Alf reviews a new sweetheart chisel

[Paul Saffold]

Most of you know Alf. Those who don't should. She posted a review of the new Sweetheart chisel on her blog "musings from the workbench". Her postings are most always heavily seasoned with good humor. Enjoy. Or don't. whatever.
Paul

[Bill Houghton]

If ever I'm in Cornwall, I'm inviting Alf to lunch at the restaurant of her choice. I figure I could spend a whole afternoon just basking in her humor.

[David Weaver]

For anyone not aware, alf is the voice in the "bird" sharpening video.

[Chris Griggs]

For anyone not aware, alf is the voice in the "bird" sharpening video.

When is someone going to hire her to help us make a line of audio books. Maybe we can get Schwarz to hire her to work for Lost Art Press. "ALF reads: Workbenches: From Design and Theory to Construction and Use". I'd by that!

I love ALF, her site/reviews were some of the first online handtool woodworking things I ran across when I was getting started. Great Stuff.

[Mark Baldwin III]

She's dead on about the SW chisel. They're not too bad, and take a good edge. If you've never used/held one you'd be surprised that they're as nice as they are (like she said, the expectations are low). Obviously they don't compare to an L-N or LV. We'll see what she thinks about the edge holding.
I'd like to know more about her camera, I tried to get a side shot like that to compare the side lands of a SW and L-N and my camera just throws up its hands and quits.

[Adam Cruea]

She's dead on about the SW chisel. They're not too bad, and take a good edge. If you've never used/held one you'd be surprised that they're as nice as they are (like she said, the expectations are low). Obviously they don't compare to an L-N or LV. We'll see what she thinks about the edge holding.
I'd like to know more about her camera, I tried to get a side shot like that to compare the side lands of a SW and L-N and my camera just throws up its hands and quits.

I found her review to be spot-on, as well. My expectations when I bought them were "This is my starter set of chisels. They're going to be used to learn with, and if I take a huge chunk/break/bend/abuse them, okay." When I got them, I was wholly surprised that, to be honest, they weren't the POS that I expected. I did a little back flattening to make sure the chisels, if bowed, were concave on the back, and that they all were. Up to the 1/2", they actually were all very easy to flatten on the back quickly (which wasn't my objective, but hey. . .).

If I remember correct, the RC of those chisels is 62-64, the upper range of A2 I believe. Either way, I was wholly surprised with the good quality and glad I didn't save up and get the L-N's to start. For anyone not needing the best of the best of the best, I recommend the Sweethearts whenever I can.

[Charlie Stanford]

I found her review to be spot-on, as well. My expectations when I bought them were "This is my starter set of chisels. They're going to be used to learn with, and if I take a huge chunk/break/bend/abuse them, okay." When I got them, I was wholly surprised that, to be honest, they weren't the POS that I expected. I did a little back flattening to make sure the chisels, if bowed, were concave on the back, and that they all were. Up to the 1/2", they actually were all very easy to flatten on the back quickly (which wasn't my objective, but hey. . .).

If I remember correct, the RC of those chisels is 62-64, the upper range of A2 I believe. Either way, I was wholly surprised with the good quality and glad I didn't save up and get the L-N's to start. For anyone not needing the best of the best of the best, I recommend the Sweethearts whenever I can.

As long as a chisel will take and hold an edge for a reasonable amount of time (which is not three weeks on end by the way) that's all that is necessary to do fine work (assuming talent is also brought to the table). I am not aware of anybody touting that any of these steels can actually get sharper than O1. In fact, I've heard the contrary being asserted.

She raised some very nice endgrain shavings on pine. Those chisels were sharp enough to accomplish pretty much anything in skilled hands. That they didn't cost $150 apiece is a plus.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I feel like it's a commentary on how bad some modern chisels had gotten that anyone is pleasantly surprised that the Sweethearts are actually functional tools. That the bar has been set that lot. In this day and age making a decent chisel for a decent price shouldn't be a hard task. All the problems of making that sort of tool have been solved already. It shouldn't be surprising that there's good chisels for a decent price, it should be surprising that there's bad chisels. (And chisels with rasps on them) It's unfortunate that that's not always the case.

[David Weaver]

I found her review to be spot-on, as well. My expectations when I bought them were "This is my starter set of chisels. They're going to be used to learn with, and if I take a huge chunk/break/bend/abuse them, okay." When I got them, I was wholly surprised that, to be honest, they weren't the POS that I expected. I did a little back flattening to make sure the chisels, if bowed, were concave on the back, and that they all were. Up to the 1/2", they actually were all very easy to flatten on the back quickly (which wasn't my objective, but hey. . .).

If I remember correct, the RC of those chisels is 62-64, the upper range of A2 I believe. Either way, I was wholly surprised with the good quality and glad I didn't save up and get the L-N's to start. For anyone not needing the best of the best of the best, I recommend the Sweethearts whenever I can.

I don't think the chisels are A2. They appear to be a chrome vanadium type steel, like most cheap tools are now - something that can be hardened and tempered quickly without a vacuum furnace.

http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?CATEGORY=CHISELS&TYPE=PRODUCT&PARTNUMBER=16-793&SDesc=Stanley%26%23174%3B+Sweetheart%26%238482%3B+ 8+Pc.+Socket+Chisel+Set+w%2F+Tool+Roll

Stanley calls them "high carbon chrome steel". Knowing stanley, the company, there is no way they will pay for A2 steel to put in a $20 chisel. Or even O1 spec.

I'm sure they're usable if they're made correctly, but I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would want them instead of vintage 750s or unmarked 750s, or spend less than half as much for an easter european origin bench chisel. Even if they only had one engineer working on those chisels for a single day, you'd expect they would've noticed that every preferable chisel now has very small lands. Even the older pre-china blue chips had very nice delicate lands, and they were dirt cheap.

[Adam Cruea]

I don't think the chisels are A2. They appear to be a chrome vanadium type steel, like most cheap tools are now - something that can be hardened and tempered quickly without a vacuum furnace.

http://www.stanleytools.com/default.asp?CATEGORY=CHISELS&TYPE=PRODUCT&PARTNUMBER=16-793&SDesc=Stanley%26%23174%3B+Sweetheart%26%238482%3B+ 8+Pc.+Socket+Chisel+Set+w%2F+Tool+Roll

Stanley calls them "high carbon chrome steel". Knowing stanley, the company, there is no way they will pay for A2 steel to put in a $20 chisel. Or even O1 spec.

I'm sure they're usable if they're made correctly, but I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would want them instead of vintage 750s or unmarked 750s, or spend less than half as much for an easter european origin bench chisel. Even if they only had one engineer working on those chisels for a single day, you'd expect they would've noticed that every preferable chisel now has very small lands. Even the older pre-china blue chips had very nice delicate lands, and they were dirt cheap.

Sorry, I didn't mean they *were* A2, just that they're hardened to the upper limits of something like A2. Reading back through, I wasn't real clear on what I meant.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, if they are actually 62-64, that's extremely hard.

[Mark Baldwin III]

Yeah, if they are actually 62-64, that's extremely hard.
I think that's a tad high. I did a hardness test on the 1/2" chisel when I first got it. I'll have to go back through some notes to see if I can find the actual number.
Though at some point I may buy one of the wider SW's (been thinking about it for the same reason as Alf), I'm now hooked on my L-N's. It will take an act of congress to get me away from them.

[Adam Cruea]

I think that's a tad high. I did a hardness test on the 1/2" chisel when I first got it. I'll have to go back through some notes to see if I can find the actual number.
Though at some point I may buy one of the wider SW's (been thinking about it for the same reason as Alf), I'm now hooked on my L-N's. It will take an act of congress to get me away from them.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?cat=1,41504&p=67689

According to Lee Valley, Rc57-62. So yes, I was a little off on the high end of the hardness.