With a shop full of power tools for cutting and shaping wood, it's easy to overlook the woodworking chisel. But learning how to use a chisel with control can improve almost every project you build.
A sharp chisel can remove a shaving that's only a fraction of an inch thick, clean up the walls of a mortise, square a hinge mortise, flatten the bottom of a groove, or fine-tune a tenon for a better fit.
The key isn't brute force. Good chisel work comes from learning how to grip, guide, and orient the blade so you can control exactly where it cuts.
Start with the Right Chisel Grip
When you're paring wood by hand, one hand provides the force while the other guides the blade.
Two basic grips cover many common woodworking situations: an overhand grip and an underhand grip.
Learning when to use each one gives you considerably more control over the chisel.
Use an Overhand Grip for Vertical Paring Cuts
For vertical paring cuts, I typically use an overhand grip.
Hold the chisel handle close to your chest and guide the blade with your opposite hand. Keep the elbow of your dominant arm close to your body.
This position helps stabilize the handle and lets you use your body weight rather than relying entirely on arm strength.
Instead of forcing the chisel through the wood, you can increase or decrease cutting pressure by gently shifting your weight.
Meanwhile, your opposite hand controls the blade's direction and helps determine exactly where the cutting edge engages the wood.
Use an Underhand Grip for Horizontal Paring
When making a horizontal paring cut, an underhand grip often provides better control.
Rest the chisel handle in your hand with your thumb pointing forward. Your opposite hand guides the blade while your body supplies the forward pressure.
Again, the goal isn't to muscle the chisel through the cut. You're trying to remove thin, controlled shavings.
That's an important distinction when learning to use a chisel: paring is about control rather than force.
Use Your Opposite Hand to Guide the Chisel
The hand on the handle provides most of the force, but your opposite hand plays an equally important role.
It controls the direction of the cutting edge.
You can use that hand to steady the blade, adjust the cutting angle, and help prevent the chisel from suddenly taking too deep a cut.
This guiding technique is useful during hand-powered paring operations and when positioning a chisel for a controlled mallet cut.
Woodsmith Tip: Always think about where the chisel will travel if it slips or suddenly breaks through the cut. Keep your guiding hand and other body parts out of that path.
Chisel Bevel Up or Bevel Down?
One of the most useful things to understand about a woodworking chisel is how the beveled face affects the cut.
A chisel can behave differently depending on whether the bevel faces up or down.
Learning to use both orientations makes it easier to control the depth and direction of a paring cut.
Bevel Down for Controlled Paring
One example is cleaning up the bottom of a groove or dado.
With the bevel facing down, the shape of the cutting edge can be used to make controlled paring cuts and remove small ridges from the bottom of the groove.
Take light cuts rather than trying to remove all the waste at once.
Bevel Up for Flat, Shaving Cuts
Turn the chisel over with the flat back riding against the workpiece, and you have a useful setup for paring to an established flat surface.
A good example is cleaning up a hinge mortise. Once you've established a flat reference area, the back of the chisel helps guide the cutting edge along that plane.
This is one reason a flat chisel back is so important for precise woodworking.
How to Clean Up a Mortise with a Chisel
A common way to rough out a mortise is to drill a series of overlapping holes at the drill press. That removes most of the waste quickly, but it leaves ridges and uneven areas along the walls and ends of the mortise.
A chisel finishes the job.
Start with a wide chisel along the sides of the mortise. A wider cutting edge helps produce a smooth wall without creating a series of small steps.
Don't immediately try to pare all the way to your finished surface.
Start at the high points left by drilling and remove thin shavings, gradually working back until the mortise wall is smooth.
Use your dominant hand to control the pressure while your opposite hand steers the cutting edge. You can also pivot the chisel slightly to make very fine paring cuts.
Once the sides are smooth, switch to a chisel that matches the width of the mortise to square and clean up the ends.
The goal is a mortise with smooth walls and clean surfaces for a well-fitting joint.
RELATED ARTICLE: How to Cut a Mortise with a Drill Press & Chisels
How to Fine-Tune a Tenon with a Chisel
A chisel is also useful for correcting small imperfections in a tenon.
A table saw or tenoning jig that's slightly out of alignment can sometimes leave a small step where the tenon cheek meets the shoulder.
That little ridge can prevent the shoulder from seating tightly against the mating workpiece.
To remove it, start with a wide chisel positioned flat against the shoulder. Using an underhand grip, carefully pivot the cutting edge into the raised area and pare away the step.
Then use a chisel that's slightly narrower than the thickness of the workpiece to remove the remaining waste toward the tenon.
An overhand grip can then be used to guide the chisel down the tenon and remove a fine shaving.
The goal isn't to reshape the entire tenon. You're making small adjustments to improve the fit while preserving the accurately cut surfaces you already have.
RELATED ARTICLE: 3 Ways to Cut Tenons on a Table Saw
Take Thin Shavings for Better Chisel Control
There's a common idea running through all these techniques: Don't try to remove too much wood at once.
A chisel is at its best when it's taking controlled shavings.
As your technique improves, you'll develop a feel for how changing the blade angle and pressure affects the cut. You'll also learn to recognize when the grain is helping the chisel and when it may cause the blade to dive or tear the surface.
If the chisel begins to behave unpredictably, don't simply push harder. Stop, reassess the direction of the cut, and take a lighter shaving.
A Sharp Chisel Makes Better Cuts
Technique only goes so far if the cutting edge is dull.
A sharp chisel requires less force, which makes it easier to control. It also produces a cleaner surface and makes fine paring cuts much easier.
If you find yourself forcing the blade through a cut that should require only moderate pressure, take a look at the cutting edge.
Keeping the back flat and the bevel sharp is an important part of getting consistently good results from woodworking chisels.
Practice These Basic Wood Chisel Techniques
You don't need to master complicated hand-tool techniques to make a chisel useful in your shop.
Start with the basics:
- Learn the overhand and underhand grips.
- Let one hand provide the force while the other guides the blade.
- Understand how bevel-up and bevel-down orientations change the cut.
- Take thin shavings rather than forcing the chisel.
- Use a chisel to fine-tune mortises, tenons, grooves, and other joinery.
- Keep the cutting edge sharp.
Once you're comfortable controlling the blade, a chisel becomes much more than a tool for chopping out waste. It becomes a precision tool for making small adjustments that can noticeably improve the fit and appearance of your woodworking projects.
RELATED ARTICLE: How to Use a Chisel: 4 Essential Techniques
