Description
When it comes to chisels, we obsess over brands and steel. But even the best steel chips fast if your edge angle’s wrong. Unless you’re working with the softest pines or pounding into something like jatoba, there are really just three angles that matter.
25° is perfect for light slicing in soft to medium woods like pine, poplar, and cherry. But this is generally lighter work...heavy chopping can be hard on some blades. Great for final passes and cleanup, but thinner edges can be more prone to chipping in hardwood.
30° is the sweet spot...the perfect middle ground. It’s great for sharp, clean cuts, and tough enough to take a mallet in hardwoods like oak and maple. If you want a one-size-fits-all edge, this is it.
35° is your meat cleaver or axe. Perfect for heavy work...chopping, mortising, or anything that’s brutal on an edge. It won’t feel as sharp, but it’s way tougher. This is the angle you reach for first, before coming back with something finer to clean it up.
At this point, you might be wondering...where does the micro bevel come in? Well, it actually has nothing to do with how the chisel acts when in the wood. I’ve heard some say that it strengthens the angle, but the truth is it only strengthens it by creating a steeper edge. If my angle is at 25° and I put a 30° micro bevel on it, I’ve basically turned it into a 30° bevel.
But there *is* an advantage to this. Instead of sharpening and honing the main bevel of your chisel every time, a micro bevel lets you sharpen just the tip. And since it’s steeper than the main bevel, you’re reinforcing the edge without grinding off a ton of steel. This *does* save time in the long run, but there *is* a downside. When you're using the bevel to guide a precise cut, that second angle can make it harder to control the chisel. So while a micro bevel makes sharpening easier, for more delicate work, it can be a problem.
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