Either or both of these terms could work, something like "Use chisels without excessive mushrooming or deformation on the striking face to avoid throwing off splinters."

This is not a chisel that has been made by pounding its ends before flattening. Rather, this is what happens when the striking face of a chisel begins to flatten and expand under repeated pounding. The face begins to flatten, expand, split at the edges and curl outward, and it then becomes much more prone to throw sharp splinters at high speed when struck with a hammer.

http://everything2.com/title/Dumb end

The problem is that these tools were not designed to be hit with a hammer - a proper dumb end is made of thick, hard steel that will not crack or severely deform when struck (although some mushrooming is normal).

http://books.google.com/books?id=zh94U0W_hwsC&pg=PA248&lpg=P...

The head of a chisel or punch can become "mushroomed" (deformed and enlarged) after prolonged hammering.

(From a password protected journal in JSTOR to which I happen to have access)

Metal Science and Heat Treatment
Volume 8, Number 4, 317-318, DOI: 10.1007/BF00663143
"Thermomechanical treatment of boring chisels"

The optimum deformation temperature of the head of the chisel is 500° C. Cooling below 500°C decreases the ductility of the metal and leads to the formation of cracks during deformation.

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/carving/mallets/DKX12/s...

Designed to prolong the life of fine chisels, this brass chisel hammer weighs an impressive 1 1/2lbs. The domed head prevents the chisel from being struck off centre which is often the cause of split and deformed chisel handles.

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Note added at 10 hrs (2010-10-14 06:48:10 GMT)
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Slight correction: there is such a thing as an upset chisel, but that is not what this text is discussing.

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Note added at 17 hrs (2010-10-14 14:03:19 GMT)
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Response to rfmoon: from the Mechanical Engineering category chisel seems the appropriate choice, not scalpel. "Wear and tear" is a general term that applies to all degradation of the tool with use; the term here, ricalcate, seems more specific to the head or striking face of the chisel that can expand, broaden out and eventually begin to split, which is the source of the splinters mentioned in the text.