Chisels, Punches & Files

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Punches can be used to make different sized markings or holes when working with wood and metal projects. They can also be used to drive pins into a surface as well as remove them, making punches a versatile tool for various home improvement tasks. You can use them with hammers to direct force and have more precise punching results.

Files are used to give a fine, splinter-free finish to your wood and metal projects.

How to sharpen a chisel?

Chisels can be sharpened using sharpening accessories such as whetstone or other fine grit sharpeners such as bench grinders and sandpaper accessories. One simple method of sharpening your beveled chisel using a whetstone is:

1)  Soak your sharpening stone in water for 10 minutes and remove once done.

2)  Slide the back of your chisel’s blade back and forth on the sharpening stone until no uneven texture remains.

3)  Flip your chisel’s blade and smooth out the front of the bevel using the same back and forth sliding motion.

4)  Do the same to the cutting edge to remove any uneven or rounded edges.

How many types of chisels/punches/files are there?

Chisels come in many different types, styles, and sizes and have different uses. Cold chisels, such as flat chisels, are used for metalworking and can cut into metals that don’t need heat to be malleable. Butt chisels have beveled edges on one side and are flat on the other with wide blades that go up to 1.5-in. They are used for woodworking projects and can scrape and carve large amounts of wood uniformly. Lathe chisels are also used for woodworking projects and can carve pieces of wood in conjunction with a lathe. Scaling chisels cut, scrape and help maintain concrete, tiles, and more with blade width reaching 3-in to cover larger areas. Chisel sets help you collect different styles and sizes to keep you prepared for your home improvement jobs.

Punches come in hollow and solid types. Hollow punches pierce or make holes in a surface and solid punches propel into or remove objects from materials with the help of hammers. Different styles of hollow punches include centre punches, line up punches, and prick punches, and solid punches include roll pin punches. Punch sizes ranges between 1/16-in to 5/16-in and can be bought individually or in 6-pc to 12-pc punch sets. They are also available in great value combo kits with chisels for more tool options for your projects.

File tools are used to rub down, smooth, or polish solid material to give it a fine, even finish. Types include flat, half round, mill, round, and three square. Flat file tools have single cut or double cut teeth and can be used to keep other tools sharp or smooth out any textured material. Half round files are rounded on one side and flat on the other. Both sides are abrasive, and the tool is used for filing grooved, flat, and rounded surfaces. Mill files are single cut tools used to file edges of tough objects. Round files are best for finishing grooves and concave surfaces similar to the rounded side of half round files and three square files are useful for deburring projects. These files can be bought separately and as part of a 3-pc to 17-pc file set.