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

Hello Hellofellow, (is that a double positive?)

My advice is get onto ebay or other sites or look at markets.
Lok for Brands such as E. A. Berg, Jernbolaget, Titan, Great aussie Chisels from long ago, all three of these will give you high quality
chisels for much less than the Veritas. Are they as good as the veritas? I haven't done a comparison but i'm sure someone has. But they are some of the best chisels ever made.
There are also some great english and american brands that i know less about so I'll leave it to others to advise you on these.
But on limited means and with some patience you'll end up with some of the very best.

Cheers

Frank

Several forumites have reported Narex chisels as very good value for money, and of a very good quality. Mine have arrived, but I am yet to flatten and hone them before I use them.

Last year I attended a trade open day at Lazarides Timbers, in Brisbane here.
As well as the usual culprits like Colen Clenton and Terry Gordon, (and a load of others) there was another guy who was making some very, very nice Aussie custom Chisels.
I'm kicking myself now that I didn't keep his details, but I guess if you contacted Terry Gordon at HNT Gordon Planes, I'm quite sure Terry would have his details.
Personally I have a set of Two Cherries chisels that I use for Fine work. I don't have any complaints with the Two Cherries chisels, but they're nothing to rave about.

#1 ..
I don't know what 'stage' you are at, but you can first off start with some pretty basic chisels in say just 3 sizes.
There was a thread not a million months ago about chisels available at Buunnings.
PS: I did not take this advice.

#2 ..
There is a 'sticky' in this forum .. a classic from Bob Smalser .. https://www.woodworkforums.com/f152/w...ginners-13082/

#3 ..
ScribblyGum has also written in the past about what good old brands are available 2ndhand ... and how undervalued the old english chisels are.
I'll try to find it later if I can.

Cheers,
Paul

I have been using my Narex chisels from Lee Valley for a short time and they are cheap and seem to be good quality. I had used a set of Stanley Dynagrip chisels frp perhaps 15 or 20 years and they were okay to use, once I got the backs flat. But the shape of the things eventually beat me. The sides were so wide that getting into the corners of dovetails frustrated me the the point were I gave them away. If you intend to cut fine joinery it would be worth your with to get chisels that are bevelled to a narrow edge. You will probably not get them at Bunnings.

Originally Posted by hellofellow

Any terms I should know? I.e. Whats the difference between a butt chisel, bevel edge chisel, bench chisel? I assume I,m just looking for bench chisels, but my understanding all chisels are 'bevel edge'?

Butt chisel = a short stumpy chisel (as in the butt of a tree or a cigarette butt). Some ad-copy writer at Lee Valley, with a poor knowledge of the English language, claimed they were named so because they were used for installing butt hinges. It made me chuckle every time I saw it. The best (read 'least expensive') butt chisels are simply good old chisels, worn well down, but still within the hardened & tempered section of the blade, which usually peters out 20mm or so from the start of the tang or socket. These can often be picked up for very little at flea markets & elsewhere. Add a short, bulbous handle & you have a very short chisel which is handy to get into tight spaces, or when you need super-fine control of the cutting edge:

Butt chisels.jpg

'Bevel edge' wrt chisels means the sides are bevelled, all chisels have a bevel at the pointy end, of course! This doesn't have to be straight across, either, some are sharpened at an angle, or askew, so are referred to as 'skews'.

made skews.jpg

The side bevels vary, too. On cheap chisels the edges are thick, & often as not, a bit asymmetrical (i.e. thicker one side than the other). Expensive chisels like Lie-Nielsens are ground exactly evenly, and to almost a sharp edge. This makes them ideal for chopping into the corners of dovetails, but not so ideal for levering great chunks out of an Ironbark slab. Paring chisels usually have fine edges & very thin, long bodies, ranging from 'long' to 'very long' as for patternmakers paring chisels.

Top LN chisel; middle, nondescript BE; bottom, paring chisel (in which the socket is also offset to allow it to reach deper onto a board): Beveled edges comp.jpg

For heavier work, you should turn to a 'Firmer' chisel. These may be bevel-edged, too, but are probably more commonly not. This makes more sense to me, not only because they are stronger, but levering stuff out against a straight back causes less wood bruising.

Titans rehandled.jpg

'Bench chisel' is a vague term, but to me it implies a general-purpose chisel, a bit thicker & tougher than chisels optimised for dovetailing if bevelled, or they could be straight-backed chisels. These are generally a bit lighter in construction than firmer chisels, but it's a continuum. These two are thinner than the same width socket firmers above:

bench.jpg

Then you move into "mortising" chisels, which are thicker & heavier still. Again there are no agreed standards where a 'firmer' morphs into a 'mortise', but it is usually obvious when you see a chisel that is thicker than it is wide that it has been made with some serious levering in mind. At one end of the scale are the "sash mortise" chisels, used by sash (as in windows) makers:

Sash mortise.jpg
These are of lighter construction than the 'pig sticker' style favoured by those who like digging holes in hard woods (I don't have any of these so google it):

I will probably be taken to task for my over-simplification, but that will give you some idea. The naming of chisels isn't quite as bad as it is for saws, but it's bad enough - no two 'authorities' give quite the same definitions, so you are left to make up your own mind where some chisels might fit......

Cheers,

Ian - good work and well done.
Could this (IanW's) post be made into a sticky to go with Bob Smalser's?

Hellofellow,

The Narex Classic Bevel-Edge (the other Narex ones are 'discontinued') seem like a good choice, at a good price, for plain old chisels to use on the bench, for most chiseling jobs (e.g. general use chisels).
I'd like them even more if they had plastic handles, but Lee Valley offer chisels with plastic handles for a little higher price.

I think plastic handled 'general use' chisels are the go as you can bash away on the handle and not have to worry about damaging the timber handle.
That is my preference.... (some people reading this will be calling me a barbarian!)... I have other chisels that are used much more lightly.
I just think that decent general use chisels that you can use across the range of furniture making to fencing or cubby house making, for $10 - $15 each are a good idea. You can expand from there.

I don't know what is on offer at the big hardware stores, or what the quality would be like but, unlike most, Lee Valley don't sell rubbish.

The trouble with buying old second hand tools is that while you get good quality, they are often in poor condition, meaning you need the time, consumables and knowledge to sort them out.

Have fun!

(what will you sharpen them on?)

Thanks so much

Never ceases to amaze me how helpful people are on this forum.
Ill likely get the Narex as but will stay open to good second hand ones as I see them.

Interestingly...
I am home at my parents for Christmas, and my mum has some of her dads (my grandfathers) tools, who used to be a woodworker in England, teach wood work and do picture framing. I have come across a old Stanely no 4 1/2 with a record Iorn (not sure where to find the patent date?)and a set of chisels. I cant really take these off mum as she has them to remember her dad, but thought, as I plan to learn to sharpen and fettle my own planes/chisels, I would grab some sharpening gear and give a little restoration a shot.

That being said Ill start a new thread now for sharpening but in answer to the last question: I think ill grab some Japanese waterstones/whetstones and a honing guide off Carba-tec.

Originally Posted by hellofellow

I think ill grab some Japanese waterstones/whetstones and a honing guide off Carba-tec.

Strongly recommend the Veritas Mk 2 honing guide

I bought a pair of Narex skews from LV. Had to back them down to 20 degrees for carving.
When compared with Pfeil carving tools, I believe the Narex steel is so good that I bought a second pair.
If I were to head off into woodworking-land, I would _start_ with some Narex chisels.

I have attempted to sharpen my fair share of crappy wood carving tools over the years.
Narex at 20 are satisfactory "carving sharp" edges.

Originally Posted by Andrew Nicholls

Last year I attended a trade open day at Lazarides Timbers, in Brisbane here.
As well as the usual culprits like Colen Clenton and Terry Gordon, (and a load of others) there was another guy who was making some very, very nice Aussie custom Chisels.
I'm kicking myself now that I didn't keep his details, but I guess if you contacted Terry Gordon at HNT Gordon Planes, I'm quite sure Terry would have his details.
Personally I have a set of Two Cherries chisels that I use for Fine work. I don't have any complaints with the Two Cherries chisels, but they're nothing to rave about.

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

I bought a set of Stubai plastic handled chisels because they were used at the woodwork school I attended. They are made in Austria and seem pretty good quality to me at a very good price. I got them from Woodworks in NSW.

I recently bought some "luban" chisels off ebay and are quite happy with them. Flattened the backs and a quick hone when I got them and they come up fine. Only light use so far but I am more than happy with them especially at the price (about $66 delivered for a set of 6).