Flat Chisel Society

Do chisels need “flat backs”? No, for me a chisel does not require a flat back for sharpness or accurate work. More simply, the “back” and the edge just need to be honed to the same level.

It's hard for me to use the term “back”, I know it as the face and I'll revert to that description now. What I want from the face of the chisel is that it references properly with my stone so I can remove the burr. Ideally I want the same finish on the face of the chisel as I do my sharpened bevel. It might so happen that when I introduce the face of a chisel to a stone for the first time it doesn't reference properly. By not properly I mean it won't remove the burr created by the honing process and create a finish of equal quality to that on the bevel. Chisels are at their worst when new but they soon become an extension of us because we use them with such frequency.

What would I need a flat faced chisel for? Could I even maintain a flat face? Would I want to? My response to my own questions, nothing, probably not and no. The face of the chisel is not the sole of a plane, the two behave in completely different ways. And besides, classic British paring chisels have a degree of flex that you can use to adjust the chisel in use. An interesting experiment might be to create a totally flat chisel and keep it for an imagined tasked, a break in case of emergency type situation. I don't think the glass would broken.

I'm not advocating a banana shaped chisel, it's just simply that a properly sharpened tool meets all my needs. You should read my words with caution too. Just because this is my preference, it doesn’t mean that’s the way tool makers look at things. If you’ve bought yourself a highly polished A2 couture chisel my approach won’t find favour with you. You’ll need to invest in superfine waterstones, lapping plates and the like. No issue with this, makes you think though, how on earth did the master craftsman ever manage.