Chisel Back Preparation Kit

Polishing and flattening the back of a chisel or plane iron must be performed during the initial set up of all new edged tools. The back of a chisel or plane iron is actually half of the total cutting edge, so flattening should be done with each new blade to yield the sharpest tool. A flat plane iron back will allow the chip breaker to seat properly and a flat chisel back will produce an edge that can be used as a reference surface to guide the tool much like the sole of a plane. Once the initial polishing and flattening is performed, it never needs done again. Usually, this process is performed on diamond stones, water stones, or sandpaper adhered to glass. These sharpening media can be costly, require maintenance (water stones need flattening and sandpaper need replaced). The process can be messy (water and sandpaper require water to carry away the swarf) and in the end, not that effective as sandpaper can cut slowly and water stones tend to clog and glaze over.

We developed this Chisel Back Preparation Kit to provide a cost-sensitive solution that is fast and effective for initial edge tool set up.  The kit consists of a piece a 5” x 11” dead-flat 5/16” thick float glass, a selection of 5” 3M PSA sanding discs (2 each 320 and 400 Cubitron II discs and 2 each 600 and 1000 grit PSA aluminum oxide discs) and 14 each 1/2” diameter urethan PSA bumpers.

The 5/16” float glass provides a dead flat reference surface. The urethane bumpers are placed on all corners and in the middle of both long sides. The bumpers keep the glass from sliding around, but also elevate the glass above your work surface keeping it clean. The Cubitron II PSA discs cut fast, last a long time and require no lubricants.  We have found that starting with 320 grit and progressing to 400 grit is plenty aggressive for most flattening operations. A standard 3/4" or 1" chisel can be flattened in seconds. If more work is needed, rougher abrasive discs can be ordered separately HERE. We finish the flattening operation on 600 and 1000 PSA aluminum oxide discs. The aluminum oxide discs do not last as long as the Cubitron II,  but are very inexpensive to replace HERE. Once you get a blade or iron back face to 1000 grit you can finish polishing by stropping on our Drill Press Sharpening System to get a razor- sharp mirror finish.

We have found that our Chisel Back Preparation Kit helps produce chisels and plane irons that are as sharp and flat as any other  system available for a fraction of the cost. 

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