recommend me some chisels

[steve gard]

I want to start doing a little hand work, and need a decent set of chisels to practice dovetails with. What sets do you recommend, and why? I'm not looking for the most expensive set out there, just a decent set.

thanks
Steve

[Jonathan McCullough]

Ashley Iles Butt chisels from The Best Things. The edges are beveled right down to the back of the chisel, so you can reach right down into the corners when you're paring between tails. Being butt chisels, they're also shorter, which is good for dovetailing; it makes my thumbs tired to hold unwieldy, full size bench chisels up--malleting on the tops of full sized bench chisels, far away from the action, is also awkward. So shorter is better. The steel is really nice and the backs don't take long to sharpen. And the price is more than dime store chisels, but not as bad as superpremium chisel prices. I tried a bunch and these are my favorites.

[Harlan Barnhart]

I have a set of inexpensive japanese chisels from "manys woodworkers place" dot com. For $55 you get four chisels (1/4" 1/2" 3/4" and 1"). I have other chisels but I use these more than others because they are so easy to sharpen and maintain a good edge.

Peace,
Harlan

[george wilson]

I keep recommending NAREX chisels. They are cheap,but good chisels. Handles are a bit ugly,but the steel is good. If I want the bevels to go way down,I just would grind them down myself. Personally,my favorite chisels are my Pfiels from Woodcraft. they have REALLY ugly handles, I am making a set of boxwood ones for them. The steel is great,though. They aren't so cheap,but cost less than some.

[Maurice Ungaro]

What George said.
Two years ago I bought some MHG chisels from Hartville, as they were having a serious sale at the time (got a boxed set of 6 for around $59). They are good for what they are. If I had to pay full price for them, I'd have gone with the Pfiels.

Since the good Marples (Sheffield made) are no longer available new (bought a set of 5 in a blister pack from Highland back in 2002 for $25 - they had a whole barrel full of them), I'd DEFINITELY go with the Narex chisels. Heck, they're probably better than the Marples anyway.