Thread: Which chisels would you buy? Best value medium price range

Originally Posted by IanW

They must've been popular - the price has shot up!

They look the goods - if they perform as well, you're on a winner....
Cheers,

Ian that is the "buy it now" price. They often have an auction starting at around $60 & sometimes they also do free postage as well. They seem to be good value for money but then only time will tell I suppose.
Merry Xmas BTW

Originally Posted by tdrumnut

Ian that is the "buy it now" price. They often have an auction starting at around $60 & sometimes they also do free postage as well. They seem to be good value for money but then only time will tell I suppose.
Merry Xmas BTW

Hmmm - I'm such a babe-in-arms when it comes to E-pay! I obviously haven't a clue how it works...

Those chisels seem nicely finished, so if the metal in them is any good, they are quite the bargain at the price you paid, methinks. Let us know what you think of them after you've used them a bit...

Cheers,

I have the Pfeil bench chisels. They are superb.

I have a selection of old Bergs, Wards, Stanleys, a Tyzac some Marples and a few Titans. The Pfeil chisels are my favourites. Sharp out of the box, flat backs, easy to sharpen to a proper edge. Some people don't like the octagonal handles, I do but then there's no disputing tatste.

There are lots of good chisels out there.

Cheers

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Good Morning Andrew

Perhaps you were looking at Harold and Saxon chisels - artisan made, and a real bargain when compared to Tasai-san's masterpieces below. I think Terry Gordon also retails Harold and Saxon chisels.
Harold & Saxon – Chisel & Tool Co. Australia

I have been quite happy with my mirror polish Two Cherries chisels and think they were quite good value for money.
TWO CHERRIES Chisels

When looking up the Two Cherries source I stumbled on these which are also probably quite good value for money, but not necessarily inexpensive. When you convert currrencies, add on freight, customs and GST, it comes to about Aus$3,000 for six chisels, or $500 each!
TASAI Chisels

We can all aspire, or dream....




Fair Winds

Graeme

Yes, that's them, the Harold & Saxon.

Oh My, now I need to kick myself twice as hard! I was offered a full set of the contractor's chisels for well, an amount that would seem 'unbelievable' now.
I bought a HNT Gordon Plane on the day and as Terry was wrapping it, he said to me quietly, "If you're thinking of getting a set, jump in now, because you'll never see those chisels at those prices again..." Needless to say, he was absolutely right! Funny how my stoopid brain works. I actually thought that I wouldn't buy them because at 'that price' they couldn't be any good. Stoopid, stoopid, stoopid!

I agree with your comment about the two cherries chisels. They are good value for money. I just don't like the feel of them in my hands. I'm just becoming more and more pernickety every day..... I like my chisels to have a bit more heft.

My favorite chisel to use is my boatbuilders slick. It's blade is around 75mm x 350 mm. It has enough heft to drive itself. I never strike it. Once you get comfortable with it's size, it's extraordinary the work it will do and the fine tolerances that can be achieved.
It puts a smile on my dial, every chance I get to pull it out. BTW, I made it myself to a plan in Woodenboat by Doug Hylan. I love his work too.

Cheers
Andrew

Well, I ordered a set of Narex chisels yesterday. My daughter wanted to get me something nice for my birthday, so we went half-half on them. Now it's a case of hitting refresh repeatedly on the parcel tracking page until they arrive.

Originally Posted by tdrumnut

I recently bought some "luban" chisels off ebay...

Luban !!! He used to post here. It was he who started the "E-bay droppings" thread. I had noticed he was selling Quangsheng planes under his own label, but hadn't seen the chisels before.

He would know his tools, so the quality would be reasonable (but I can't get passed a personal bias - I won't buy tools from a country that's undercutting every manufacturer in the world - and has a poor human rights record to boot).

One other chisel manufacturer to consider is Ashley Iles. They get very good reviews (well shaped and well balanced)and are said to be good value for money - probably not as good value as Narex though.

Cheers, Vann.

Well, my Narex chisels arrived (after a bit of a wait due to the local post office not notifying me that they were there) and I'm very happy with them. I've only had a quick play, and have not had the time to do any flattening and/or sharpening, and therefore can't comment on the quality of the steel. All I can say is that visually they are very smart, I can't see any defects, and they have a good feel to them. The handles are quite large and chunky, but I have quite big hands, so I find them very comfortable.

IMG-20140131-00850.jpg

After I ordered the Narex (but before they arrived) I saw an auction for a set of six Bergs, and managed to win them. I've included a pic of the Narexs next to the Bergs. Blades are very similar, with the Bergs being a little more delicate. They're roughly the same length - the Bergs don't look like they've seen a lot of use at all. The Bergs handles feel quite delicate compared to the Narex, and almost dainty - in a good way.

IMG-20140212-00878.jpg

There are three sizes which are common across the two sets, so I have essentially nine different widths all told (not counting the various non-matching hodge-podge I've been using till now), and I'm very happy with my purchases, both the Narex and the Bergs. I'm glad I've got both (having the Narex means I can save the Bergs for when I need them), even though I'm slightly broke now

There's no paint tin out there that I can't open with that lot...


Edit I'll be checking the back for flatness after reading Fencefurniture's thread about the paring chisels https://www.woodworkforums.com/f152/narex-paring-chisels-flat-181872

My Narex bench chisels required very little work to flatten. I think the paring chisels may need some extra effort because of their length.

Your last photo looks familiar.Chisels.jpg
Well sort of . Mine are very slightly more experienced.

Colin62,
First congrats on picking up the Bergs. I cant think of any better chisels. The Narex are very good for the money so looks like you are set up chisel wise.
As for flat on the back I have always just ensured that there was some flat near the edge to get it really sharp and had never really given a lot of thought to flat all along the back. I read the thread on flat backs the other day and can see the point on really long pareing chisels. Anyhow after seeing your coment I went and checked the backs of my motly collection with a steel rule. Quite a few have a slight concave along the back. I have never had any problem wotking with them. Some of mine only have a small flat and as long as it is flat to the corners I am happy with that. If you have as much flat as this pic then it does its job.
Regards
John

https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...6&d=1270611941

Originally Posted by NCArcher

My Narex bench chisels required very little work to flatten. I think the paring chisels may need some extra effort because of their length.

Your last photo looks familiar.Chisels.jpg
Well sort of . Mine are very slightly more experienced.

I have 7 bench chisels and 6 mortising chisels (all Narex). The backs of the chisels tool ver little time to flatten and for the cost of the things even if they did they would still be good value.

Well for those interested I have been using my Lubans now for around 6 mths and are very happy, they have yet to be re-sharpened and though they haven't been excessively used, I have given them a bit of a work out and they holding their edge and as stated I'm a happy chappy.