The wizened ones say the tools you use the most are the tools you know the best and certainly that is true for my frequently abused toolbox field chisel.
If there is a finish nail to be found or glazing point to be hit, this chisel will find and hit them in the course of a job.
Consequently I frequently reset and regrind the edge.
Long ago and far away I came across this little hand powered grinding wheel.
It seemed perfect for the task. No matter how many gizmos and gimcracks I have come across, when it comes time to true up the field chisel the hand grinder is my go-to apparatus.
I set the tool rest once when it was new and have never changed it since.
The grinder cannot overheat the blade because I crank by hand -so no water or oil has ever touched the wheel.
Over the years my first field chisel shrank from eight inches in length down to three inches in length before it had to retire because the handle bumped against the tool rest.
The replacement chisel is shrinking in length by the same annual rate the predecessor shrank.
The little hand grinder just chugs along year in and year out fixing the damage my chisels endure in the course of daily operations.
To see a really cool antique version of this grinder CLICK LINK
To see this chisel and other chisels cut soft pine crossgrain, click here
Kattermann's Handyman Blog 