what steel in two cherries chisels?

[miguel bernardo]

Hi, noob question again. I´m about to buy a small set of two cherries (or Kirschen or Hirsh, it´s all the same brand) unpolished chisels for lutherie work, and am wondering if someone could please tell me the steel they are made of. i tried their site and the search function here, but could not find anything.

any info is much appreciated.

thanks in advance,
Miguel.

[David Weaver]

It's hard to tell because of the polish finish. It might be similar to O1, and it might be a little more alloyed.

They are excellent steel, though, and good hardness.

[george wilson]

I agree with David. Alloy is not known,but the brand is a very good one.

[miguel bernardo]

thanks for the replies. i guess it will fall under the "tool steel" term then... :)

BTW, David, you´re really the newcomer´s helper around here, no? much appreciated.

cheers,
Miguel.

[David Weaver]

>>David, you´re really the newcomer´s helper around here, no?<<

Possibly. Just by chance, though, as I was a curious beginner not that long ago and bought a LOT of stuff to satisfy my curiosity. Sold a lot of it off now, but it's certainly easier to figure out what you like and what you don't like from using it than it is to guess from a magazine article or so-called review, buy something and then find out it isn't what you want.

[Federico Mena Quintero]

I have a small set of Two Cherries chisels, their "woodcarving starter kit" or somesuch. All the tools are polished. I mostly use the chisel; the gouge and V tool less so.

The chisel's steel doesn't seem to be as hard as some other tools I have, but damn, it gets *sharp*. It hones very quickly on a waterstone, and cuts very, very nicely. It seems to need more frequent honing than other tools, but the great cuts make up for it.

[Klaus Kretschmar]

I'm not surprised, that you didn't find an information about their steel. Two Cherries makes a secret on that the last 150 years. However their chisels aren't bad. The steel holds it's edge quite nice and the sharpening of the steel is easy to do. I guess that the steel is similar to O2.

In former times Two Cherries offered chisels only fully polished. A bad idea since the polishing rounds the corners slightly. The honing of the back is time consuming on a polished chisel blade. It's important to know that you will get their chisels now at the same price with a reground back as an option. That's the way better tool but you have to ask for it otherwise you'll get the polished version.

Klaus