Thread: Marples Chisels - Are these ones any good?

Let's see them then Stu.
Cheers,
Jim

p.s. I saw them first!

It's got a very reasonable buy now..........
I've got things to do today, if they're still there tonight, I'll probably buy them.
I collect* Marples tools, even if there is savage pitting on the back of the blades, $10 each for those handles isn't a bad deal.


*and I admit it.

seanz
I think that NZStu put the link up there for your input on the chisels, I do not think he put them up there for you to get in first hey.

Originally Posted by seanz

if they're still there tonight, I'll probably buy them.

Hmmm. So does that mean they are worth having?

I have a few of the older marples blue chips at the moment, and having just used them to do a table worth of mortise+tenon joints in rimu, I'm not massively enamoured with them. They don't quite feel right and don't seem to hold their edge for very long. These do look a bit nicer...

It appears they are now sold. Hope they went to the right person.

Originally Posted by munruben

It appears they are now sold. Hope they went to the right person.

Dammit. An Australian too. Perhaps posting the link on here was a mistake...

Originally Posted by NZStu

Dammit. An Australian too. Perhaps posting the link on here was a mistake...

I hope it wasn't one of the members of the forum. Its not the sort of thing that is appreciated here. It is protocol to allow the first person first go and this is mostly adhered to on here. Sorry you missed out.

Originally Posted by Birdie

seanz
I think that NZStu put the link up there for your input on the chisels, I do not think he put them up there for you to get in first hey.

Wouldn't dare do that.

Not polite, nor is it good form.

I was just giving him a "hurry up".

So, which one of you cheeky sods pinched Stu's chisels?

Originally Posted by munruben

I hope it wasn't one of the members of the forum. Its not the sort of thing that is appreciated here. It is protocol to allow the first person first go and this is mostly adhered to on here. Sorry you missed out.

On the other hand.....if they're on your watchlist ( and you're tallying up how much you can spend this week on Trademe) and you see a forum post about them, that might inspire you to hit the 'buy now' button.

They were nice.....but I (almost) have enough chisels.

Probably for the best anyway - I've spent far too much on tools over the past few months.

I was thinking about rehandling the blue chips, but the fact I had to sharpen my 1" twice over the course of cutting 8 mortice and tenons in softwood does make me wonder if it's worth it.

The single (plastic-handled) Berg I have seems to be a lot better, but I haven't seen many of those come up for sale at all.

I think (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) the older chisels are O1 steel, the newer ones have a harder steel (Maybe, A2, I'm very tired ) that loses it's edge quicker.
cheers
Sean

Originally Posted by seanz

I think (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) the older chisels are O1 steel, the newer ones have a harder steel (Maybe, A2, I'm very tired ) that loses it's edge quicker.
cheers
Sean

Hi Sean
I understand that the type of steel has very little to do with the edge holding ability of the different handled Maples chisels.
The "culprit" for want of a better word is variability in the heat treatment. Some Marples have good HT, some the HT is only OK, and for some the HT may have been some one stired their tea with them on a cold day.

Originally Posted by ian

Hi Sean
I understand that the type of steel has very little to do with the edge holding ability of the different handled Maples chisels.
The "culprit" for want of a better word is variability in the heat treatment. Some Marples have good HT, some the HT is only OK, and for some the HT may have been some one stired their tea with them on a cold day.

I think you may be right with this. I'm beginning to wonder if British tools of that era (1970s or so) were affected by the general lack of quality control in the manufacturing industry of that time. With British Leyland cars, whether or not you got a good one was purely a matter of luck, and the odds were really against you.

So, where to from here? I'm not convinced it's worth continuing to persevere with old British chisels when they can be so hit and miss. I just want something that performs well with no fuss. Maybe time to start saving for some new Kirschens...

Still it's a pity you missed out. They can't have had much use if they're still in the packet. As the others said, I hope no-one on this forum jumped in after seeing your post.
Plenty more out there though.
Cheers,
Jim