Are these tools any good

[Arron]

I'll be going to McJings in a week or two, and was wondering about whether to pick up some carving tools while I'm there. I'm mainly interested in rasps, but may have a look at chisels as well.

I know they have chisels and gouges without handles - and also made up ones like these McJING Tools Online

Anyone know if they are any good - or is it a classic 'you get what you pay for' situation.

I should point out that I already have a basic set of Pfiel chisels and some Marples for backup, but I'm starting to feel the need for odd sizes and shapes.

cheers
Arron

[Sebastiaan56]

I have a few. Im not much of a carver but the steel seems to take a reasonable edge. I just got careful choosing tools where profile matters a lot (eg v gouges) There were also some hand forged chisels there a while ago and those puppies can be honed to a high level of sharpness.

[nz_carver]

ok well after one or todays in this game that we call carving
I have to say there good as a start point to use to pick up carving

there hard to keep sharp

[Arron]

Thanks Guys.

Sebastiaan - I had a look at your blog. I like your spin. Keep it up. About time for some new posts though.

NZ_carver, which particular tools of the ones McJings sells are you talking about ???

cheers and thanks
Arron

[nz_carver]

McJING Tools Online

not to bad for a firts set if you want to try your hand at carving

[wheelinround]

Was at McJings cave today and spotted those they look good even LOML had a good look at them again.

I'd hold off until after the Adelaide wood show as they are going down for that next week.

Be warned if you haven't been to McJings Aladins Cave before leave the Ccard a home

[Jim Carroll]

If you have Pfeil tools then the others are a backward step.

As NZ indicated they do not hold their edge as well as the known brands.

Save your money and buy the pfeil and you will not be disapointed.

[movay_2008]

Looking at the handles one gets the feeling they won't last, and how liable to shatter is the steel going to be if it doesn't keep the edge?.

[underfoot]

If you have Pfeil tools then the others are a backward step..

Yep, what Jim said

[Frank&Earnest]

My first Pfeil chisel was a revelation. It came already sharpened and made painfully obvious that what I had called sharp before was not. Now that I am honing them and all the others properly, I can't honestly say that I can see a perceptible difference between Pfeil, Stubai, Marples, Narex, a couple of lesser brand sheffield tools or a set of cheap Chinese.

Then again, that could just be my ignorance, and because I use them very little I can't really gauge durability. The consensus is that honing should be done every few minutes anyway, isn't it?

[Arron]

It seems there area few competing viewpoints here, so I guess I'll just get one and see what I make of it.

I'll let you know.

cheers
Arron

[Jim Carroll]

Frank depending on how hard the timber is you could be stropping the tool every couple of pushes.

I have a leather strop charged with green rouge beside me all the time and just rubbing every now and then to burnish the edge. It helps to allow the edge to slide through the timber easier.

Honing is only really needed when the edge has gone of the tool, then use your water stones to bring back the edge.

Sharpening on a grinder or tormek is only needed when you drop the tool.

Another option is using a stitched mop on your bench grinder with the green rouge, it produces a very high shine on the bevel quickly

[Frank&Earnest]

My mistake, it seems that I was actually referring to stropping. Before I was grinding tools on a white wheel then giving them a pass on stitched cloth + Al oxide. Now, unless an edge snaps (and it happened only once, with a small Pfeil V actually) I do not do any grinding, the occasional minor chipping is fixed on the whetstone and all the honing/stropping (?) is done on the home made leather belt charged with rouge powered by a Makita belt sander that I mentioned on another thread. A quick pass of the cloth wheel just for the inside of Vs and gouges and I am done.

Because I do not use anything between the 400 grit whetstone and the rouge, I suspect that the first, longer use of the belt does both "honing" and "stropping", and the quick later passes are only "stropping".

Any correction of my use of these words and suggestions for technique improvement gratefully accepted.

While I'm here, there is another thing I remembered that could be relevant for Arron's question. My carving club was looking for a cheap set of palm chisels to keep for use by visiting beginners. It was mentioned that such sets as sold a few years ago where not sold any more and the next option was to buy unhandled ones, sold probably by McJing, for $5 each and make handles for them. I dug out an old set my father had, and I never used, and told the club that if that was the stuff they were after, they could have it. The comment was that a set like that would not have been much more than $5 for the lot (but they were happy to keep it!) because those old ones were pressed, while the $5 each ones are forged and good steel. Is this true? Sounds a bit iffy to me.

[Rifleman1776]

Can't speak to the tools in question.
But, I have seen cheap carving tools that had very-very short tangs. This allowed them to break out of the handles and present a serious safety hazard.
The ones you are speaking of have no handles. That is an advantage in that you can see how long the tangs are.

[Dereklee]

yep! Pfeil tools are quite enough.
but you can leave others stand-by.