Thread: Lv Chisels

Bought the set of 5 in a leather roll at Sydney WWW in June, dressed them ever so lightly on an 8000 waterstone (probably not needed) and have used them most weekends on hardwood ever since with an ocassional dressing ... and they are beautiful.
Mind you, I have my old chisels sharpened nearby for jobs like lifting glue off the sawbench top, opening beer cans when the ringpull's broken and opening paint tins.
Fletty

Hi Scott -

Just to clarify - Fletty is talking about Lie-Nielsen chisels... not Lee Valley!

Cheers -

Rob

ooops! Fletty

LV, LN - this is all very confusing Les

Fletty,

I think Lola was aksing about Lee Valley chisels - you are referring to Lie Nielsens - which are the Bee's Knees - I know I've got some too

Hi Scott,

I have the Lee Valley bevel edge chisels (said in an attempt to avoid confusion <g>). I don't think they hold an edge as well as some vintage chisels I have. But they do better than their price would suggest for use as bench chisels. They are better than the Blue Chips of either the Marples or Irwin lineage (unless one goes back far enough in the Marples Blue Chips history).

One of my sons also use them in his knife making and works in a lot of cocobolo, though his use is mostly paring and shaping--no heavy cuts or smacking on them. He also likes them.

In a real comparison, they will hold their own to other chisels costing a bit more. The set of Ashley Iles from Tools for Working Wood (http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/M...egory_Code=TMT) are arguably better chisels for half again as much.

But I like mine enough I haven't bothered to replace them.

Mike

Several years ago I bought two, ¼" and 3/8", to round out my user/abuser set – the rest of this set are a mixture of Maples, Stanley, and Blacho (sp?) a Swedish brand. Being the two smallest sizes they don't get used much but they are definitely way better than the two Stanleys I own (which I reach for whenever I suspect there may be a nail in the way).
Would I buy them again? yes. I think they are a good enough chisel, they've held their edge pretty well for me. And you need some reasonable chisels for those times when you can't avoid lending a chisel to a family member or neighbour.
Just one caution, the two sizes I have have minimal side bevel which makes them difficult to get into tight places should you be thinking of using them for chopping dovetails. This is not an issue for me as I also have a set of Two Cherrys.


ian

thanks all
i've ordered a couple and will let you know how they go when they arrive and i've had a chance to use (or in my case abuse) them
thanks again
SCOTT