Have you ever walked into a fancy mansion and thought, “how beautiful are these wooden stairs?” or have you seen that someone uses wooden plates and utensils.
All of this is a carpenter’s art, a person who can turn a piece of wood into a masterpiece.
Being a carpenter requires a variety of tools, so they can create what they vision inside their head.
Overall, all of these tools have value because every single one of them has its particular use.
However, today we will discuss a unique tool that is the most essential and crucial tool to create wood art: The Chisel.
Chisels are hand tools that help carpenters shape the wood the way they want.
In this article, we will be discussing everything about Chisels and their uses.
So if you are a wood art enthusiast or a beginner carpenter, this article will be informative for you, so keep reading with us.
What is a Chisel?
When working on wood to get a beautiful sculpture, in the end, you have to use several tools, but the most important one is a chisel.
In simple words, the chisel is a blade attached to a wooden or metal grip that will help you hold the tool in one place.
There are different sizes and shapes of chisels, and every one of them has its particular use.
Mostly chisels get used when you are trying to implant artwork on the wood, like engraving a flower or a butterfly.
Chisels are usually made from stainless steel, but some are made from titanium.
When using a chisel to penetrate wood, you have several options:
- using hand force to strike the end of the chisel to apply pressure
- using a hammer or a mallet for the same purpose
- and using mechanical force like a hydro press or a robotic hand
Most carpenters use hand force because it allows them to apply the pressure at the exact level that they want.
There are some other uses of chisels that we will discuss further in the article.
First off, let’s see what the different types of chisels are.
Types of chisels (+ 5 VARIOUS ONES)
In this part of the “everything about chisels and their uses” article, we will tend to the verities of chisels in the market and a brief introduction to their uses, so let’s start:
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Bench chisel
The first chisel on the list is the Bench Chisel.
This one has an odd naming, but it has a good reputation for that name.
The bench chisel is the most useful in the chisel family, some say it is multi-purpose, and usually, you can find this type of chisel on every woodworker’s bench; that’s why this chisel is named the bench chisel.
Mainly it is used to depart and create slips on the wood, but it can be used to create some flat surface art on the wood as well.
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Mortise chisels
The second one on the list is more special than regular and is called the Mortise chisel.
Have you ever seen mortise on a piece of wood? When making those slits, the most used tool is a mortise chisel.
This chisel looks like a thick knife and can withstand high pressure from any hydro press or mallets.
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Pairing chisel
Unlike the other two chisels, this one is a delicate tool.
Pairing chisels are thin and long. They are so thin that you can almost feel their flexibility. Therefore, you should never mallet them or apply high pressure.
When making joints, these chisels are mainly used for delicate carvings, small details, and shaving the slits.
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Construction chisels
The construction chisel is a literal monster, quite the opposite of the last chisel, which was too delicate.
The metal used to forge this chisel is four times stronger than the other chisels, and this chisel has the responsibility to get the hard shavings that you struggle in.
The handles on these chisels, as the name suggests, are constructional, meaning that they are more durable than ever.
Some of the construction chisels can handle up to 500kilos of pressure.
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Butt Chisel
The butt chisel tool looks like the Bench chisel, but they are pretty different.
Butt chisels come in different sizes, but they lack a variety of shapes; in other words, there is a limited number of butt chisels that can come in handy for you.
This chisel has an extensive blade and is responsible for chopping the more significant wood parts that small chisels can’t handle properly.
Butt chisel is the main competition of bench chisel.
These were five of the most used chisels that we prepared. Let’s go on with the article and see specific techniques that we can have when using chisels?
Chisels (MOST PRACTICAL METHODS)
We have more than four chisels with different uses, but the most popular ones mentioned in the last section of the article are the ones we need to master.
In other words, if you know how to use these four tools, you can create any art that you want.
Next, we will teach you some instrumental techniques when working with chisels.
Pay attention to this part of the “everything about chisels and their uses” because it can come in handy soon.
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Chopping
Chopping a piece of wood using chisels requires a third-party tool like a mallet because chopping is not that easy. When you remove a part of the wood in a straight line, chop the wood with a chisel.
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Pairing
This one is more used in delicate cases like table art or couch art; the pairing technique uses the chisel. You can use this technique when shaving thin layers off the wood to shape the art the way you want, but remember, when using this chisel, don’t apply high pressure because it can easily break.
There are two types of chisels in the market that you have to know the difference:
Cheap and expensive chisel
As the name suggests, the cheap chisels are made from less durable steel, while the expensive ones use higher grades like grade 5.
Depending on your level of the profession and the use that you want out of the tool, you can choose between both.
- The cheap chisels are more suitable for entry-level carpenters.
- Experienced and skilled carpenters should use expensive, more professional tools.
To proceed, we would want to compare the two chisels that are the most often used:
Which chisel is better: Bench chisel or Butt chisel?
You can ask carpenters, “which chisel is better?” and get a 50/50 answer.
There are the two top used chisels in the carpentry industry, and we will compare them to see which one is better.
| Bench Chisel | Butt Chisel |
| It comes in different sizes and shapes. | It only comes in various sizes. |
| Suitable for almost every situation. | Mostly specialty use. |
| Accessible and useable. | It requires more skill and is rare to find. |
Although we cannot say hitch one, these two are the best chisel; let’s analyze the chart:
- Bench chisels are much smaller, and the variety of size and shape in this chisel is defiantly a plus point.
- On the other hand, Butt chisels are much more prominent on the blade, and they have particular uses; the most common utilization for this chisel is to chop the wood.
Conclusion
by the end of this article, we hope that you know everything about chisels and their uses; we recommend you first measure your set of skills.
Then by following the tips and introductions that we offered in this article, you can choose the best chisel suited for you.
We hope you enjoyed this article; if you have any additional questions or want to add something to the report, you can contact us via the comment section below.
