Old thread. And several other ‘full-chisel vs semi-chisel’ threads. Dug these out of a few:
Sharp corner point of full chisel cutter helps lead it into the wood. But there is little metal there and it is more easily damaged. If bent, it can push the cutter away from the wood. When sharpening, a lot of metal must be removed to restore the point.
Conceptual drawing of how square corner of full-chisel cutter (NOT square filed!) creates a square, flat bottomed kerf. Whereas the curved corner of a semi-chisel cutter leaves a more rounded profile kerf.
Not a big difference until you realize that some of those fibers need to be cut twice, which is less efficient.
Philbert
Sharp corner point of full chisel cutter helps lead it into the wood. But there is little metal there and it is more easily damaged. If bent, it can push the cutter away from the wood. When sharpening, a lot of metal must be removed to restore the point.
Conceptual drawing of how square corner of full-chisel cutter (NOT square filed!) creates a square, flat bottomed kerf. Whereas the curved corner of a semi-chisel cutter leaves a more rounded profile kerf.
Not a big difference until you realize that some of those fibers need to be cut twice, which is less efficient.
Philbert
