sharpining a chisel

[joeseid]

What is the dest way to sharpen a chisel ?

[doristwonk]

I am presuming you mean a wood chisel. There are others. The chisel has two faces on the "sharp" end. A face which is ground to a very shallow angle of about say 5 degrees and upon which another steeper face (no more than about 7 degrees) is superimposed, by means of stoning (using an oil stone usually). The former, unless severe damage has occured, can be left alone, but the latter needs to be kept as sharp as possible. If you are skilled at this art it can be honed by hand, with a very steady hand and an accurate eye. For those of us with neither, honing guides can be bought, at "any good stockist", and some of these guides will even keep you running parallel with the oil stone. A good carpenter will sharpen his chisels before and during every use. Personally I sharpen mine every seven years whether they need it or not!

[KARL]

There may be a specialist cutting tool sharpener operating in your area - check the Yellow Pages or ask those with medium to large carpentry workshops. I take my chisels and saws to this type of outfit local to me, the cost is reasonable and ensures a perfect tool every time. The previous answer is good: Doing this well requires practice and you do need to sharpen chisels whenever they are used and even if unused for years they will lose some of their edge.