johnnyrsa 17th May 2013, 12:00 AM Howzit guys. Has anyone here ever heard of Marples Ridgway chisels? I know Marples but I've never heard of Marples ridgway. Are they from the same company or are they a cheap chinese knock off? The reason for me asking is, I found a set of these chisels at a pawn shop for next to nothing. They still look new but I don't want to buy them and have them shatter or bend after the first time I knock them with a mallet.
Here's a crappy image I found on the net of what they look like:
268220
seanz 17th May 2013, 09:20 AM Near the bottom of this page is some info that gives the mid-seventies as the probable era of manufacture.
Record Hand Planes (http://www.recordhandplanes.com/history.html)
Are they any good? Do companies make their best quality products during periods of management changes?
On the other hand......if you only ever hit them with a wooden mallet they are very unlikely to bend or shatter....weather they hold an edge for very long is another thing.
IanW 17th May 2013, 09:47 AM I had a 1" M-R like the ones in your pic. Apart from the fat handle that I hated (& soon remodelled) it was as good as any Marples I ever used. If you got a set like that for 'next to nothing' I think you've done well...
Chees,
johnnyrsa 17th May 2013, 04:46 PM They still look brand new which is probably why I was skeptical, I'll go have a better look today if I get a chance. The 2nd hand dealer is asking R180 (AUD19.76) for them, a new set of Irwin Marples goes for R600 (AUD65.88) here in South Africa.
pmcgee 17th May 2013, 05:17 PM If they're cheap ... get 'em and let *us* know how they are. :U
If they're no good ... that what ebay is for. :D
Cheers,
Paul
jimbur 17th May 2013, 05:41 PM Take advantage of his ignorance.:D
johnnyrsa 20th May 2013, 07:15 PM So I went back to the pawn shop this weekend to have another look at said chisels. They look pretty decent, and all have Marples Sheffield England etchings on the blade. I was still a little skeptical but thought what the hell, offered the guy R165 (AUD18.00). They all still have their factory edges, from what I can see only one of them was ever used maybe once. The handles suck, they are too fat and uncomfortable but I can probably modify them to suite me better. I haven't tested them out yet as I first want to sharpen them, will then see how long they hold an edge.
Here's a few pics I took of them:
http://s17.postimg.org/7djj5ijdr/IMAG0299.jpg
http://s17.postimg.org/m884josyn/IMAG0300.jpg
http://s17.postimg.org/a8wmcdndr/IMAG0301.jpg
seanz 20th May 2013, 09:20 PM Score!
:)
For that price here, you get 3 plastic handled Chinese chisels.
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