Thread: New Stanley Chisels

Craig,

Can't help out personally, but I think there was something a few weeks back here about the SW and other wooden handled Stanley's.

Nick

Thanks for the link Nick!

Craig

I don't know about the new ones but about 15 years age I bought these
SYDNEY TOOLS - Stanley 5 Piece Dynagrip Chisel Set
And they work fine. The sharpen to a razor edge and hold it well. The synthetic handles are impervious to damage. I expect them to outlast several generations of my family. They don't look pretty and the bright yellow handles are a particularly horrible colour. But the timber I cut has not said much about this so I suppose it is not an issue. The steel is marked Sheffield England. Maybe Stanley makes some bad stuff but I have no knowledge of this.

So if the chisels are actually made by Stanley then they have a good start in life.

I've got the same set too chook, pick them up 15 or so years ago when I was an apprentice after my set of Sandvik chisels grew legs. They do hold a resonable edge, but I can assure you with the correct technique you can break the handles.

Eventually replaced them with Marples blue chip and I've collected individual ones over the years to make a set of 10 (picked up the the 3mm & 51mm from the UK). Some are genuine Record Marples, some are Irwin Marples and the difference is chalk and cheese. The Irwin's had coarse machine markes like the above Stanley's, needed allot of work to get them usable and don't hold an edge very well.
I've also got a set of orange handled Footprints that I picked up in a Mitre 10 bargin bin years ago. These are by far the best out of the lot. Nice to use and hold an edge well, I've kept these puerly for doing locks and hinges.

If you want carpentry chisels, look at Bahco, if you want nice timber handles, check out Carbatec's set for around the same price.
Personally I find it very hard to buy anything from Stanley or Irwin these days. In the quest to keep their foot in the door at Bunnings/Masters type places they have dropped the quality to gutter levels and purely trade off the reputation the brand have built up over the past 100 or so years.

Ive seen the one your talking about, they looks nice....dont know how good they are ,

I took a closer look at these yesterday, and the back of the chisel I looked at looked alright. Yes, some machining marks, but no more than on some of the Fat Max's I looked at.

The handles look like they are laser engraved with the Stanley logo, and with a brass-coated steel "cup" protecting the base of the wooden handle, near the blade.

Craig

I take it you mean the Bailey branded ones in the box of five?

I had a good look a few weeks ago when the tool shop guy asked me what I thought, as he knows I'm not a fan of most of the new stanley stuff. They appear to be the same Sheffield made steel as the fatmax chisels, which hold a decent edge once you clean them up properly. The ferrule appears overly lightweight, and the beech handles a little light and ovrall they feel unbalanced. Given it's still $20 a chisel, I'd be looking at the markets for something better quality.

If you could get them for $50 or so though, I think they'd be a reasonable set to have.

I saw these too. The next item along at my local Bunnings was a set of 6 chisels from the Trojan range.
Complete with wooden presentation box for $40.
I am not a chisel aficionado, but would appreciate an appraisal from 'someone that knows'.

G'Day! I would like to post here a link to British forum about Stanley plant in Sheffield.
Just found on Russian woodworkers site but prior to buy any Stanley's tools with words 'Made in Sheffield UK' better look here
Report - Stanley Tools, Sheffield - June 2012 - UK Urban Exploration Forums

and here

Report - Stanley Tools, Sheffield, May 2012 - UK Urban Exploration Forums

These above taken from here UK Urban Exploration Forums - Threads Tagged with stanley

Regards,

Sergiy.

Hi Sergiy
I dont want to hijack this thread but perhaps you could start another one about the Ukrainian woodworking movement.
I would be interested to know about the timbers you use and where you get your tools from- are there any good brands that we havent heard of

An excellent look at some modern Trojan chisels ...

and the rest well worth reading too ...

Cheap Chinese Chisels - Good Value - Or Just Plain Junk?
A Small Review
by the famous SG: The Village Woodworker: Cheap Chinese Chisels - Good Value - Or Just Plain Junk?

The Big Green Shed dropped the price of the Stanleys down to $79 and I heard a rumour that they might be part of my birthday present. If that's the case, I'll post some pictures and do a bit of a writeup, pending time off for good behaviour on my job list

Craig

I was at the BGS today and these sets of chisels are now $49. Half original price.
Dandenong has about 10 sets on sale in the tool shop.