Narex Parer Thread

[David Weaver]

I can't remember where the narex parer stuff went, or if it got blown up by some violations of the TOS.

Mine arrived yesterday. The are BIG and heavy chisels, like 10 or 11 inch blade bench chisels, plus handles. I'm not sure what I'd ever do with the one that's over an inch wide, but when you get a set, you get what's in the set. It could double as a bed side club that you could either use to stick an intruder or club them, either would work well.

They are thick and heavy, but I did sharpen the 3/4" chisel and use it after my surprise at their size and heft wore off, and I have to admit that paring across beech with it (just to get an idea of what it's like) worked fairly nicely and the chisels are satisfactorily hard and the one I prepared was very close to dead flat - edge fared fine in the beech. They are big and long enough that you can just plant the handle of one in your side and lean into it.

The 1/4" chisel is definitely a bit odd given how narrow it is but it still retains the thickness of the others.

I don't know what the composition of the steel is, but it definitely has a persistent wire edge off of oilstones. No issue at all removing it with a diamond/MDF strop, though.

[george wilson]

I can't recall when,in a fit of forum inspired enthusiasm, I ordered my set,but I hope it arrives soon. Seems like several days ago,but when you are retired,one day is much like the others.:)

[Chris Griggs]

Sounds like they are not so much paring chisel as much as they are REALLY long bench chisels. Which is all good with for how I am intending to use them. I'm not sure how much I'll use the 1" and 1 1/4" but I suspect the 1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 will be pretty handy for wasting out cross grain joinery. I'm very glad to hear that the back didn't need much work. My hope is that all mine are either flat or concave on the back. Mine are on the truck "out for delivery" right now so I'll get them today. Thanks the initial report David.

[David Weaver]

I guess i'm used to the stiff japanese parers, so the fact that they don't flex won't bother me if I use them (which will likely depend on the "which chisels is closest to the bench" scenario). Given their thickness, you can pretty much lean into them as much as you want without paying attention to much other than to make sure no finger is behind the cut anywhere.

[george wilson]

I am not going to buy a set of chisels and bother to taper them myself. Nor grind their bevels closer to the edges.

From what Rob said,they had trouble even getting Narex to make them at all,and they may not continue to supply them. So,we're lucky to get them . I'll just use them when I need a long chisel. I write this not yet having SEEN them!!:) Will I change my tune? Who knows!(Who IS who,and how does he always know?)

[phil harold]

I was interested in getting set, but after the 'show your chisels' thread,
I noticed my collection of 720's is looking good
I would be interested in seeing Narex compared to the 720's

[David Weaver]

I was interested in getting set, but after the 'show your chisels' thread,
I noticed my collection of 720's is looking good
I would be interested in seeing Narex compared to the 720's

They are twice as big as 720s and significantly heavier with larger lands on the side. If I can remember, I'll take a picture of one next to another unless someone else does it first.

I'm beginning to believe that the best option for someone who wants a longer thinner chisel, but doesn't want to pay what it costs to get a good vintage parer, that looking for a more delicate and thinner long socket chisel that's got side lands like you like already - and then making a slightly longer handle for it - is probably the way to go for cabinet work.

The narex chisels might be a bit large for delicate cabinet work, but the size will pose no issues on outside paring (beveling things, etc) nor on standing back and taking a big rip out of waste out of a dado that's had the sides sawn already.

[george wilson]

My chisels just arrived,in an unexpectedly shaped box. 6" x 6"x 18". I shall open it with My Queen 80th. Anniversary pocket knife with folding hilt and D2 blade. I save my good knife for better use.

O.K.,got them out of the box and finally out of their plastic sleeves. My OCD would not let me just destroy them trying to extract the 1" and 1 1/4" ones.

My first reaction: My!! That's a BIG one!(That's what the punk said when he saw Dirty Harry's pistol!!:) Yes,a Samurai chisel/sword for sure!!! At the LEAST,a Roman Gladius !!:)

I am impressed by the deadly accurate grinding on these for sure,though I could wish the bevels were ground down closer to the bottoms of the chisels. The vertical flat lands are a tad over 1/16" tall. Their bottoms look extremely flat. No tapering into the cutting ends is apparent at all,though I haven't checked them with a caliper yet. My eye ball gauges still work just fine. I shall NOT disturb the pristine grinding by un needed flattening of their surfaces.

The chisels are heavy,and could have been MORE taper ground towards the cutting edges. They are tapered,but not a lot. The tangs fit nicely into neat rectangular holes in the ferrules. Corners are quite sharp and square. no rounding over at all like you'll find on Hirsch chisels that have been buffed to death.

They are TRUE inch widths!! That is helpful,and greatly appreciated.

For what I paid I can't complain. I am not really going to use these for pattern making in soft pine,so their lack of springing is not an issue for my use. Certainly Narex's are an EXCELLENT value. Ill keep on recommending them for the pecuniary minded woodworker,or,indeed for just good,practical advantage. Narex does not just make cheaper chisels. I have a universal boring head set by Narex that retails for about $2500.00. It is a very high class precision instrument. It will bore straight holes,flat bosses,and even tapered holes (That's what makes it universal).

Back to the chisels:They seem like long bench chisels,and will be used as such. I think Rob got Narex to do as much as he possibly could to make these long chisels. Looking at them,they seem very satisfactory. I haven't tried sharpening them,of course,and will do that later.

I think they are an excellent value,even at the $149.00 eventual price. I have confidence that these will sharpen up and hold an edge perfectly satisfactorily. I have no intention of modifying the grinding. The grinding is just too nice to be messed with.

[David Weaver]

Is that a knife you were part of making at CW for the queen?

You'll note that the chisels come in bags that look like turning chisel sleeves. They are about the same size as those 16" medium size turning tools!!

[Michael Kellough]

I am not going to buy a set of chisels and bother to taper them myself. Nor grind their bevels closer to the edges.

From what Rob said,they had trouble even getting Narex to make them at all,and they may not continue to supply them. So,we're lucky to get them . I'll just use them when I need a long chisel. I write this not yet having SEEN them!!:) Will I change my tune? Who knows!(Who IS who,and how does he always know?)

He must use the same espionage service as Santa Claus...

[george wilson]

No,the queen got a silver saffron pot in an English walnut William and Mary style box that I designed and made.

Another Not-enough-lead-time,scramble like mad,work nights and weekends,drop anything and you're dead,hope the finish dries fast enough,must be good enough to stand royal inspection deals!

I made the brass appointments too,including the little catch hook,with the patented,Wilson tiny thumb piece for extra eye appeal feature. Lined with special selected satin cloth that does not off gas.

It was a sin to not have time to get these brass parts silver plated,but that's what happens when you aren't given time to send parts off for plating. I just haven't been able to get a proper silver plate. Nickel and gold are very easy. Not so,silver.

The black dots seen at the rear corners are ebony dowels I drove down through drilled holes to hold the dovetails together. They were not glued,but doweled together,to save the trouble of getting accidental stray glue off that might have shown up during the finishing process. This took less time,and was a novel feature. I wasn't in the mood for accidents. The dovetails were so tight anyway,they had to be firmly pressed together.

The lid is arched,though it can't be seen. Only time for this one photograph.

[Chris Griggs]

Mine just arrived at work. Holy cow these are HUGE! The 1 1/4" is practically a side arm!

I like the feel of the 1/4 and the 1/2 in my hand a lot. The handles on the 3/4 and larger I think might be a bit too large for some people, but they still feel comfortable to hold. I think on the website they said they made them big to balance out the blades. Anyway, that's just holding them in hand. I suspect in use I will indeed appreciate the fact that they balance out the blade as well as likely provide a lot of registration for my palm.

Nice fit and finish both blades and handles. The handles in particular seem very nicely shaped.

I don't quite know what to make of these things, but they are pretty sweet just because they are so dang big. They'll definitely be shocking to anyone who is expecting a delicate paring chisel, but they are pretty awesome seeming in their own right. I think I'll find them to be quite useful. I really like how long and stiff the 1/4" is in particular...I think I'll use it a lot.

Definitely appear to be an excellent value, and really appear to be nice chisels albeit pretty different from thin parers. Haven't used them yet but unless I run into some unexpected negative I would definitely have no problem recommending these. I like these things!

[Edit: I just scrolled back up and see that George added to his post and already said all this :). So, yeah. What George said. I agree 100%!)

[David Weaver]

I was interested in getting set, but after the 'show your chisels' thread,
I noticed my collection of 720's is looking good
I would be interested in seeing Narex compared to the 720's

275511

I think that one is an inch and the stanley is an inch. The stanley has probably lost a little length since new, but not too much.

[george wilson]

I didn't realize these had lacquered blades till I wiped the oil off. I thought it was ALL oil,as the blades did have some oil on them. I'd advise users to be careful what they remove the lacquer with,as stuff like paint remover will discolor the blades. I'm not sure if I'll take the lacquer off or not. If I do,I'll use something like acetone. What I don't like about lacquer is how bad the steel looks after chisels are used enough that the lacquer gets partially worn off. Then,the exposed steel looks dark and messed up by comparison. Better to have the whole blade naturally age all together.

[george wilson]

Bad picture,David! The Narex looks like it's been through a fire. Are you really that hard on your brand new tools?:)

[Tony Shea]

Bad picture,David! The Narex looks like it's been through a fire. Are you really that hard on your brand new tools?:)

Lol, too funny george. The blade really does look like it baked in a fire.

They are def HUGE chisels. Kind of awkward looking but am sure they'd be fine in the right scenario.

[David Weaver]

Yeah, for whatever reason, the camera on macro setting decided the chrome colored lacquer covered chisel would look like it was black and the black chisel that's been splashed with oxpho blue would look lighter.

I didn't take the lacquer off of mine, and probably will not remove it anywhere that it doesn't get honed off just from regular honing.

[Max Withers]

I left the lacquer on my Narex bench chisels. They look like sh*t and work fine. I don't mind the handles either, although I don't like they way they look. In use, they work well for me.

[george wilson]

I don't like the looks of most anyone's handles either,especially the way past ugly Pfiel chisel handles. The Narex handles aren't the worst I've seen,nor are they the best.

[Brian Loran]

How are you guys flattening/polishing the backs? Just the first inch or are you going to get as much of the blade as possible. Mine just arrived and I am about to hone them up. These things are HUGE! Feel real nice too.

[Dave Cav]

This has been a very useful discussion. I too was considering getting a set until I read all the reviews. I have a set of the inch sized Narex bench chisels and I'm quite happy with them for general work, as well as a set of their mortisers. I also have a more or less full set of mongrel 720(ish) socket chisels for lighter paring work that I have assembled over the past couple of years from Ebay and Pat Leach. Between the three groups of chisels they do everything I need for my more or less limited Neander work. I'm sure the Narex "paring" chisels are good, high quality tools, but I really don't need a set of what are essentially big, long, heavy bench chisels.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I ordered a set. figured it's too good a price to give up on. I only have Japanese bench chisels so I was planing of parers anyway.

[george wilson]

Some of us need to start working out so we can handle these heavy chisels!!:)

[Maurice Ungaro]

Heck, five humongous chisels for that price is worth it alone. If they are even half decent, what a bonus!

[george wilson]

In our chest full of unused 18th. C. tools in Wmsbg.,there is a set of Newbould's Best paring chisels. Mostly still wrapped in the original paper. Those are so thin! They are about 1/16" thick near the bevel!! And,bitted,soft wrought iron at that!! Definitely for careful hand pushing,and NO TWISTING!! They are as thick as ordinary bench chisels at the tangs.

[Mike Henderson]

This has been a very useful discussion. I too was considering getting a set until I read all the reviews. I have a set of the inch sized Narex bench chisels and I'm quite happy with them for general work, as well as a set of their mortisers. I also have a more or less full set of mongrel 720(ish) socket chisels for lighter paring work that I have assembled over the past couple of years from Ebay and Pat Leach. Between the three groups of chisels they do everything I need for my more or less limited Neander work. I'm sure the Narex "paring" chisels are good, high quality tools, but I really don't need a set of what are essentially big, long, heavy bench chisels.
I came out the same way. I have long (fairly thin) antique chisels (Swans) that will do what I need for paring work. Also, I'd use narrower chisels much more than the wide ones. The 1" and 1 1/4" Narex chisels would just never get much use in my shop. While the price is good, the most expensive tool is the one that doesn't get used.

Mike

[george wilson]

Yabbut,they make you feel good when you glance around and see them,Mike!!:) Entertainment usually costs some money.

I picked up a long,1 1/2" Moulson parer a few years ago. It's pretty thin,too,but not as thin as the 18th. C. ones in the chest I mentioned. Bt,it cost half as much as all 5 Narex ones.

[Peter Pedisich]

All this talk of the Narex chisels has me considering them even though I'd never use the full set. I may get a 1" eventually, though.

I have this TOGA that is quite thin, and gets VERY sharp, but is prone to dulling and chipping even at 25 deg. I'm sure the Narex would hold up very well.

TOGA from Jim Bode:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--41NhByI5CM/UHTZVSWeOLI/AAAAAAAAChk/e9GqSTE8vEA/s640/IMG_7310.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g1iKXvIRNAY/UHTZUjW5svI/AAAAAAAAChk/0MBIvog_hns/s640/IMG_7312.JPG

[Jim Koepke]

TOGA from Jim Bode:

Dang, I've got putty knives thicker than that.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

Yabbut,they make you feel good when you glance around and see them,Mike!!:) Entertainment usually costs some money.

That's a good observation, George, and I've bought things for that reason. Made me a laugh to read your note!

Mike

[Hilton Ralphs]

Mine arrived this morning, safely across the Atlantic. Not too bad looking except the ferrule looks a tad cheap. The size wasn't that scary but perhaps that's because I have a 1-1/2 cranked parer that's pretty hefty. Handles are fine, nothing fancy and a bit rough to touch which is a good thing as you don't want the things slipping out your hands.

As per Chris, I tested them out on the bookcase in my office.

[Chris Hachet]

Okay, am $120 poorer with shipping....you guys sold me on giving these a try.

[john davey]

Mine are in the house as well. I did not hack my desk up but did slide them across a piece of Pine in the vice. Dunno why as I could tell they were not going to do much until properly sharpened which I have not gotten to yet. I actually wish the handles were a little larger. Just s personal preference and it is not a deal breaker for me. They will get sharpened this this weekend as I am planning a cabinet build tomorrow morning that will involve some dadoes.

[george wilson]

Only my 1/4" one actually is ground clear to the curing edge. The rest have a teeny flat spot at the cutting edge. I am sure this grinding varies from set to set of chisels. You guys could use them for cutting cheese or butter until you can get them sharpened!!!!:):):)

[george wilson]

If you people don't stop goading me,I AM going to take these Narexes out to the shop and sharpen them!! Well,maybe after lunch,but then it might be nap time. BUT,I WILL get to them soon,I promise. But then,the Christmas season is coming upon us. Plus, I might have to go to Target and buy more Merona socks. That could take up too much time and energy. Oh,WHAT to do?

[Chris Griggs]

Has anyone actually sharpened these up and used them yet? I was too busy tuning up my new to me bandsaw this past week to do anything else in the shop (well I made a small wooden frame for my new address tiles too, point is haven't touched the paring chisels) and now I'm at the in-laws and won't be back to my shop until Sunday. And even then, I have shop cleaning and organization to do before i get to the chisels...my shop is in total disarray at the moment, even by my low standards of cleanliness and organization.

Get to it George!:) Someones gotta put these to use sooner than later.

[george wilson]

Chris,my shop is in disarray and datarray!! Actually,I am making a pump drill for a friend's upcoming birthday,plus some little things for Christmas. One thing is,I bought a very nice Stubbs hand vise from England ebay. Never got rusty,and immaculately accurate file work on it. Those poor devils worked so hard to make just really perfect,simple things like this,just to get enough money to put bread in their mouths.It has a tail about 3" long sticking down from the bottom,integral to the forging of the body. Has the teeniest silicon layering in the wrought iron,case hardened. Very fine grained. I want to make a nice ebony,rosewood,or boxwood handle for it,and tap it on over the octagonal,tapered "tail". I can ream the hole tapered with a taper pin reamer to match the tail's taper. When these things are done,I'll post them. I have other work,too.

Chris,you should have acted sooner!! Shipping was free for a time.

[Mel Fulks]

George, looking forward to seeing the vise .I have a very fine Stubbs vise ,too. Came out of a big collection and had accession number tag. Mine does not have the long tail ,it's a drilled taper probably about 5/8. Polished ,little 'bee stings' at corners...I gotta learn to post photos.

[Chris Griggs]

That vise sounds cool George. Looking forward to seeing you post the things you've been working on.

Maybe I'll manage to clear off my bench a little and get around to trying those Narex's this Sunday. We shall see.

[Ray Bohn]

Tried finger nail polish remover and Goo Gone- soaked for 3 hrs. Coating will not even soften. I will get a jug of Lacquer thinner and maybe some straight acetone tomorrow. Hope one works.

[Ryan Baker]

Like most of you, mine have been sitting in the shop for a while now. The ones I have looked at are pretty blunt. I have been too busy with other things to get around to sharpening mine up yet. (I have a long line of other tools waiting to be sharpened as well.) I don't think I am going to try to remove the clearcoat -- there isn't much point other than trying to make them look a little better.

[David Weaver]

I sharpened and set up my 3/4" chisel. Completely ignored the lacquer anywhere that wasn't the bevel or the first 4 or 5 inches of the bottom. I literally cut off (with another chisel) the fat layer of lacquer on the bevel.

Mine, at least, are reasonably hard, but they do have a persistent wire edge compared to what I've been using lately. Something easily solved with a loaded strop.

[george wilson]

Could be the coating isn't lacquer. Could be poly. If nail polish didn't affect it,who knows? I just wouldn't try paint remover. Sure to discolor the metal.

[Ray Bohn]

Could be the coating isn't lacquer. Could be poly. If nail polish didn't affect it,who knows? I just wouldn't try paint remover. Sure to discolor the metal.

Contacted LV. They stated it is lacquer and that lacquer thinner will work.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Lacquer thinner would have been my first choice. Most European makers use lacquer as a preservative coating on chisels.

[george wilson]

I hope it's lacquer,but the word lacquer can have several different meanings. I'm wondering why the nail polish remover didn't work. Nail polish is also lacquer,though the British call it nail varnish. In Elizabethan times they called paint
"Vernish".Queen Elizabeth had a "spinet vernished gren."(sp. of gren?) Well,I can't remember everything! I think they spelled it gren.

[Maurice Ungaro]

different than a "vernished grin"! :D

[george wilson]

Any way of finding out exactly WHICH lacquer is on the Narex's?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I don't know - I snagged some nail polish remover from a friend once, and seems like they make that stuff (the nail polish remover) out of something different nowadays. Certainly not nearly as aggressive as the stuff I was used to as a kid - definitely seemed like there was some sort of oil in it, and not any acetone.

[george wilson]

No telling what they have done to make nail polish less smelly and LESS POTENT!! Always watering stuff like Navel Jelly down to where it isn't nearly as effective. Paint remover,too!! In my teens, I spend a few Summers out in the Sun stripping furniture at a furniture refinishing place (just out in the yard!) . They had an old concrete mixing trough we put the whole piece into. 6" barn brushes and coarse steel wool were used to swab it on. It burned anything it touched,like our bare ribs!! Hands,too. No gloves. The owner's wife got it splashed into her eyes. That must have been awful. Didn't blind her,fortunately. We killed it with lacquer thinner. I'm still here!!. Had to earn that 75 cents an hour.

[Chris Griggs]

I just started setting up my 1 1/2". I started just polishing then realized it would take more so dropped to my 800 grit. I quickly realized the back was convex so I dropped to 80 grit PSA, and went about grinding. I worked for a while but there is a 1/8-1/4" a the tip that is pretty high and will take some time before the cutting edge is hitting the stone....I'll probably take the quick and and ugly route and grind some of the hump out of the back with a dremel.

Anyway, I want to do some woodworking today so I'm putting it aside for now and will set them up as I need them. I haven't checked out the smaller sizes yet but I'll likely use the 1/4"and 1/2" the most so I'll probably set those up sooner, and finish the 1 1/2" later.

I do hope the others have concave backs. I guess they must be grinding the bevels before the heat treating, as I imagine that they would otherwise grind them so that the backs are on the concave side and the bevels on the convex side. I'm guessing I'll find a of concave and convex with the others.

None of that's a complaint or even necessarily a surprise given the price. I don't mind having to set tools up if I think I'll like them once they are setup and I do think these will be very nice with a little elbow grease. I do really like the feel of these and I imagine its pretty good steel. Will be a little more setup than I was hoping though...on the 1 1/2" anyway. We'll see about the others.

Anyway, I want to start a new project today, so I'll get to these later.

(EDIT: taking another look (with a good ruler but not a precision straight edge) it actually looks like most the back is slightly concave and very very close to flat and that there is just a slight hump behind the cutting edge..that'll make the setup easier than if the whole back was convex. I'll probably just attack the hump with a dremel.

[george wilson]

Mine look straight. I haven't checked them with a straight edge,though. I expect them to be perfect. I don't want to have to do a lot of fettling on these.

[Chris Kowalski]

On mine the backs are very flat. Much flatter than my Narex bench chisels (also from LV). Polishing the backs was pretty easy.
I did have to re-grind the bevels on them though. Like George said, there is a flat at the tip. And since the bevel is so long (since they are thick and the bevel angle is shallow), you really want to put a hollow grind on these, otherwise they will take forever to hone.

After doing that they work great. But I have no experience using any other pairing chisel so my opinion is of limited value.

Chris

[Chris Griggs]

Well. My plans to start a project today were foiled when I went to prep the lumber and quickly remembered that the wood I was planning to use is the twistyest most reactionary stuff I've yet encountered. The lovely looking piece I had selected to make a a table top from was so twisted that it by the time I got it flat it would have had nothing left...so that will be slated for small projects I guess and I'll need to rethink things for my next project.

Anyway, I worked on the 1 1/2" a bit more. It really is very flat except for the 1/8-1/4" at the tip that is/was low. I'm guessing whoever pulled it of the grinder lifted ever so slightly when they were removing it. Really it had a very very slight back bevel. I worked the back some more but wasn't making much progress so I put it down and grabbed the 1/4" chisel.

That one was much flatter and of course being much less steal any amount it wasn't was easily corrected. The mill marks on these while very nive and even are deep enough that I started on my 1k stone, but with just a minute on that and another minute on my 8k the first 3 inches or so of the back were fully polished. Freehand honed a secondary bevel on it and gave it a quick try.

Really really like this chisel. Love how long it is... the 1/4" is like a rapier. All that length gives lots of control and the stiffness, while usually a trait not wanted in paring chisels, didn't take away from delicate controlled use at all, and really lets you push through things with some serious power if you want hog out some serious material. Really a very nice feel, and took a nice edge.

Hopefully the others are as quick and easy to setup as the 1/4". For the 1 1/2" I've work the low area at the edge down to about a 1/16" and since I'll probably regrind all these to 25 degrees anyway, I'll probably just grind off the rest of the back bevel.

How much of the backs are the rest of you guys prepping on these. I usually just polish about and inch (give or take), but for whatever reason (I guess cause they are so long) I've been working more of the back than I usually do. For the 1/4" I just did about 3" cause that's what fits across my stone. On the 1 1/2" I started with the same but when I noticed that the tip wasn't polishing I lapped the entire back see how flat things were overall, but then when I realized the back was pretty darn flat overal went back to just working the first 2-3"

[Chris Griggs]

Ok, got the 1 1/2" more or less setup. Took longer than I would have liked but no big deal. I actually ended up working the entire back on the length of the stone, and was able to lap out the mill marks down the entire back pretty easily. Was quite flat with the exception of the wierd very slight back bevel. Anyway, got it mostly honed out and then ground back a little .

Really like these chisels. I mocked up a tenon cheek to see how the big 1 1/2" would feel using one handed doing cross grain trimming. Really very very nice to use. I was worried it would be too heavy to effectively wield one handed but in use its very well balanced.

Despite the somewhat obnoxious amount of setting up the 1 1/2" needed I really like these chisels a lot. The are very comfortable and they seem to do well taking and holding an edge. Some of these induction hardened steels crumble easily at 25 degrees, but just anecdotally these seem to be holding well. I didn't try them at the 20 degrees they came at but at the closer to 25 I honed them at they seem to do well.

I'm very very pleased with these chisels. I really like how long they are. Couple inches longer than a lot of paring chisels, and that extra length is really nice.

[Mike Cozad]

Got my shipping notice this morning. I really like my Narex bevel edge chisels but found during my last project that a longer chisel would have been great working on the tenons. Read everyone's reviews in the couple different threads and decided to get in on them before the sale ends tomorrow.

Pretty new to neander techniques but have found good tools make a heck of a difference and am learning why many here choose to work by hand rather than by machine. It really is relaxing and skill building.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Ok, DAMMIT! I ordered mine today, just under the wire. The thought of losing out on a 37% discount was more than I could bear, considering the positive feedback. Don't know when I'll use 'em, but they will be there when I do. Like George, I guess I needed a set of aesthetically pleasing tools to look at! :D

[Steve Bates]

Ok, DAMMIT! I ordered mine today, just under the wire. The thought of losing out on a 37% discount was more than I could bear, considering the positive feedback. Don't know when I'll use 'em, but they will be there when I do. Like George, I guess I needed a set of aesthetically pleasing tools to look at! :D
Maurice


+1 here!

[george wilson]

Good for you,Steve!!:)

[Chris Friesen]

Anyone find a good method of removing the lacquer? I soaked a couple in a can of lacquer thinner and it softened it slightly, then I started scrubbing with a toothbrush soaked in lacquer thinner. It's coming off, but it'll be probably take at least 20min of scrubbing to get it fully off...this is ludicrously tough stuff.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Have you tried steel wool?

[Mike Cozad]

I used wet/dry sand paper on my granite block. No waiting that way and no risk of gumming up my stones...