DeWalt 1-1/2 in. Wood Chisel

What it is and who it’s for

I’ve been putting DeWalt’s 1-1/2-in. chisel through a mix of jobsite and shop tasks—hinge and latch mortises, cleaning up router insets, scraping old paint and carpet glue, and a fair bit of rough carpentry in framing lumber. It’s a wide, general-purpose chisel with a hardened carbon-steel blade, a bi-material handle, and a thick metal strike cap meant to take hammer blows. In short, it’s built to be a durable, go-to “site chisel,” not a boutique bench chisel. If you’re a remodeler, homeowner, or carpenter who needs a tough, comfortable tool that can live in a tool belt and see real abuse, this one fits the bill. If you’re chasing whisper-thin paring cuts on fine furniture, there are better choices.

Build and features

• Blade and steel: The tempered, carbon-steel blade is sturdy and on the thicker side for a 1-1/2-in. width. It feels confidence-inspiring when levering chips or working across grain in construction lumber.
• Finish and protection: The blade arrives coated in lacquer (and a light oil), which does help with corrosion, especially if you’re working in damp or dirty environments. The flip side is that you’ll want to wipe the lacquer off before sharpening so it doesn’t gum up your stones.
• Handle and strike cap: The bi-material handle has a slightly oval cross-section with a grippy texture. The metal strike cap is generous and has held up fine under both mallet and hammer blows. The blade/tang is a one-piece forging; I can’t confirm whether the tang runs fully to the top of the cap, but after heavy chopping there’s no rattle or hint of looseness.
• Size and weight: At about 9.8 in. long and roughly 8 oz, it’s nimble for a wide chisel and easy to control in one hand for paring or scraping.

It also ships with a simple plastic sleeve that doubles as a blade guard. It’s better than nothing, but if the chisel is going to live in a tool bag, I’d recommend making or buying a sturdier guard.

Setup and sharpening

Out of the package, my sample was sharp enough to make clean cuts in pine, but I always tune a chisel before real use. The primary bevel measured close to 25°, and I added a quick 30° micro-bevel on a fine stone. The bigger time investment was the back: the first inch wasn’t dead flat, and it took a solid session of lapping to get it truly reflective at the edge. That work pays off—once the back is sorted, subsequent touch-ups are quick.

Two tips:
- Strip the lacquer with mineral spirits before you hit the stones.
- If you’ll be chopping into construction lumber, consider bumping the micro-bevel up a degree or two for extra durability.

In use: chopping, paring, and scraping

For chopping hinge mortises in poplar and oak jambs, the chisel performs well. The extra width is handy for flushing the walls of wider mortises and for slicing away proud edges after routing. The blade tracks straight under the hammer, and the edge geometry feels predictable—no tendency to dive or skate if you keep the bevel presented properly. In softwood framing, I could pop out waste cleanly, and the broader footprint helped keep surfaces level.

Paring performance is good for a utility chisel. The handle shape gives reliable control for two-handed paring, and the overall balance leans slightly forward without feeling nose-heavy. Side lands are on the thicker side, so I wouldn’t reach for this chisel for dovetail tails or tight corners, but that’s not its lane.

Where it really shines is jobsite abuse. Scraping dried glue, paint, and construction adhesive, cleaning squeeze-out, and trimming shims or protruding plugs—this chisel shrugs off that workload. The strike cap is forgiving of hammer blows when you need extra persuasion. I’ve even used it as a light-duty pry for lifting staples and as a scraper on subfloor; the blade’s finish resists rust and cleans up easily.

Edge retention and steel behavior

The hardened carbon steel here strikes a practical balance. After tuning, I chopped several hinge mortises in hardwood, flushed trim, and pared end grain without immediate resharpening. In framing lumber full of knots, edge life shortens a bit, as expected. When I nicked a hidden brad, the edge chipped slightly—nothing dramatic, and it cleaned up in a couple of minutes on a medium stone. That tells me the steel is tempered to favor toughness with a bias toward easy maintenance rather than extreme retention. For a site chisel, that’s a smart choice: I’d rather refresh a micro-bevel quickly than nurse brittle edges.

Ergonomics and control

The handle is a highlight. The material has enough tack that it doesn’t feel slippery with dusty or sweaty hands, and the oval cross-section helps with edge registration even when you’re not looking. The flare at the end prevents your hand from sliding off during heavy chopping, and the middle swell offers a comfortable pinch grip for paring.

Vibration through the handle is minimal. With a wooden mallet, blows feel controlled and quiet; with a metal hammer, impact is sharper, but the cap and handle soak up the worst of it. If you work indoors around finished surfaces, a mallet is still the better choice for both control and noise.

Precision and limitations

This is not a precision paring chisel, and it doesn’t pretend to be. The bevels are a bit stout, the side lands aren’t ultra-slim, and my sample required honest back-flattening. If you need a chisel that’s dead flat and mirror-polished from heel to toe right out of the box, look elsewhere. But once tuned, it’s capable of clean, accurate work: tight-fitting mortises, flush trimming, and controlled paring on casework. Just don’t expect it to sneak into super-tight dovetail corners or to replace a thin, long paring chisel.

Durability and maintenance

After several weeks of mixed use, the blade is still straight, the cap shows only light cosmetic marks, and the handle hasn’t loosened. The lacquer has done its job protecting the blade when I tossed it back into a bag after damp site work, but I prefer to strip most of it off the working area to keep the stones clean. A quick wipe with a rust inhibitor before storage is enough.

The limited lifetime warranty is reassuring for a tool that invites hard use. Realistically, you’ll maintain it with routine sharpening and an occasional deeper grind if you chip the edge on metal.

Value and category placement

This 1-1/2-in. chisel lives in the “workhorse” category alongside other construction-focused chisels with strike caps and grippy handles. It’s not trying to compete with boutique cabinetmaker’s tools on fit and finish. Instead, it concentrates on durability, comfort, and straightforward steel that sharpens fast. For homeowners building out a starter kit and for pros who need a dependable beater chisel that can still do neat work with a tune-up, the balance makes sense.

The bottom line

Pros:
- Tough, strike-cap design handles real hammer blows
- Comfortable, grippy handle with good control
- Steel sharpens quickly and holds a working edge
- Wide blade is excellent for cleanup, flushing, and scraping
- Corrosion protection is effective for jobsite use
- Reasonable weight and balance

Cons:
- Back required significant lapping to get truly flat
- Side lands are chunky; not ideal for fine joinery
- Lacquer needs to be removed before sharpening
- Plastic blade sleeve is flimsy for long-term storage

Recommendation

I recommend this chisel for remodelers, carpenters, and homeowners who need a durable, comfortable, wide chisel that can live in a tool belt and take real abuse, yet still produce clean results after basic tuning. It’s not a precision bench chisel, and you should plan on a proper setup—especially flattening the back and refining the bevel. But once dialed in, it’s a reliable, versatile workhorse that chops, pares, and scrapes without complaint. If your priority is out-of-the-box perfection for fine furniture work, choose a higher-end bench chisel. If you want a tough, easy-to-maintain tool for everyday construction and renovation tasks, this DeWalt is an easy yes.