Freud Chrome Vanadium Chisels

[Jake Rothermel]

Okay, so a friend's father was cleaning out his garage and ye olde workshop and came across a set of these chisels he had apparently bought years ago. He confessed to having used them (he said the word, "abused") a few times but became frustrated with his results and went out to buy a router (sound familiar?).

He knew I worked wood on the occasion and offered them to me for a price I couldn't possibly refuse (IE, free...). I took them happily; because of his kindness and because I'd love to have a matching set of bench chisels; all of my current chisels are a mish-mash from all over the place. They're serviceable, certainly good enough and I wouldn't trade 'em in for much of anything but many of them are different types of steels and hardnesses which makes sharpening them a little more difficult for me. Plus, matching chisels are just neat but I've no plans (reads: MONEY) for the future to buy a set of known quality chisels (you know the ones...).

There's ten to the set (1/8" up to 1 1/2") and have wooden handles with a metal hoop at the end. They're a little tarnished here or there but he kept them waxed or oiled or...something so they're in pretty good shape. They're all fairly flat across the back; a little TLC on a stone, I think. They're in such Pretty Good Shape that I can read the "Chrome Vanadium" stamped right across the tops of them. Now I don't know much (if anything) about steels but I've been on the Creek long enough to hear less than favorable talk about the Cr-V stuff. Interweb research gave me a lot of technical information but not a whole lot of comparisons (Cr-V vs A2 or O1, etc). So, I figured I'd ask the Creekers.

Anyone care to comment on how an otherwise good-looking set of chisels made of Cr-V holds an edge, is to sharpen, etc? I mostly work in softer hardwoods (poplar, etc) though I don't rule out expanding to harder woods in the future.

AND/OR has anyone used Freud's bench tools in the past? I know their router bits/saw blades pretty well and think they're the bees' knees but there isn't much left of their hand tools stuff out there. I'd love and appreciate any thoughts. Thanks,

jake

PS- Couldn't find much info on the set itself, but a search across the Female Warrior Who Sells Books (or That River Down in South America, whichever you prefer) yielded a picture of exactly the I got. Maybe it helps?

[David Weaver]

CrV gets a bad rap because it's usually stamped in large letters on cheap chisels.

I don't know if the hirsch / 2cherries chisels would be classified as that, but they hold an edge well.

I'd imagine that those chisels will be in the high 50s hardness, and be plenty hard for use. You'll have to try them to find out.

My suggestion would be to start out around 25 degrees however you're honing, see how they hold an edge, and move up from there as needed. Even if they're soft, as long as they're not defective, at some angle, they'll hold an edge OK.

[Bruce Haugen]

I had a set of Freud chisels for about 15 years or so and found them to be pretty decent, especially considering the price. They hold an edge when the angle approaches 30 degrees. They're more meant for paring and not so much whacking, which is what I needed. So I sold them and got some Hirsch firmers from LV, which are more suited for whacking purposes. My paring chisels are Bergs.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Chrome Vanadium steel is like any other tool steel in that how the chisels perform depends a lot on how it was heat treated. I have some Cr-V chisels that work really well. I think that the only way to gauge whether they're good is to sharpen them up and use them, the only caveat being that in some cases you have to have to do several sharpen/use cycles to get to the best steel in the chisel. I've only run into one set of chisels I don't really like, and they looked like cheap imports from the 1960s or so. Use them with confidence. I'd be surprised if you found that you didn't like them.

[Terry Beadle]

I have a set of Narex chisels that are Chromium + Manganese. They hold an edge very well. They are set at 30 degrees primary. Very reasonably priced.
Recommended as a starter set.

[Leigh Betsch]

I had a set of Freud Chrome Vanadium chisels for a while. I sold them to another Creeker when I bought my LN set. I thought that they were ok. There is a very wide range of Chrome Vanadium steels. I've even heard D2 tool steel being termed a chrome vanadium steel. And D2 is about as hard and tough as you can get short of high speed steel. I'm not saying that the Freud's are D2 just that "Chrome Vanadium" doesn't really define the steel very well.

[Jake Rothermel]

Thanks guys, your collective bevel suggestions are a good idea. I suppose I had already decided in my head to lap these guys and give them a test drive (none of them are really OUT of flat, but they could be...well, flatter) but sometimes with all the talk of A1 and O2 and Y9 and Deep-6 it can be difficult to realize other steels exist and, though they may not be the BEST, they just might work out. Having ten matching chisels (in a box, no less!) would be a great boon to my little shop so as long as they hold up okay with my work, they should be great. If I ever get around to lapping and sharpening and cleaning them up, I'll let you know how they do.

Thanks again!
jake