Chisel Help

[Tammy Crowley]

I need advice on chisels. My husband would like to accumulate a good quality set of chisels...he would be mostly using them for making gun stocks, reliefs-(is that right?), and smaller projects. I know Two Cherries is a good maker but I'm not sure which type to get him to start his collection, what mm, ect... Since this will be an anniversary gift I can't ask him directly. Thanks for any advice and hopefully my questions made sense?!

[Bob Smalser]

Gunstocks are shaped with rasps, not edge tools. Occasionally carving tools are used for relief carvings, but those aren't common.

What does he have in the way of rasps and files in his inventory? Count and measure his chisels, too, and I can provide a sound recommendation or two.

No sense buying him another set of bench chisels if he already has them....and carving tools are not only spendy, that's an advanced skill....it takes half a dozen checkered gunstocks under the belt before any carving is advised.

How's he fixed for checkering tools?

You can look all these tools up at Brownells.com.

[Ed Hardin]

Tammy, Bob is right. However, should you still want to go with chisels and there is a Woodcraft store close by then by all means go to the store and talk to the knowledgeable folks there. Now, I bought the Pfeil chisels from Woodcraft and have never felt cheated. They are made in Switzerland, hold an edge and are comfortable to hold. Now, he may prefer butt chisels which are shorter and easier to handle when working delicate spaces. I'm sorry that I'm no more help than that. There are many answers to your questions. By the way, you'll never go wrong with two cherries either.

IMHO, the smaller chisels would be better for his work. Certainly no larger than a 1". One half inch and down are good. Check out Hartvilletools.com they have some very interesting German Made Chisels that might appeal to you also. I've looked very carefully at them myself before buying Pfeils from Woodcraft.com