Sharpening a chisel with the angle grinder - Quick and dirty hack

Tools and materials I propose:

Angle grinder

Metal cutting discs

Chisel set

Grinder sanding disc adapter

Sandpaper discs

Let’s assume you are in a job site and you are chiseling something. Suddenly you hit a nail and you ruin the sharp edge of your chisel.

You are in a job site, away from your desktop grinder or your sharpening stones. But fortunately, like in most cases you carry your angle grinder with you. This is how you can use it to fix your dull chisel fast and move on to your work. 

First check the direction your wheel is turning. You have to place the chisel on the right side of the wheel, so that the sparkles won’t fly on your face. 

Your angle grinder spins really fast. As a result it will increase the heat of your tool really fast. This can burn your tool and destroy it’s hardness. So have some water close to you and keep your metal cool by dipping it into the water often.

First of all hold your tool perpendicular to the wheel to flatten it’s front edge. Then angle your tool to match the bevel you want to create. Every now and then check your tool and try to adjust the way you are holding it so that you grind as straight as possible. 

Remember to keep your tool cool.

When the burr starts to form you are close enough. 

The metal cutting discs are pretty aggressive. So now you can add a sanding adapter on your grinder and add a sanding disc. You don’t need to move higher than 240 grit. Once you have a burr throughout the length of your cutting edge, stop the grinder, turn your chisel around and remove the burr by hand.

If you don’t have the adapter, you can place the sandpaper on a flat surface, add some water and repeat the whole process by hand. I used a piece of melamine, but you can use a ceramic tile, a piece of glass or plexiglass.

At this point your chisel should be sharp enough for you to move on to work. But if you wear a leather belt you can take things one step further. Add some oil on the back of the belt and strop your chisel for a couple of minutes. This can give you a razor sharp edge. 

I hope you found this tip useful. But that was it, see you soon with a new project video!

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