using and sharpening small Lee Oskar chisel
Hey Kinya, I have recently started tuning my own harps with the Lee Oskar tool kit and have had mixed results. The small chisel seems to just slide over the surface of the reeds without removing any material unless I really bear down. This seems to me to be too heavy handed, to the point that I feel I'm gouging the reeds. What is the best way to use the chisel and also to sharpen it, so I can use a lighter touch? Thanks Tom Bader
Hey Kinya, Thanks for the advice on the chisel angle. The Harp Tech video helped and I got it working much better, but I found that it would go dull after a few scrapes. I found that if I was careful and didn't lose the angle, I could touch it up on a 1000 grit sheet of wet sandpaper and it was sharp again and worked quite well. Thanks for your help and the Harp Tech Studies! Tom
Hey Tom,
You Rock!
Hi Tom,
The key to making the chisel work for you is the proper angle. As I shown in Harp Tech Study 3, try it on your finger nail first to discover the proper "shaving" angle. Begin with the sloped side facing up and the cutting edge positioned even onto your finger nail. Your chisel will shave (cut) on the forward stroke. Lee Oskar reeds are "tight" (smooth surface), therefore, you may have better luck with the file that was included in your kit. Please follow up with me and let me know how it went for you.
~Kinya