Chisel vs. Wedge — What's the Difference?

A tool used for shaping or carving hard materials.

An object with a triangular shape used in various applications.

A tool used in woodworking, masonry, or metalwork.

A piece of hard material with a sloping side that tapers to a sharp edge.

A metal tool with a sharp edge, typically used with a hammer or mallet.

A tool used to split, secure, or elevate objects.

A hand tool with a shaped cutting edge on its blade.

A simple machine that transforms a small force into a larger one.

An instrument used by artists and craftsmen for detailed work.

A device made from various materials depending on its use.

A chisel is a tool with a characteristically shaped cutting edge (such that wood chisels have lent part of their name to a particular grind) of blade on its end, for carving or cutting a hard material such as wood, stone, or metal by hand, struck with a mallet, or mechanical power. The handle and blade of some types of chisel are made of metal or of wood with a sharp edge in it.

A wedge is a triangular shaped tool, and is a portable inclined plane, and one of the six simple machines. It can be used to separate two objects or portions of an object, lift up an object, or hold an object in place.

A metal tool with a sharp beveled edge, used to cut and shape stone, wood, or metal.

A piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering.

To shape or cut with a chisel.

Something shaped like a wedge

To cheat or swindle.

A wedge-shaped formation, as in ground warfare.

To obtain by deception.

Something that intrudes and causes division or disruption

To use a chisel.

Something that forces an opening or a beginning

To use unethical methods; cheat

(Meteorology) See ridge.

To intrude oneself without welcome

(Sports) An iron golf club with a very slanted face, used to lift the ball sharply upward, as from sand.

A cutting tool used to remove parts of stone, wood or metal by pushing or pounding the back when the sharp edge is against the material. It consists of a slim, oblong block of metal with a sharp wedge or bevel formed on one end and sometimes a handle at the other end.

A shoe having a heel that extends across the shank to the half sole, forming a continuous undersurface. Also called wedgie.

Gravel.

Downstate New York See submarine sandwich.

Coarse flour; bran; the coarser part of bran or flour.

One of the various triangular marks that are the basic structural elements of cuneiform writing symbols.

(intransitive) To use a chisel.

(Sports) In snow skiing, the snowplow.

(transitive) To work something with a chisel.

To split or force apart with or as if with a wedge

To cheat, to get something from (someone) by cheating.

To fix in place or tighten with a wedge

A tool with a cutting edge on one end of a metal blade, used in dressing, shaping, or working in timber, stone, metal, etc.; - usually driven by a mallet or hammer.

To crowd or squeeze into a limited space

To cut, pare, gouge, or engrave with a chisel; as, to chisel a block of marble into a statue.

One of the simple machines; a piece of material, such as metal or wood, thick at one edge and tapered to a thin edge at the other for insertion in a narrow crevice, used for splitting, tightening, securing, or levering.

To cut close, as in a bargain; to cheat.

A piece (of food, metal, wood etc.) having this shape.

An edge tool with a flat steel blade with a cutting edge

(figurative) Something that creates a division, gap or distance between things.

Engage in deceitful behavior; practice trickery or fraud;

(geometry) A five-sided polyhedron with a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends. Category:en:Shapes

Deprive somebody of something by deceit;

(architecture) A voussoir, one of the wedge-shaped blocks forming an arch or vault.

Carve with a chisel;

(archaic) A flank of cavalry acting to split some portion of an opposing army, charging in an inverted V formation.

A group of geese, swans, or other birds when they are in flight in a V formation.

(golf) A type of iron club used for short, high trajectories.

One of a pair of wedge-heeled shoes.

(obsolete) An ingot.

Silver or items made of silver collectively.

A quantity of money.

A sandwich made on a long, cylindrical roll.

One of the basic elements that make up cuneiform writing, a single triangular impression made with the corner of a reed stylus.

Any symbol shaped like a V in some given orientation.

A háček.

(phonetics) The IPA character ʌ, which denotes an open-mid back unrounded vowel.

(mathematics) The symbol ∧, denoting a meet (infimum) operation or logical conjunction.

(music) A hairpin, an elongated horizontal V-shaped sign indicating a crescendo or decrescendo.

(meteorology) A barometric ridge; an elongated region of high atmospheric pressure between two low-pressure areas.

(meteorology) A wedge tornado.

(finance) A market trend characterized by a contracting range in prices coupled with an upward trend in prices (a rising wedge) or a downward trend in prices (a falling wedge).

The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos.

(transitive) To support or secure using a wedge.

(ambitransitive) To force into a narrow gap.

(transitive) To pack (people or animals) together tightly into a mass.

(transitive) To work wet clay by cutting or kneading for the purpose of homogenizing the mass and expelling air bubbles.

Of a computer program or system: to get stuck in an unresponsive state.

(transitive) To cleave with a wedge.

(transitive) To force or drive with a wedge.

(transitive) To shape into a wedge.

A piece of metal, or other hard material, thick at one end, and tapering to a thin edge at the other, used in splitting wood, rocks, etc., in raising heavy bodies, and the like. It is one of the six elementary machines called the mechanical powers. See Illust. of Mechanical powers, under Mechanical.

A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends.

A mass of metal, especially when of a wedgelike form.

Anything in the form of a wedge, as a body of troops drawn up in such a form.

The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos; - so called after a person (Wedgewood) who occupied this position on the first list of 1828.

A golf club having an iron head with the face nearly horizontal, used for lofting the golf ball at a high angle, as when hitting the ball out of a sand trap or the rough.

To cleave or separate with a wedge or wedges, or as with a wedge; to rive.

To force or drive as a wedge is driven.

To force by crowding and pushing as a wedge does; as, to wedge one's way.

To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a wedge that is driven into something.

To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber in its place.

To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc.

Any shape that is triangular in cross section

A large sandwich made of a long crusty roll split lengthwise and filled with meats and cheese (and tomato and onion and lettuce and condiments); different names are used in different sections of the United States

A diacritical mark (an inverted circumflex) placed above certain letters (such as c) to indicate pronunciation

A heel that is an extension of the sole of the shoe

(golf) an iron with considerable loft and a broad sole

Something solid that is usable as an inclined plane (shaped like a V) that can be pushed between two things to separate them

A block of wood used to prevent the sliding or rolling of a heavy object

Fix, force, or implant;

Squeeze like a wedge into a tight space;

While a chisel can technically be used to wedge in some situations, it is specifically designed for cutting and carving, not for the primary tasks of a wedge.

Wedges can be made from wood, metal, or plastic, depending on their intended use.

A wedge works by converting a force applied to its wide end into a splitting force at the sharp end, effectively splitting or lifting objects.

A chisel is primarily used for cutting and carving hard materials like wood or stone.

Maintaining a chisel involves regular sharpening and proper storage to protect its cutting edge.

In construction, wedges are commonly used to align structures, support leveling, and secure door installations.

Yes, there are various types of chisels, including wood chisels, cold chisels, and carving chisels, each designed for specific materials and tasks.

A chisel has a straight blade with a beveled cutting edge, while a wedge is triangular and tapers to a point.

Plastic wedges are chosen for their non-marring properties and are often used where surfaces cannot be damaged, such as in window installation.

Chisel handles are typically made of wood or plastic, designed to withstand impact from a mallet or hammer.

Wedges are less suited for precision work; they are better suited for applications requiring force, such as splitting or elevating heavy objects.

Artisans use chisels for detailed and delicate carving, emphasizing control and precision, whereas construction workers might use chisels for more robust tasks like chipping away at concrete.

Safety precautions for using a wedge include wearing protective eyewear, using the correct wedge material for the task, and ensuring it is securely placed before applying force.

High-quality chisels are usually made from high-carbon steel, which offers durability and maintains a sharp edge longer.

Environmental conditions like moisture and temperature can affect wedges, especially those made from materials like wood, which may swell or contract.