Thread: Lie Nielsen o1 chisels

I love the look of Lie-Nielsen chisels (O1 & A2), and I prefer wooden handles. But I suspect that the PM-V11 would be the better steel.

So just buy Ashley Iles....

Cheers, Vann.

Originally Posted by chook

I was going to get some (a set of 5)PMV11 chisels ... The alternative is the LN o1 chisels.
Is it worth waiting or not? Is the extra cost small though it is, worth it?

Assuming that you judge the cost difference for some lifetime tools to be bugger all ... (and the wait aspect is up to you I guess)

Then the form factor might come into it ... I'm sure that Derek and IanW (at least) have talked about the size of chisels they prefer best (in the previous pmv threads)

And then the cool technology factor. The LNs look awesome vs the pmv is new and interesting.
I'm sure we all have plenty of chisels that would all do the job ... but usually still room in the 'pool room' for a special set, right?

(PS If you do not have family in America you can still get the Veritas PMV11 chisels direct and delivered for a total cost of $440. The price to buy in Australia is about $630. How does that work?)

You would have to think 'volume'.
We can't assume the base (cost) price is the same for both ... and then the volume factor on top of that.
Maybe the US source shouldn't be sending to Oz? (but there are still freight forwarders)

It's a big question these days. I assume an answer would involve the words 'local' and 'service' ... but I don't have it.
I do kinda feel for the Ozzie business living in a global + online market.

Cheers,
Paul

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Assuming that you judge the cost difference for some lifetime tools to be bugger all ... (and the wait aspect is up to you I guess)
It's a big question these days. I assume an answer would involve the words 'local' and 'service' ... but I don't have it.
I do kinda feel for the Ozzie business living in a global + online market.

I wish that were true for me locally, price aside, my experiences involving things that needed to be ordered-in from Veritas have ranged from poor to shocking.
I really believe in buying locally - even taking the financial hit - the benefit being seeing it in the flesh and supporting the stores. However, if it's not in stock, I'm online in a heartbeat.

OT, I'd wait for the PM-V11's to come back in stock. I am!

Originally Posted by chook

I have bought a bunch of stuff from Veritas (Lee Valley) in Vancouver at much cheaper prices than can be got in Australia. My daughter is bringing them home when she visits in a few weeks. But...
I was going to get some (a set of 5)PMV11 chisels. Veritas do not have them in stock and will not have then for some months. So I will have to pay postage. Depending on exchange rates they will cost around $380 to $400 delivered. This is still several hundred dollars cheaper than I can buy them in Australia.
The alternative is the LN o1 chisels. They are about $355 delivered and are good stuff. They are available now.
Is it worth waiting or not? Is the extra cost small though it is, worth it?

(PS If you do not have family in America you can still get the Veritas PMV11 chisels direct and delivered for a total cost of $440. The price to buy in Australia is about $630. How does that work?)

Good Morning Chook

I buy a lot of stuff from overseas, and find that the tax free price is often around one third of the Oz price, still around half after I add freight. This is due largely to exhorbitant margins at the importer level, not the retailer.

But Lie-Nielsen products are not one of those things that I would import. LN Australian prices are very competitive on a global scale.

For example, the set of five 0-1 chisels with hornbean handles that you mention are priced on the Lie-Nielsen, Maine website at US$290 per set that equates to Aus$326 at todays exchange rate.

LN's Australian agent, Henry Eckert Fine Tools in Adelaide, has the identical product on his website at Aus$340, a mere $14 above the Maine price and considerably less than the landed cost of imports. For orders over $200 HE ship freight free Australia wide.

Why would you even consider importing this product? Or imposing on family.

As far as other Lie Nielsen products go, Henry Eckert have a policy of matching all genuine overseas quotes including freight costs.
Price Match Policy




Fair Winds

Graeme

Good Morning Again Chook

Just had a quick look at the Lee Valley, Canadian website which has the 5-chisel PM-V11 set listed at Can$379 which equals Aus$404.

They are listed on the Carbetec website at Aus$601 - roughly 50% higher than Canada - nice little earner for Mr Carbatec if he actually sells any - and this might be the reason that Carbatec no longer list Lie Nielsen products!

My view is that both Lie Nielsen and Lee Valley Veritas tools are both very high quality and that any quality variance between them is very minor.

A 50% price variance is a big powerful voice telling one to buy Lie Nielsen.



Fair Winds

Graeme

PS: I have absolutely no connection with Lee Valley, Lie Nielsen or Henry Eckert except for wishing that their products better fitted my budget.

I compared 4 chisel steels here (including O1, but not LN O1): http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolRev...sCompared.html

Just keep in mind a comment I made in the summing up: It must be emphasised that this was about the steel, not the chisels. What do I mean by that? A chisel is not simply a lump of steel with a handle. Edge-holding is sometimes less important than balance and control and comfort when in use.

These are the LV and LN O1 chisels ...



Bottom line - if you like the LN and are prepared to sharpen more frequently, you will get good service from them. If you have not yet tried the LV chisels, then you may or may not wish you had waited. It depends if you are the type of person to obsess over these things

Regards from Perth

Derek

I am not actually all that concerned about the cost factor (I have already spent so much it is a bit late for that) but I do not have spare cash to splash about, so I like to get the best value I can. LN will ship the chisels to me from their SA store at for nothing so the price will work out about $50 less than the LV chisels. But as Derek Cohen says this is nothing much over a lifetime.

The price difference between the Australian suppler and any overseas site is so small that for LN tools I would always buy in Australia. Once the current batch of tools arrive I have my eye on the 16 inch tenon saw LN sell and I will get that from Henry Eckert. But LV prices are a bit over the top in Australia really. I am not sure how the price is so high and as much as I would like to support local businesses I have to make the most of the dollars I have.

I have a bunch of LV stuff (saws, marking gauges, planes ...) and I have never had a problem with any of it. It has all be quality stuff. My suspicion is that the steel in the LV chisels is better than the LN. But then I actually like sharpening! The LN chisels are (to my mind) simply beautiful to look at and to hold. They are elegant in the extreme. Anyway after all that I am getting the LV chisels. All I have read of them is positive and I am buying chisels not a bride for my son.

As to bothering any family in America, well, my beautiful daughter spent the first 16 years of her life bothering me and now it is time for some payback.

In the end whatever I get I win. I have made two house fulls of furniture with some dodgy Stanley chisels and I got by with them.

Henry Eckert are very competitive on LN stuff, especially considering GST. A significant problem is not local pricing, but local unavailability for many items. I don't think I have purchased anything significant overseas (except when I am actually overseas) available locally. Exceptions are books, although recently I have used Fishpond (local agent for overseas sellers so not really local) for new books as opposed to Book Depository. When I do buy from US (eBay items mainly) I usually have them sent to my son who happens to live in US. He either groups them and posts on, or delivers them on visits, or I pick up on visits the other way.

Sometimes buying from UK is competitive for European made items, because the postage is often a lot less than VAT (at 20%), so one can buy cheaper than UK locals. This was so for carving knives not available in Oz. A caveat - some boutique UK dealers are VAT exempt (too small to reach threshold of sales of 77,000 pounds), so the advantage for overseas sales is lost (the dealer pays VAT on purchases, which is good for local sales because the VAT actually paid for product is reduced).

Hi All,
Maybe I have this all wrong, but I fail to see why you wood want to use all that cash on those Chisels that you have chosen to buy, from Overseas.
With very careful selection you could more than likely buy your Chisels here, & maybe where you live.
A lot of Sunday Markets have some very Good Chisels, & bearing in mind, these Chisels are Weathered & Aged, which should make the Steel reasonably good. Surely as good as these new ones you are getting, & at a fraction of the price.
You may have to work on them a bit, might even need a new handle.
Over time you may get to have a set, just take a look at the Forums recently, where Members are selling there surplus stock, & are possibly the same make.
Just take a look at some of Derek's Chisels & the finish, which is the way I like mine as well.
I'm a Woodturner only, but I like to collect Chisels, & you wood most likely K**l for what I have, & cost next to nothing, other than a bit of cleaning, polishing & being handled.
Some of my friends have even better Chisels than I have, & most only bought the Blade for something like $2 - 4 .
Well that's my 2sense worth.

Originally Posted by issatree

Hi All,
Maybe I have this all wrong, but I fail to see why you wood want to use all that cash on those Chisels that you have chosen to buy, from Overseas.

With very careful selection you could more than likely... maybe... may have to work on them a bit... might even need a new handle... Over time you may get to have a set...

You're absolutely right of course, it's a perfectly valid option for those that have the time, maybe.

All those old chisels were new once though...