Skew Chisel

A skew chisel is a wood carving chisel whose cutting edge is cut at an angle (skewed) to the handle. Instead of being square across the blade, the edge is angled to one side. This flat, beveled edge gives the skew chisel a sharp corner that excels at making clean, angled cuts, smoothing surfaces, and creating crisp lines. Skew chisels are great for tasks like planing a flat surface or making a precise chamfer on a corner.

For beginners, skew chisels offer a way to clean up cuts easily. If a straight chisel leaves a rough edge or corner, the skew can be used to pare it smoothly. They can also work like a scraper on end grain, cutting fibres cleanly. While skew chisels are somewhat advanced (woodturners use them a lot), even a beginner carver can use a skew to finish a project neatly. Understanding skew chisels helps a novice learn about bevel angles and control, which improves overall carving skill.

At BeaverCraft, our carving sets focus more on carving knives and round or narrow chisels, but the idea is similar: many of our chisels have skewed edges. In our tool lineup (see the Wood Carving Chisels collection), you’ll find flat chisels with slightly beveled edges for trimming. Our kits that include flat chisels can achieve the same angled cuts. In practice, if you want the effect of a skew chisel and don’t have one, you can tilt a flat carving chisel to mimic a skewed cut when making fine flared edges or smoothing cuts.