Anyone have experience with New Stanley Sweetheart™ Premium Chisels

[Ron Kanter]

Wondering how these compare to the original Stanley 750's and contemporary quality bevel edge chisels like the Lie Nielsen socket chisels.
Looking for hands on experience with comfort, edge retention, and other Neander concerns.
I apologize if there is already a thread about this.

[Andrew Yang]

I handled the set that Popular Woodworking had in their shop for review. Compared the the LN chisels, I found the Stanley's to be quite light, which may be good or bad depending upon your preference. The machine finish on the chisel was much rougher than on the LN, and the backs of the chisels ranged from nearly flat to quite out of flat judging from the amount of polishing that looked to have taken place on the backs. Understandably, set up only takes place once, but it would be a good long haul to flatten a whole set of chisels.

[Chris Schwarz]

I put a set through its paces. They are lighter than LN chisels. The edge retention is good, though far below a lot of Japanese makers. The fit and finish is pretty good, though nothing like LN.

I think they are more after competing with the likes of Ashley Iles. It's a good chisel. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are buying an LN at a discount.

Chris

[John Coloccia]

I can think of other chisels I'd rather buy if I had $200 burning a hole in my pocket. Ditto for the Sweetheart planes.

[Robert LaPlaca]

My local Woodcraft has a set on display, I have to to say that I was surprised how much ligher in weight they are vs. the Lie-Nielsen or even the older Stanley 750's, almost to the point that the ergonomics feel wrong to me.. Not too sure at the current price point they would entice me to purchase the Sweethearts over the Lie-Nielson's..

[David Weaver]

I can think of other chisels I'd rather buy if I had $200 burning a hole in my pocket. Ditto for the Sweetheart planes.

if i were not a beginner, i would put together a set of bevel edge "buck bros cast steel" labeled chisels - probably could get 5 bench chidels and two parers for that price, even on peebay. that would be an easy decision.

if i were a beginner, i would try to beg an already sharpened/flattened set of actual users off of a competent intermediate user who might have too many sets.

life's too short for has-been makers offering mediocre products that aren't true to their lineage.

[John Coloccia]

if i were not a beginner, i would put together a set of bevel edge "buck bros cast steel" labeled chisels - probably could get 5 bench chidels and two parers for that price, even on peebay. that would be an easy decision.

if i were a beginner, i would try to beg an already sharpened/flattened set of actual users off of a competent intermediate user who might have too many sets.

life's too short for has-been makers offering mediocre products that aren't true to their lineage.

The set of 6 Pfiel "cabinet makers" chisels can be had for $200. The director of our local woodworking school likes them very much. I'm not surprised as every Pfiel tool I own is quite nice.

[Brian Kent]

I'm still back on Chris Schwarz posting on the Creek. Welcome!

OK, now back to the chisels.

[Peter Scoma]

I haven't used them but after handling a set at Woodcraft I probably never will. Stanley's resurgence of the sweetheart line in general seems to have been one big mistake. Reminds me why I only buy vintage tools anymore.

PJS

[Andrae Covington]

I put a set through its paces. They are lighter than LN chisels. The edge retention is good, though far below a lot of Japanese makers. The fit and finish is pretty good, though nothing like LN.

I think they are more after competing with the likes of Ashley Iles. It's a good chisel. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are buying an LN at a discount.

Chris


I can think of other chisels I'd rather buy if I had $200 burning a hole in my pocket. Ditto for the Sweetheart planes.

I have a few Ashley Iles but not every size I would use. Recently I noticed the Stanleys for sale on one of the woodworking supplier sites, and thought I might buy one or two. But when I saw they are approximately the same price, I decided I'll stick with the AIs that I already have experience with. AI also already has a reputation for a certain level of quality.


I handled the set that Popular Woodworking had in their shop for review. Compared the the LN chisels, I found the Stanley's to be quite light, which may be good or bad depending upon your preference. The machine finish on the chisel was much rougher than on the LN, and the backs of the chisels ranged from nearly flat to quite out of flat judging from the amount of polishing that looked to have taken place on the backs. Understandably, set up only takes place once, but it would be a good long haul to flatten a whole set of chisels.

I think it's going to be a long uphill battle for Stanley to prove to us that they can make good handtools. Based on the earlier Sweetheart plane reviews from the Schwarz, maintaining consistent quality control is and will be their greatest challenge. I'm not yet convinced they have the commitment to hold everything to a high standard and actually reject the rejects. It's easier for large manufacturers to deal with occasional returns because they know most people, even if they are disappointed, will not go through the hassle of returning.

[David Weaver]

The steel in the pfeils is (or seems) very fine grained, it's nice. Their profile is a euro profile, though.

They have really gone up. My WW buddy mentioned that his set was something like $120 at a woodcraft retail outlet, not sure how long ago, though. 6 or 7 years ago maybe? Of course, their carving tools for US distribution have gone up a ton, too, to the point that it's cheaper to order them off of overseas and have them shipped.

[andrew messimer]

I have one of the new 750 chisels, 1 1/4". It took some work to get the back flat. I have only really used it to pare with so I am not sure how the edge retention is when hitting them. The one thing I will say is that I opened several of the open stock boxes at Woodcraft and quite a few of them had edges that were not ground square and one that was knicked. So, quality control is not very good.

[John Coloccia]

The steel in the pfeils is (or seems) very fine grained, it's nice. Their profile is a euro profile, though.

They have really gone up. My WW buddy mentioned that his set was something like $120 at a woodcraft retail outlet, not sure how long ago, though. 6 or 7 years ago maybe? Of course, their carving tools for US distribution have gone up a ton, too, to the point that it's cheaper to order them off of overseas and have them shipped.

The set I'm talking about is fairly new. It came out maybe a few months ago.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2081076/27384/PFEIL-Swiss-Made-Cabinetmakers-Bench-Chisels-6-piece.aspx

They still sell the older set of 4 for $110. You're right, though...everything is getting more expensive rather quickly. I guess you have to pay for good tools, but it's nice to pay less! :)

[John Coloccia]

I'm still back on Chris Schwarz posting on the Creek. Welcome!

OK, now back to the chisels.

Yeah, hey...look at that :) Nice to see Chris here.

[David Weaver]

The set I'm talking about is fairly new. It came out maybe a few months ago.

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/2081076/27384/PFEIL-Swiss-Made-Cabinetmakers-Bench-Chisels-6-piece.aspx

They still sell the older set of 4 for $110. You're right, though...everything is getting more expensive rather quickly. I guess you have to pay for good tools, but it's nice to pay less! :)

Ahh...i forgot about those!

They have a nicer handle profile, but it does bug me a little bit when chisel makers grind the blades down thin all the way to the socket. It makes bench chisels feel a bit cheap to me. I wonder if they do that so that they're easier to harden, or if they do that because they feel that people will prefer thinner blades.

[Don Dorn]

It's a good chisel. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are buying an LN at a discount.

Chris

I have to confess that was kicking around in the back of my mind - but am now reminded that there is no free lunch.

[john brenton]

I went and checked the profile and can't tell if it is PWW Chris Schwarz or not. It would be pretty funny if it's not him, and everyone is sending this guy pm's saying how glad they are to see him here. "Uhhh, ok...thanks?"



I'm still back on Chris Schwarz posting on the Creek. Welcome!

OK, now back to the chisels.

[Joe Fabbri]

I'm glad this thread was made, as I as going to make one soon. The new Stanley's caught my eye, but like everyone here basically said, you have to watch out for Stanley products nowadays, which is a shame.

Anyway, though, as I mentioned in another post, Chris Gouchner of FWW and another fellow who used to work for Highland gave very positive reviews of the chisels. I believe Gouchner said that they would rank among the best of the chisels he reviewed back in, I think, 2008. The other guys wrote for Highland that they were also very good, and I've spoken to him privately, and he said he was anxious to pick up some more. Also, he said that the setup time was not bad for them, and the thickness of the blade (side height) was good.

Perhaps its all going to be a matter of quality control--I hope they don't send their best batch to be reviewed....

But what I'd like to know, since I'm new to chisels and hand tools in general, is how do they compare to chisels such as MHG (from at Hartville). Would you guys say Pfeil is much better? What about compared to other mid-upper level chisels (Hirsch, two cherries, etc.)?

Joe

[Brian Loran]

I bought the Stanley 1 1/4" chisel because I wanted a wider chisel for paring. It needed a lot of work, the mill marks were huge!. I finally got the back flat and re-ground the bevel down to 25deg and it performs very well. I got the stanley because I was curious to try it and it matches my LN chisels. I wish LN would make some wider chisels, but for now, the Stanley works great.

[Ron Kanter]

+1 on that.
I am not interested in saving a couple of bucks in exchange for hours of my time doing tedious work.
Thanks everyone for the input.


I have to confess that was kicking around in the back of my mind - but am now reminded that there is no free lunch.

[Peter Scoma]

I put a set through its paces. They are lighter than LN chisels. The edge retention is good, though far below a lot of Japanese makers. The fit and finish is pretty good, though nothing like LN.

I think they are more after competing with the likes of Ashley Iles. It's a good chisel. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are buying an LN at a discount.

Chris

I don't think the Schwarz makes grammatical errors.

[David Weaver]

He posts on forums every once in a while. I'm sure he was thinking "a Lie Nielsen" when he typed that.

[Jason Coen]

I don't think the Schwarz makes grammatical errors.

That's not an error.

[Zahid Naqvi]

I'm still back on Chris Schwarz posting on the Creek. Welcome!

OK, now back to the chisels.

and his first post too. so what did the OP wanted to know :eek:

[Niels Cosman]

I got the 1-1/4 for paring about two weeks ago on sale at woodcraft. the back was reasonably flat (a little bit hollow in he middle of the blade). so far it holds an edge fairly well at 20 primary bevel with a 25 micro bevel. The finish is just ok, they're no LN's. I haven't used it enough to have a fully formed opinion about them. The steel seems fine, I found them just a touch gummy when sharpening. So far so they out perform my old blue handled chisels which the only thing I really expected of them.

[John Coloccia]

Re: thickness of the Pfiels

It's nice to have a thinner blade for paring. I've found that the Pfiels are very nice for a very usable set of chisels that do everything well. That said, I love my Lie-nelsons. I'm glad I can have both in addition to dedicated paring chisels.

[Dave Lehnert]

I put a set through its paces. They are lighter than LN chisels. The edge retention is good, though far below a lot of Japanese makers. The fit and finish is pretty good, though nothing like LN.

I think they are more after competing with the likes of Ashley Iles. It's a good chisel. But don't fool yourself into thinking you are buying an LN at a discount.

Chris

welcome to the Creek Chris, I remember you talking to a group of us in the shop at PopWood about the new Stanley's.
Seeing you here just reminded me I need to order your new tool box book.