Reasonably priced chisels?

[Brandon Thill]

Looking for a 4 or 5 piece bench chisel that won't be unduly expensive. I've been looking at the Lee Valley and Narex, and even the Buck ones at HD. Any advice?

[Flamone LaChaud]

Price point you're comfortable with? Will these be beaters or just hard workers? How much work are you willing to put into your purchase to get them to where you want them? So many follow up questions . . .

[Bill Berklich]

Troll for a set from Aldi if you can find them. They usually show up in the stores in the Spring and Fall. Or you can go for a piece set of new Stanley Sweetheart 750s for ~$85. Or troll eBay but pay close attention to the level of pitting - there's lots of crap out there. Marples Blue Chip are great ones too - about $70 for 6.

[Brandon Thill]

Well I'm not looking to refurb anything. But final edge setting/sharpening is ok with me. These wouldn't be beaters or for super detailed work, more general use. Price: looking at $50-75, although $85 might be ok if the value of those Stanley's is high.

[glenn bradley]

I have had excellent service from my standard Lee Valley bevel edge (http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=30028&cat=1,41504,43500) chisels. At about $15 each I would grab a 1/4" a 1/2" and cover nearly all your needs. The 1/2" can double as a paring chisel and you could add a 1-1/4" or a 1-1/2" for face registering tasks like tenon cheeks if you wanted.

I bought a full set of LV butt chisels and a few sizes have been rarely touched. I switched to being more selective and buying just what I needed Buy just the sizes you need and buy a little better quality. You can always add other sizes later.

[Hasin Haroon]

Hi Brandon,

Reasonably priced is a moving target - The Veritas PM-V11 chisels are reasonably priced considering their quality and steel, as are the aldi chisels. However, the best bang for your buck for a set of excellent chisels in my opinion is the Ashley Iles - I honestly do not know how they maintain their price point given their quality and scale. You wont need another set of bench chisels in your life.

[Brandon Speaks]

I got a set of wood river from woodcraft for about your range (although I think it was on sale). They were not great, but are perfectly serviceable, if I upgrade it will be more because I am a blade junkie than because they are not working for me. I did spend a few hours flattening backs before sharpening. Narex in general seems to come highly recommended for close to your price range.

[Jim Koepke]

My advice would be to decide on what is important to you.

To me it is important for a chisel to feel "right" in my hands. Chisels that feel "clumsy" in my hands tend to lead me in to making clumsy mistakes.

One mistake many folks make is to buy tools while at the same time thinking of upgrading. Buy what you want the first time. You won't miss the money later, but you will be a lot happier every time you pick up the quality you chose.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

My first set was an Irwin/Marples with the blue plastic handles. It was one of the last made in Sheffield. Not sure if that matters. The prep (flattening, sharpening) was a bit burdensome, but they hold a decent edge. I still have them and use them for rough work. Later I stretched and bought a set of LN Bevel Edge Chisels. More expensive? Yup. Worth it? Yup. Regrets? Nope. All in, I would have spent less if I just waited and bought the LN chisels.

Economics often drive decisions, and many times for the correct reasons. I've been there. As I've become old (vintage :D) I've adopted the mantra that "The Bitterness of Poor Quality Remains Long After the Sweetness of Low Price is Forgotten". Save up and buy the best you can with obvious consideration to your personal situation. It's weird. As my time on earth is gradually diminished, the more patient I become. Buy chisels you can make wonderful things with and then have your grandkids fight over.

[ken hatch]

Looking for a 4 or 5 piece bench chisel that won't be unduly expensive. I've been looking at the Lee Valley and Narex, and even the Buck ones at HD. Any advice?

Brandon,

Hasin has good advice, the A.I. chisels are a bargain.

I will add, buy fewer good chisels and add more good chisels as needed. With chisels it is not just about the edge holding but the "balance" of the chisel. Does it feel good in hand, does it match your sharpening system, will it work the way you like to work? As an example: I like to use a metal hammer when chopping with a chisel. I feel I have better control and it takes less effort. Japanese chisels are made to be hit with metal hammers. For paring and fine work that doesn't require a mallet or hammer I like a chisel with a "carver's" or even a London pattern handle. Find a friend that has several types of chisels and give 'em a go. Find one that feels good. You may not be able to describe what you want but you will know it when you feel it.

ken

[Brandon Thill]

Oh trust me, I've never regretted paying big bucks for a high performance tool! But, being realistic, I'm not a hand tool guy, I don't build intricate projects, but every now and then a chisel is just the right tool for the job.

Irwin is no go for me, I've been too disappointed with them before. Kind of circling back to recommendations for the LV, Narex, and Stanley 750 at this point. I couldn't find a US source for Ashly Iles?

[ken hatch]

Oh trust me, I've never regretted paying big bucks for a high performance tool! But, being realistic, I'm not a hand tool guy, I don't build intricate projects, but every now and then a chisel is just the right tool for the job.

Irwin is no go for me, I've been too disappointed with them before. Kind of circling back to recommendations for the LV, Narex, and Stanley 750 at this point. I couldn't find a US source for AI?

Tools For Working Wood. I've a few of all the chisels you mentioned. The A.I. along with the Marples and Japanese are the goto chisels.

ken

[David Eisenhauer]

My advise is to think about trying out one or two chisels that are considered "good" (not "best" perhaps, but at least "good") to see how they feel in your hands rather than buying a full set of chisels based more on a price point point-of-view. The chisel's feel in your hands is subjective and a very important quality for happy chisel use. As recommended above, go for a 1/2" as a general use paring or chopping chisel, with a 1/4" added in if the $ are there for the try out. I also like the way the Ashley Iles chisels feel and sharpen, but that is me and may not be you. Decent chisels should re sell at not much of a price drop as cheaper/less quality chisels will. At some point soon into your use of chisels, you will have to address sharpening and it is not as daunting a task for a new-to-sharpening woodworker to have only a couple of chisels to sharpen as opposed to a four-five-six chisel set (because no one starts sharpening until all are dull). Or, best case, see if anyone is located in your area that will invite you to try their chisels out for use.

[lowell holmes]

I do not apologize for having a leather chisel roll of Lie Nielsen bevel edge chisels. I've had them for years. Once you but them, they are paid for.

[steven c newman]

The Bailey/Stanley chisels are. Maybe no more tune up than the high dollar ones, as well.....

[Jeff Zihlman]

I have had excellent service from my standard Lee Valley bevel edge (http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=30028&cat=1,41504,43500) chisels.


+1 on these. I bought just one to try them out at first then ended up filling out the set

[Luke Dupont]

Narex chisels are pretty good, and come with nice (wooden) handles. I used those for the longest time and never found myself wanting / needing anything more. They seem to hold up to mortising too, as long as you don't do anything foolish like prying waste with the bevel side (rather than back).

[chris carter]

I was looking at the same price range as the OP. I settled on the Narex Classic Bevel Edge chisels that Lee Valley sells in imperial measurements http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67707 . I chose them because I wanted tanged over socket, wood over plastic, I have NBA size hands and need a decently sized handle for paring tasks, and Narex have a reputation of being of a quality above their price-point. I've been very happy with them and thus far have had zero desire to get anything nicer. I will say though, the downside is they are not the most attractive chisels which may or may not matter to you.

[lowell holmes]

They sell good chisels at Home Depot and at Lowes.

[Seth Terndrup]

I’m a noob and got caught up a bit in thinking I needed the best tools. Then I realized I’m probably too new to even appreciate the difference between moderate functional and high end. So I bought a set of stanly 750. I’m just prepping them now. Backs are a bit inconsistent. Exactly the same as the issues Chris Schwarz reported in a PW article. But they will work fine after I get them set up I think.

[lowell holmes]

IMO, all bevel edge chisels should be lapped on the backs while sharpening. :)

[Frederick Skelly]

Hi Brandon, here is a recent thread on low end vs high end chisels from a non-scientific compare I recently did. Link (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?264937-Cheap-vs-Premium-Chisels-First-impressions&highlight=Chisels)

YMMV.

Fred

[Gene Davis]

If you like sharpening, just score a set of the Aldi chisels. They are all you need to make whatever you want, and you'll enjoy getting and keeping them razor sharp.

[Matt Lau]

Hey Brandon,

A few questions:
1. What are you most comfotable with?
2. Hand use or Mallet?
3. What type of woodworking?
4. Do you like tough and gummy steel (German) or sharp and brittle (Japanese)?
6. What type of woods?
5. What do you like the look/feel of most?

I'd encourage you to buy just 1 or 2 chisels that you have your heart set on.
Gradually add to it.

On my shortlist (I'm a Japanese tool lover): Stan's "economy" chisels, Stu's Koyama chisels (white steel), Ashley Iles...maybe Stanley Sweethearts.

For good and cheap, anything from Lee Valley or Highland Hardware should be really good.

[Terry Beadle]

Hands down the Narex chisels are the best bargain and quality I've ever bought.

Recommended.

Happy chips mon!

[David Bassett]

I've been reading along and telling myself to stay out of this, it's mostly personal preference and mine will be different than OP's. But, I can't seem to resist....

One thing I don't see ask is how the OP intends to sharpen. A good basic carbon steel, (vintage, O1, many cheapies), will sharpen with most stones/systems. A few of the more exotic steels, while much better in some ways, can be frustrating without specific sharpening tools. With the cheapie mystery steel chisels you can occasionally find some that also don't sharpen easily. Another thing to consider at the lower price points is inconsistency in the heat-treat & tempering can make individual samples sharpen & perform much differently than than typical.

Narex is gets consistent recommendations as a value choice. Ashley Illes, Woodriver socket chisels, and *good* examples of vintage chisels have all been recommended as a way to get better for not much more. Of course, you do get more fit, finish, & technology with Blue Spruce, Lie-Nielsen, Veritas PMV-11, etc. if that's what you prefer.

But really it's all about budget & personal preference, so the advice to get one or two that look good and see how they actually work for you is key.

[Mike Brady]

There hasn't been much comment about vintage American chisels, which can be a good value and superior quality to anything that is available new for under $30. per chisel. You have to be willing to do some rehabbing and possibly turn some new handles, but that can be very satisfying as part of the craft.

I'll go out on a limb regarding new chisels and say I wouldn't buy any chisel at any price that wasn't ground in a profile that aids in the cutting of dovetails. The Lie-Nielsen chisels come to mind. They have that deep chamfer on the sides of the blade that come almost to a knife edge. This grind really aids in paring of the corners dovetails and once you use them this way any other profile seems like a compromise. Perhaps some of the posters here can identify which brands are similar in profile. Woodcraft sells a couple of brands that may meet this standard, but I have no idea how good those chisels might be in edge holding. The ones I saw were by WoodRiver and Pfeil.

The suggestion above that says to buy just one chisel from a brand to try is a good one. I did this with the Stanley 750's and never bought another one.

[bridger berdel]

snip.... Decent chisels should re sell at not much of a price drop as cheaper/less quality chisels will .....snip


I see this said a lot. If it's true you should be able to find plenty of barely used but prepped and flattened chisels abandoned along the upgrade path by users with deeper pockets than yours and at a bit of a discount from new.

[Doug Dawson]

I'll go out on a limb regarding new chisels and say I wouldn't buy any chisel at any price that wasn't ground in a profile that aids in the cutting of dovetails. The Lie-Nielsen chisels come to mind. They have that deep chamfer on the sides of the blade that come almost to a knife edge. This grind really aids in paring of the corners dovetails and once you use them this way any other profile seems like a compromise. Perhaps some of the posters here can identify which brands are similar in profile.

The Ashley Iles "American Pattern" chisels are very good for this. They require more work than the L-N etc to get started with (backs are very rough,) but they excel at getting into dovetail corners (better than the L-N's IMO, unless we're talking about the L-N fishtails, which I find slightly annoying to sharpen whether by hand or by machine.)

[Robert Hazelwood]

I'll go out on a limb regarding new chisels and say I wouldn't buy any chisel at any price that wasn't ground in a profile that aids in the cutting of dovetails. The Lie-Nielsen chisels come to mind. They have that deep chamfer on the sides of the blade that come almost to a knife edge. This grind really aids in paring of the corners dovetails and once you use them this way any other profile seems like a compromise. Perhaps some of the posters here can identify which brands are similar in profile. Woodcraft sells a couple of brands that may meet this standard, but I have no idea how good those chisels might be in edge holding. The ones I saw were by WoodRiver and Pfeil.

I find that I only really like the dovetail profile in a couple of sizes, 1/4" and 3/8" or metric equivalents. I use these for chopping the baseline for pin sockets, when the pins are very narrow which is my usual preference. If the base of the pin is wider, then any sort of chisel can work, it just needs to be a bit narrower than the baseline so that you can skew to clean the corners.

I don't think I'd want knife edge lands on my other chisels- I can't recall needing them, it makes the corners of the edge more fragile, and if they are truly knife edge then they can be treacherous to hold (I have to wrap my left index finger in tape to protect it from the lands on my dovetail chisels when paring). So my set of bench chisels have fairly heavy lands, and then I have two "specialty" chisels for pin sockets. Mine are Koyamaichi with a triangular profile, but any western chisel could be ground down (only the last 1/2" or so really needs to be).

[Mike Brady]

Those are good suggestions, particularly since the OP desires to keep expense to a moderate amount. Quality in chisels is closely tied to price. I would advocate for buying high quality chisels one at a time over a period of time, if necessary. I know so many woodworkers who have layers of redundant tools because they bought the wrong ones early on.

[Frank Martin]

How about Two Cherries, Hirsch? I know some of Two Cherries are heavily polished rounding the edges, but some are not.

[Brandon Thill]

I will go with the advice to just buy a couple sizes I know I'll use, instead of a whole set. Same advice I would give for someone getting kitchen knives, geta couple you know you will need instead of a block full of lesser quality knives.

Speaking of which, I'm a kitchen knife nut, so I do lean toward Japanese hardness, but these are chisels so I would imagine some toughness would be desirable for general use. I'm very good at sharpening any knife steel I've come across so no worries there. Mostly use Shapton GS and JNS synthetic Aoto.

I have smaller hands. These will be used for both hand work and mallet. Woods I would use are oak, maple, walnut.

[Jason Lester]

I bought the imperial set of 4 from Narex. I like them, they sharpen well, but the edge retention is not overly great. I use the 1/2" the most, so I just ordered that size in the Veritas PM-V11. It cost more than the whole set of Narex, but the plane blades I have in that metal go forever between sharpenings.

[Prashun Patel]

The Narex set is pretty good for the money.

[steven c newman]

The question the OP was asking.....REASONABLY priced chisel.....with a price point for the SET of under $85.....

Yet, most on here think the OP should spent the entire budget on just a couple chisels....and then make the OP feel bad for even considering anything "less"

I doubt IF the OP wants those 2-3 chisels to last a few decades....the OP wants chisels to use NOW.

Instead,,we get the usual sales/ info-mercial.....about how much they LOVE a certain brand......

I just spent as much on lumber, today...that others spend on a single chisel.....at least I can work on the lumber.....

[Seth Terndrup]

^^^There is some truth above^^^^
I’m guilty of it too. Someone asks a question and I try to convince them of my thought process rather than just answer the question.

[Kees Heiden]

Don’t be afraid for the “lack” of toughness in good Japanese chisels. I have 5 Koyamaichi chisels and they are just damn fine chisels. But I also like my vintage Berg and Nooitgedagt ones. In the end, it doesn’t matter that much. Get some good ones, don’t buy sets.

[Brandon Thill]

The question the OP was asking.....REASONABLY priced chisel.....with a price point for the SET of under $85.....

Yet, most on here think the OP should spent the entire budget on just a couple chisels....and then make the OP feel bad for even considering anything "less"

I doubt IF the OP wants those 2-3 chisels to last a few decades....the OP wants chisels to use NOW.

Instead,,we get the usual sales/ info-mercial.....about how much they LOVE a certain brand......

I just spent as much on lumber, today...that others spend on a single chisel.....at least I can work on the lumber.....

Ha, yes, very true. OTOH, now that I've decided to not buy a set, I'm giving the Ashley Iles more consideration.

[John C Cox]

You mentiond earlier that you have small hands.

If you haven't yet - take a look at some of the old square shank/octagon bolster chisels made prior to WWII... Most of these seem to have smaller handles that are well suited for folks with smaller hands. Ken showed an example of this with his post on the pre vs post war Marples chisels...

[Nicholas Lawrence]

Ha, yes, very true. OTOH, now that I've decided to not buy a set, I'm giving the Ashley Iles more consideration.

I only found the AI from Tools For Working Wood and The Best Things. I think both have them in sets, but not singles (or at least it is harder/takes longer to get them in singles). On the other hand I like mine a lot.

[Frederick Skelly]

I only found the AI from Tools For Working Wood and The Best Things. I think both have them in sets, but not singles (or at least it is harder/takes longer to get them in singles). On the other hand I like mine a lot.

I've bought from both companies more than once. You can't go wrong with either.
Fred

[Brandon Thill]

Have a couple Ashley Iles Mk2's on the way! Handles look as comfortable as anything else I was looking at or handled. Thanks SMC!

[lowell holmes]

Go buy one chisel and see you like it and when your happy, get set.

[Jim Koepke]

Have a couple Ashley Iles Mk2's on the way! Handles look as comfortable as anything else I was looking at or handled. Thanks SMC!

Most likely a good choice at a mid range price point. Let us know what you think when you get them.

On the 2" there is a note, "New Style." Makes me wonder if the "New Style" uses a different wood for the handles.

jtk