Chisel Test

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Hey guys, I bought a book called Fine Woodworking on Hand Tools, published in 1982. There was an in-depth chisel review which included an analysis of the steel used and a general appraisal of the chisels. Surprisingly, all the chisels reviewed are still in production although I don't know if they are made the same way today as they were 22 years ago. Anyway, there is a synopsis of the test in a chart form. If you think it'd be interesting I'll post the chart here for your review.

[Ted Shrader]

Dennis -

Please post it. There was also a test in a magazine recently ( < 6 months ago) with practical results like how long an edge on the different chisels lasted in different woods after identical sharpenings. Don't remember the mag. You know how it is,-- CRS! :)

Regards,
Ted

[Dave Wright #2]

Dennis,

Please do post the chart. At one time I went in search of the perfect chisel. Lie Nielsens weren't available at the time. From what I hear they might have done better than the ones I tried. I carefully compared quite a few brands side-by-side. Sorby, Henry Taylor, Stanley 750 (used), new Stanley, Two Cherries, Harris Tool, Ashley Isles, and Sandvik. I discerned meaningful differences during the tests. No fancy machines. Just doing controlled cuts next to each other and seeing how the blades held up.

In the following years I have continued to use all of the chisels. No careful comparison this time. Just plain old daily use. Differences in blade durability and sharpenability weren't as obvious in these varied situations. I've come to these conclusions:

-- The Sorby and Henry Taylor edges fold over and dull easily. Differences between the other chisels are not significant in non-test circumstances.

-- A cutting edge bevel of 30 degrees is much more durable than one of 25 degrees. I do it with a 25 degree primary bevel formed at the Prairie Wet Grinder, and a 30 degree secondary bevel honed at the sharpening station.

-- Since steel quality is fairly consistent across brands, buying decisions should be made based on factors such as aesthetics, budget, balance, comfort in hand, and bevel edge thickness.

Regards,

Dave

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Here's the chart.

The test was performed at Anderson Laboratories in Greendale, WI.

Part of the test was fairly unscientific and part of it was closely controlled. Its interesting to see how they reconciled one with the other.

They bought two of each chisel from different parts of the country so they had a better chance not running into a bad production run. First they sharpened and used the chisels in a series of tests on different woods and observed how well they maintained their cutting edge. Then they had the lab cut the chisel up into small sections and tested each section for hardness, performed a chemical analysis, and inspected the steel's microstructure.

The article stated there was no discernable difference between the steel used in the chisels except the Craftsman which was plain carbon steel and the Sorby which was s-type tool steel.

The article concluded by saying a quality chisel is made from quality high-carbon steel, hardened so it maintains its cutting edge without being difficult to sharpen, and tempered so it is not so brittle it chips easily. It's the unique way the manufacture combines these three qualities that make a difference in the way the chisel performs.

On a final note, the Japanes chisels were finished to a higher quality standard than their western counterparts. The bevels were accurately ground and the backs were flatter. The bevels on some of the western chisels were as much as 5 degrees off. The author reported he had no problems with the edges of the Japanese chisels chipping. BTW, the Japanese chisels average cost was about twice what the western chisels cost.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Okay, anybody have any idea why the file won't load? Its an excel spread sheet. Thanks,

[Gene Collison]

Dennis,

I am not sure if SMC will accept XLS. files for upload.

Gene

[Chris Padilla]

.xls files are handled by SMC just fine. Go back and Edit that post and try reloading it, Dennis.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

.xls files are handled by SMC just fine. Go back and Edit that post and try reloading it, Dennis.

Chris, I reloaded it twice. the first time I got an error message saying I had already loaded it so I deleted it and tried again.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

One more try, this time as a word document.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Well, that didn't work either???? :mad:

[Chris Padilla]

Dennis,

I sent you an email...mail me the file upon responding.

[Chris Padilla]

Okay,

My attempt to post this.

[Chris Padilla]

No clue what the problem is...seems to work fine until the file gets posted here

[Tom LaRussa]

No clue what the problem is...seems to work fine until the file gets posted here
Chris,

Email it to me and I'll upload it to my web space, then post it here. That should work even if SMC is having problems, no?

Tom

email

augieboo@earthlink.net

[Tom LaRussa]

Here goes nuthin...

Won't post xls file using VB image markup, tried same way with pdf file, but no dice there either.

Try clicking on this link. If you have Excel installed with the web-thingie-addon, you should be able to pull up the file.

http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/chisel.xls

If that doesn't work, this link should. It should give you a slightly messed up pdf version of the file.

http://home.earthlink.net/~augieboo/chisel.pdf

[Derek Cohen]

Dennis

This table comes from The Best of FWW, "Bench Tools". I suspect it is the same as the one you have been trying to upload.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Tyler Howell]

Thanks to all. I was getting a little worried there!