Hey Guys I have some Robert Sorby chisels and I am wondering what is the ideal bevel angle or what everyone else uses. I am currently at 25 degrees with a 2 degree micro bevel. I know the Lie-Nielsen are 30 degree primary with a recommended 5 degree micro-will that work on the sorbys? Any suggestions would be great. Oh the reason I want to change is my edge retention is poo-and it folds in hard woods.

In a class I took last year, the reason that LN chisel are at a 30 degrees is that A2 steel was not performing well at the standard 25 degree bevel. You could go to the 30 degree angle for you Sorby's, however, you will have to hone them more often. David Charlesworth explains the angle of the bevel of a chisel is dictated by the density of the wood. A good angle for most work has been determined to be 25 degrees for most chisel, except for chisels made from A2 steel. The long and the short of it is stay with the bevel that the manufacturer put on the chisel.

The folding in hard woods, is exactly why I moved up to the LN chisels, still have my Sorbys. (the chisel blade is narrower than LN, which comes in handy sometimes)

Chuck

i dont know why but all my stuff is at 28ish...but i am learning why with all the great feed back around here ...keep it up ...

good job!!

Hey T-mac, do you set that as an angle on the tormek or is that a freehand situation-I use a veritas II honing guide and probably should start learning to freehand but...anyway I wondered how you ended up at 28 degrees.

i have a protractor...i set it and put the chisel in the opening till it hits both sides..yeah...the guide is a gimmick...to me anyway...

Hey Guys, I do both right now. I use the veritas mk II guide for the big angle and then do the micro bevel by hand on the water stones... this is quick and its easy to go and touch them up as I work... only a few swipes on the 8000 grit and the edge is back

Yeah I don't do the micro thing I get the bevel to 28 ish.... Make sure the edge is clean and no nicks are on it and that's it I sharpen till I feel a burr then I stop flipnit around .... Take the burr off.... Then I strop it ..... If I need It to be extra sharp I go to a finer waahta stone..... Guys... Get it sharp that's it man.... The gizmo it to save your stone.... I know with a little practice you can keep the chisel at the right angle .... You can feel it in your hand and wrist..... Feel the force grasshopper

My big problem was I paid what I thought was a lot for some chisels and didnt want to "f" em up. I think now though I just drives me nuts having to mount them in that guide-I will just end up keeping it for my plane irons-. Next question A Strop how big of a difference does it make finishing with that? I can shave arm hair now so how much sharper do they get. Thanks

If your chisels are giving you a great result and you are happy with it, then you've attained your goal.

My experience with the Tormek is if I am not absolutely careful about putting a straight blade (plane or chisel) perfectly perpendicular to the wheel, I end up putting a slight skew on the blade - resulting in another grinding. I have eliminated this problem by checking for square with a small 2" T square and creeping up on securing the blade in the holder. By this I mean little alternating turns on the securing screws so that it doesn't result in overtightening one side and putting the blade at slightly cocked angle which can also result in a skewed edge.

I have tried many different sharpening methods and the one I like right now is to take my chisel and plane blades through the complete Tormek process, wheel, graded wheel, and strop at my designated primary bevel. Then I use an 8000 waterstone and by hand with just a few strokes establish the secondary bevel on blades or just polish the existing angle if desired. A couple of gentle strokes on the back to remove the burr (if any) and I'm ready to go. As the blade dulls, I just reestablish the edge on the 8000 grit waterstone. I go back to Tormek only when the edge cannot be reestablished by honing.

That's the method that works for me. I'm not saying this is the end all for blade sharpening, but you may want to give it a try. You may find that you are perfectly happy with the results following the strop. If so, you may only have to rehone using the strop avoiding the Tormek watersone until you can no longer get the edge you want. If you have some older, less prized blades practice your technique on them. Take what others do, borrow from them and develop the method that suits you.

Ken