Swiss chisels

[Grunter53]

G'day everyone

Thanks for the welcome from Ed Reiss and Munrubin. Munrubin suggested I pose my question to the carving forum.

I am new to the carving game and am in the process of buying some carving chisels. I was looking at some second-hand ones which look very nice and had SWISS MADE on the handles with two numbers separated by a forward slash immediately after (eg SWISS MADE 2/25, SWISS MADE 12/10). The numbers were also inscribed on the throat of the chisels. Is anyone able to give me the make or brand from this description and also an opinion of the possible quality of these chisels? Are all swiss made chisels good quality?

I think I have managed to upload a picture of these chisels as well to aid in identification ( I know a picture is worth more than a 1000 of my words).

Thanks

Grant

[rsser]

No, not all Swiss made chisels are worth their asking price; in a test of bench chisels done by Fine Woodworking there were some surprises re the quality of some top brands.

You can get a short term sub to the FWW website and access all their back articles. IIRC USD5 for a month.

[Grunter53]

Thanks mate.

I thought that may be the case. From the searching I,ve done it appears a lot of the newer chisels aren't as good a quality as those from many years ago.

Cheers

Grant

[KevM]

I am new to the carving game and am in the process of buying some carving chisels. I was looking at some second-hand ones which look very nice and had SWISS MADE on the handles with two numbers separated by a forward slash immediately after (eg SWISS MADE 2/25, SWISS MADE 12/10). The numbers were also inscribed on the throat of the chisels. Is anyone able to give me the make or brand from this description and also an opinion of the possible quality of these chisels? Are all swiss made chisels good quality?

I think I have managed to upload a picture of these chisels as well to aid in identification ( I know a picture is worth more than a 1000 of my words).

Thanks

Grant

Look a lot like Pfeil, have a look here.

[rsser]

Thanks mate.

I thought that may be the case. From the searching I,ve done it appears a lot of the newer chisels aren't as good a quality as those from many years ago.

Yes.

The relationship between money and quality might be a general one but there's always been exceptions.

Even a good brand can vary by steel batch.

The FWW test was an eye-opener to me. Course the results may not apply to a given brand's carving chisels.

Good luck.

[Grunter53]

Look a lot like Pfeil, have a look here.

Hi KevM

I think you are right. I compared a number of the chisels with those on the carba-tec site and they look exactly the same.

Thanks a lot

Cheers

Grant

[JJK]

The chisels in the photo are indeed "Pfeil" brand chisels and are consided a good brand by many carvers. They keep their edge for a long time and seen to get sharper than chisels made by other well known brands.
If the chisels in the photo are being offered at a bargin price, then snap them up, as they are worth around $50 to $65 each new.
It is important to keep these tool super sharp for best results. I use a Norton Hard Arkansas oilstone and a leather strop to get a razor edge.

[nz_carver]

ok granter if u are new to carving why not get what u need ie one of them sets from carba tec or a set from someone i know here in sydney 20% less carba tec price

i mean get what what need say set 12
talk to other carvers see what they say see what other carvers are useing
you can have 100 tools still not going to make u a better carver
i mean what sort of carving you going to do?????

saying that i have around 60+ here and anoth 40 + in nz
trying to get them sent in post is hard dam coustoms!!!!!!! trust me

i carved 8 hrs a day at a carving school in nz 5 days a week and only used 12 tools

[hi ho sliver]

They look a lot like my Stubai chisels as well...but my guess is Pfeil

[Grunter53]

The chisels in the photo are indeed "Pfeil" brand chisels and are consided a good brand by many carvers. They keep their edge for a long time and seen to get sharper than chisels made by other well known brands.
If the chisels in the photo are being offered at a bargin price, then snap them up, as they are worth around $50 to $65 each new.
It is important to keep these tool super sharp for best results. I use a Norton Hard Arkansas oilstone and a leather strop to get a razor edge.

G'day JJK

Thanks mate. I will see how I go price-wise.

Cheers

Grant

[Grunter53]

ok granter if u are new to carving why not get what u need ie one of them sets from carba tec or a set from someone i know here in sydney 20% less carba tec price

i mean get what what need say set 12
talk to other carvers see what they say see what other carvers are useing
you can have 100 tools still not going to make u a better carver
i mean what sort of carving you going to do?????

saying that i have around 60+ here and anoth 40 + in nz
trying to get them sent in post is hard dam coustoms!!!!!!! trust me

i carved 8 hrs a day at a carving school in nz 5 days a week and only used 12 tools

G'day nz_carver

Thanks for the direction. What 12 chisels did you use at the carving school?

I am not quite sure what type of carving I am going to target yet. Starting with novice exercises first, but am tending toward relief carving for a start from what I have read. I have a friend in Kingaroy who is directing me along and he carves sculpture type work. The sculpture stuff appears pretty daunting to me at this stage of the game. I don't have a problem with 3D visualisation because my profession is sonography and you make 3D images in your mind from multi-planar cross-sectional 2d images. It is the reproducing what is in your mind from the block of wood that I am concerned with at this time.

I will see how I go with purchasing the chisels I am looking at and if there are any hiccups, I shall chase you up on your offer of reduced prices thanks.

What is the problem getting your chisels from NZ? My nephew who is a chippy has just come over to Melbourne from NZ and had his tools sent out for about $70 no worries.

[nz_carver]

[quote=Grunter53;946370]G'day nz_carver

Thanks for the direction. What 12 chisels did you use at the carving school?
two 1s two 3s four v tools and one 8 one 7 and a 9 i was doing a lot of MAORI CARVING
What is the problem getting your chisels from NZ? My nephew who is a chippy has just come over to Melbourne from NZ and had his tools sent out for about $70 no worries.[/quote]

as for customs i got somes 6 months back from a 2nd had shop
with out seeing them now the person b4 me must have done some drugs and there was traess of it in the pockets of the tool roll
customs whent nuts to find things that were not ment to me there
end up get i knock on the door from the cops

as for the tools well that u see in the pic is not what u get

[Grunter53]

G'day nz_carver

Sounds like you had fun plus with the police knocking on your door. I had never considered the drug aspect. I guess it proved that my nephew must abstain form them.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers

Grant

[nz_carver]

can i ask were is Hervey Bay???

[Grunter53]

can i ask were is Hervey Bay???

Hi nz_carver

Hervey Bay is the city opposite Fraser Island in Qld (about 55,000 population). It is about 3.5 hours north of Brisbane, unless my wife is driving and then it is around 3.

When you were Maori carving in NZ did you come across a chap called Murray Wright? Murray is a long lost cousin of mine I haven't seen for years. He was heavily into Maori Carving back in the old school days and I believe he took up carving professionally when he left school some 30 years ago.

cheers

Grant