Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

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Chris Pyle
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Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Mon Aug 11, 2014 8:21 pm

Chris,

I've read through your chisel set-up blog posts but they were about hooped chisels. Does your preparation differ very much for paring chisels? (I saw you mentioned working to get them dead flat on the back). Are there any tests or processes you suggest for getting them flat without destroying the ura?

I purchased a couple more paring chisels to complement the Tasai I received from you and I want to make sure I don't ruin them.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Tue Aug 12, 2014 9:40 pm

Well, first thing to do is to try and ascertain the condition of the back. Presuming these are new chisels, you can rub the entire back for a few strokes on a dead flat finishing stone, and then look to see the scratch pattern left behind. The finishing stone won't alter the shape much at all but will reveal high and low spots. Why not check that out and report back what you find? We can go from there.
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Chris Pyle
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:00 am

Here's what I found (these are the Fujihiro chisels from Hidatool: blacksmith = Imai)

All three have similar scratch patterns on the stone and on their ura. They are sizes 6, 12 & 30 mm

Here are some pictures to show the results
P8130778.JPG
Stone for the 6mm
P8130778.JPG (190.2 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
P8130779.JPG
Picture of 6 on the stone
P8130779.JPG (185.29 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
P8130780.JPG
12mm on the stone
P8130780.JPG (187.96 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
P8130782.JPG
12 mm rub areas
P8130782.JPG (198.98 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
P8130781.JPG
Rub pattern for the 12 on the stone. Ran it perpendicular to the stone
P8130781.JPG (192.87 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
more to follow... (5 maximum attachment limit)
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Chris Pyle
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:04 am

continuing with the 30mm...
P8130783.JPG
30mm marks left on stone
P8130783.JPG (192.11 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
P8130786.JPG
Rub marks on the 30mm
P8130786.JPG (184.7 KiB) Viewed 6633 times
The only unique thing about the 30mm was that it didn't fully rub across the front length but I'm guessing the amount of flattening that needs to occur on the courser stones will take care of that as there appeared to be a very small separation between the marks.

While I wait for your comments, I'm going to remove the lacquer so they will be ready to go.
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Chris Pyle
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Thu Sep 11, 2014 7:33 pm

Chris, any thoughts on moving forward? I'm guessing I should just follow the steps detailed on your blog for chisel preparation while making sure the back is completely flat?
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:02 pm

Sorry, forgot to get back to you.

With that pattern, the situation you have is a blade that has slightly cupped after forging. Same thing happens to plane blades in many cases. So yep, the solution is the same as I showed on my blog in the plane set up series- wrap the middle of the chisel blade in UHMW tape and work the front 10mm or so until it is decked. You'll probably have to re-wrap with the tape several times. The key is to work only the last cm or so of the blade on the stone, and place finger pressure on that last section only. The portion with the UHMW tape will glide lightly over the stone surface.

You can recheck your progress by rubbing the entire back (sans tape) on a finish stone and checking the scratch pattern. When you have something fairly even, you can then work the blade on a medium and finish stone. Make sense? By the time you are done you should have a decently large ura-suki on the chisel behind the cutting edge.
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Chris Pyle
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Fri Dec 12, 2014 12:13 pm

Chris Hall wrote:Sorry, forgot to get back to you.

With that pattern, the situation you have is a blade that has slightly cupped after forging. Same thing happens to plane blades in many cases. So yep, the solution is the same as I showed on my blog in the plane set up series- wrap the middle of the chisel blade in UHMW tape and work the front 10mm or so until it is decked. You'll probably have to re-wrap with the tape several times. The key is to work only the last cm or so of the blade on the stone, and place finger pressure on that last section only. The portion with the UHMW tape will glide lightly over the stone surface.

You can recheck your progress by rubbing the entire back (sans tape) on a finish stone and checking the scratch pattern. When you have something fairly even, you can then work the blade on a medium and finish stone. Make sense? By the time you are done you should have a decently large ura-suki on the chisel behind the cutting edge.
This makes perfect sense. I read this before I took a break for our son's arrival but I'll post some progress pics as I get these set-up, most likely with more questions. I'll work on a single chisel to make sure I don't beta-ura the hell out of all of my tools. Best to learn on the least expensive.
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Chris Hall
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Fri Dec 12, 2014 6:04 pm

"Best to learn on the least expensive"

A wise policy.

Congratulations on your newborn by the way!
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Brian
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Re: Setting up/Preparing paring chisels

Sat Dec 13, 2014 8:23 pm

I found the best tool to help me stand up my chisels and oil the handles to prepare for setting the hoops;

Image

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