Need paring chisels

[Jeffrey Cole]

Good day, I need a set go good quality paring chisels. What do you people recommend and where can I buy them?
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!!
Jeffrey

[Clint Baxter]

The Narex paring chisels are tough to beat for the money. What I have, and use.

Clint

[glenn bradley]

I have two of the 1/2" Narex (ordering mixup); the back of each is arched about a fat 1/32" over its length but, for how I use this size/length of a parer chisel, that can be made to work. I have a 3/8" Henry Taylor; dead flat but is a crank neck format. I would go the few extra bucks for the Henry Taylor again.

[Jim Koepke]

I like my old Buck Brothers chisels. Not sure if the quality is the same, but these still have wood handles:

http://www.CraftsmanStudio.com/category-s/262.htm

The price also seem good for a product made in the USA.

Recently because of good feed back here my first Narex mortise chisel was purchased. It has so far proven to be a well made tool.

jtk

[Curt Putnam]

The Blue Spruce paring chisels are exquisite but a little spendy if you are sensitive to that. I have his 1/4 & 3/8s chisels and I do love them. The Narex are a good deal for the price, take nice edges and hold them. I know nothing about Japanese parers.

[Gary Muto]

Another vote for the Narex parer's. I don't really have anything else to compare them too though. The did hone up pretty easily and form a sharp edge.

[lowell holmes]

My paring chisels are Lie Nielsen chisels. I've had them for about 12 years. I also have some Stanley 750's, but some of them are good and some are not good.
The quality varies with the old chisels. If you get a good 750, it is equal to the Lie Nielsens. I have the Narex cranked neck set. They do a good job, but I'm not
real happy with the heft of the chisels. I will say when it comes to leveling a tenons or dowels, the do a good job.

[steven c newman]

Not sure about new ones....most of what I have are either Vintage, or Aldi ones

Vintage? Older Stanleys, Witherby/Karpenter, Butcher. The Aldi chisels? 4pc set for $7, and paul Sellers LOVES them. These really hold an edge, too.

[Frederick Skelly]

Another vote for the Narex. Got mine at Lee Valley but I think Highland also sells them. They really are "a lotta bang for the buck."

I've added an LN chisel to my Christmas list though - just to see if I can tell the difference at my skill level. :)

[Reinis Kanders]

I don't mind Narex paring chisels, but they definitely are not like a traditional paring chisel. Narex are like mini swords, very hefty, but they do work ok.

[Brian Holcombe]

Konobu? :D

[ken hatch]

Konobu? :D

Would be nice Brian, I like your suggestion.

I can't say they are as good but....Stu has some very nice Koyamaichi white steel chisels for a reasonable price. After using good Japanese paring chisels it would be hard to go back to western parers.

ken

[Brian Holcombe]

Hehe :D

I have some Koyamaichi blue steel parers from Stu, they treat me very well. The white steel 2 bench chisels were a gateway chisel, but then I got hooked hard after the blue steel parers.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

There are, in my mind, three primary considerations (and you decide what is most important).



How does it feel in your hand? This can be a huge thing. So, if you like the feel of the stanley 750 chisels, then think about chisels with that particular handle configuration (as an example). I had a very nice fancy set that I got rid of because I just did not like how they felt in my hand.
How does the edge perform? I have some total junk chisels that were my first chisels. I was afraid to use my fancy nice new set because I had no idea how to sharpen them. So, I learned on this old cheap set that could not hold an edge (or the abuse). I learned to sharpen them. I did damage one of the chisels along the way, so, I am glad I did not ruin that fancy set.... I might have learned to like them, but, I never gave them the chance since I just did not like the feel.
What do they cost? If you can't afford them, well, not much else matters.


There are of course other things to consider. For example, I like the Lee Valley PMV11 chisels that have a handle such that they will not roll of the bench; which is not a comment on how they feel in the hand, just another consideration.

[lowell holmes]

I received a catalog from Woodcraft today. They have a four chisel set of Irwin/marples Blue Chip chisels for not much money.
When I started woodworking I bought a set of these from Lowes. I used them for years and chopped a lot of mortises and made
hand dovetails with them. I still have them and can tell you they are comfortable to use and will certainly take care of paring chores.
They are softer steel than some, but they are hard enough to do the job.

[Tom M King]

322379322375Old Boxwood handled Marples for me. The big, light colored shaving in the picture is the one the micrometer is measuring.

[Allan Speers]

Vintage Anton Berg.

They're very thin, with a wide bevel on the sides, and they hold a fine edge. Really nice for dovetails.

[James Baker SD]

I have a set of older Robert Sorby. Classic paring chisel design with long, thin, slightly flexible blade with very low angle on the bevel. I know some have commented that these do not seem to hold an edge well, but I only trim hardwoods and have never had a problem with the edge. Maybe I got lucky, but I like them.

[Jeffrey Cole]

Thanks for all the information. I will look at the suggestions and go from here.
Thanks again!!
Jeffrey