, Andy, then the grinding wheel world is the mollusc of your choice. I know of folks that have rigged up a hand-cranked to a foot pedal, but it's not impossible to get the technique of grinding with one hand while guiding the blade with the other. Are you good at patting your head whilst rubbing your stomach? :D Oh look, a very old blog post on how I do it. That's handy for when I have to relearn it again...
 
Thanks for the tip, Alf. 6" is it then. I reckon I probably could manage it one handed but I think it would be great if a treadle-based kit were available that one could build into a home-made grinding table, in much the same way that decent vices are available. But that's not going to happen, so I'll continue to keep an eye on the websites.

I remember you from the other place and I must say that as a beginner, I found your tool reviews to be very helpful. I presume that you ended up owning everything that Veritas ever made! Good to see you here.
 
It was Alf who (unknowlingly?) encouraged me to use a hand cranked grinder - well Alf and the fact that I burned a few blades on the powered grinder :oops:

I remember asking Alf about why she cranks with the hand she does. I'm right handed. I crank with my right hand and move the blade with my left. IIRC Alf does the opposite.

Cheers, Vann.
 
Andy Kev.":18r4pwju said:
I think it would be great if a treadle-based kit were available that one could build into a home-made grinding table
Click to expand...

Just thinking about what would need to be in such a kit... I think all the bits are pretty widely available or could be easily improvised without welding or special tools.
Some plywood, threaded rod, a coarse grinding wheel, some thick dished washers, a few bearings or plummer blocks.
You could look at treadle powered grinders in old catalogues for ideas.

Another tack would be to use bits of a scrap bicycle. The online museum of foot powered machinery could help:

http://www.footpoweredmachinery.com/man ... rpolisher/
 
Andy Kev.":niqp9oio said:
I presume that you ended up owning everything that Veritas ever made! Good to see you here.
Click to expand...

Thank you, and I wish!

Vann":niqp9oio said:
It was Alf who (unknowlingly?) encouraged me to use a hand cranked grinder - well Alf and the fact that I burned a few blades on the powered grinder :oops:

I remember asking Alf about why she cranks with the hand she does. I'm right handed. I crank with my right hand and move the blade with my left. IIRC Alf does the opposite.
Click to expand...

We'll go with unknowingly... ;) (Although blades can be burned with a hand-cranked just as well, if you put some welly in it) As to which hand, I do it your way too, Vann. It's odd, because apart from a cricket bat, I'm very right-handed and it would seem all the wrong way round. :eusa-think:
 
AndyT":2o15phoj said:
Andy Kev.":2o15phoj said:
I think it would be great if a treadle-based kit were available that one could build into a home-made grinding table
Click to expand...

Just thinking about what would need to be in such a kit... I think all the bits are pretty widely available or could be easily improvised without welding or special tools.
Some plywood, threaded rod, a coarse grinding wheel, some thick dished washers, a few bearings or plummer blocks.
You could look at treadle powered grinders in old catalogues for ideas.

Another tack would be to use bits of a scrap bicycle. The online museum of foot powered machinery could help:

http://www.footpoweredmachinery.com/man ... rpolisher/
Click to expand...

The discussion on here made me have a very quick look around the net and there are people showing how they have knocked out treadle-powered lathes, using the kind of kit you describe. Then I got thinking (not usually a good idea) and wondered that if you put the motion from the treadle through an axle gear system from a push bike - you may remember the old Sturmey Archer three speed: some modern models have many more gears - and then use a bike chain to link to the final turning bit, you really could have something quite powerful on your hands. It could be a good idea because you could go slow for grinding but at something approaching the speed of light for turning. I think I'll talk to a mate who knows about engineering to get his views on feasibility.
 
I think I can help out with plans for that...more later!
 
Here was I thinking of a bit of string tied to the grinder handle and the other end to a piece of wood hinged to the floor...

Tsk, not like me to over-simplify. Sorry. Carry on. Somewhere round here I have a treadle wheel that I think should rejoice in the description "foot engine" that I'd mused to do something similar with. The tuit has yet to materialise. Buck and Hickman 1935 has a listing of a foot power attachment for one of the listed hand grinders, but sadly no picture. It might have been a piece of string and... No, no, sorry. Ignore me. :D
 
Frankly, I think Alf's stick and string could be the answer. It works for plenty of green woodworking on pole lathes.
But as I promised, here's a rather brief half-article from the Woodworker, February 1951, describing use of bits of bike for a lathe. I'm sure you could do similar for a grinder.

IMG_20210502_141611520_HDR.jpg

IMG_20210502_141629755_HDR.jpg

IMG_20210502_141537759.jpg
 
Thanks, Andy, that is interesting. I'll see if I can download those and print them off.

As luck would have it all my woodworking books are boxed up at the moment as I am due to move, so it will be a week or so before I can see if there's anything on this topic in the Lost Art Press edition of articles drawn from The Woodworker. I don't recall seeing anything but you never know.
 
I hope they print out the right way up!

But your idea about the 3-speed hub sounds excellent. They would have been too new and expensive in 1951, but not now!

And as you are in Germany, you have a better chance of finding the variant with a back pedal brake in the same hub. You could build a pedal powered grinder that complies with the stopping regulations!
 
Interesting and it’s got me thinking as well, I haven’t used a grind wheel for donkeys years as they go too fast and I don’t like risking blueing my plane irons etc,
If I was to put my lathe on its lowest speed I could mount a 6” grind stone on a mandrel in the chuck, it’s an engineering style one, possibly even have it running in a water bath (whilst in use) . Can anybody see any problems with this idea? Ian
 
Cabinetman":qyhoru8u said:
Interesting and it’s got me thinking as well, I haven’t used a grind wheel for donkeys years as they go too fast and I don’t like risking blueing my plane irons etc,
If I was to put my lathe on its lowest speed I could mount a 6” grind stone on a mandrel in the chuck, it’s an engineering style one, possibly even have it running in a water bath (whilst in use) . Can anybody see any problems with this idea? Ian
Click to expand...

I understand that the Tormek ones work by rotating slowly and having a built in water bath. Does that not mean that they guarantee no blueing? (Genuine question, but I had the impression that that is their selling point.)

So if it works for them, it should work for you. Maybe you could put a couple of ice cubes in the water to be on the safe side.
 
Cabinetman":2ucpixxx said:
Interesting and it’s got me thinking as well, I haven’t used a grind wheel for donkeys years as they go too fast and I don’t like risking blueing my plane irons etc,
If I was to put my lathe on its lowest speed I could mount a 6” grind stone on a mandrel in the chuck, it’s an engineering style one, possibly even have it running in a water bath (whilst in use) . Can anybody see any problems with this idea? Ian
Click to expand...

Grit on the lathe bed/ways/wotchamacallits is the usual argument against iirc. Just out of interest, what type of wheel were you using when you last used a grinder? There were some pretty fancy new grades and bonds even 15 years ago, so goodness knows what marvels of cool grinding are available now.

And for the would-be repurposers of bicycles for tool use, I really think you should aim higher:

bicyclesaw925.jpg
 
Alf, that looks like a perfect suggestion for MikeG. He said in another thread that he needs a new bandsaw and we know he has lot of bicycles!
 
Brilliant! But how do you pedal while holding a gouge?!
 
Many many years ago there used to be a guy came round with a grind wheel mounted on the front of his bicycle, and he sharpened knives and things for housewives, how he disconnected the back wheel and put the drive-through to the grindstone I can’t remember, he also had a frame/stand that propped the bike up whilst he peddled.
 
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