Narex Firmer Chisels

[ken hatch]

I posted about these chisels on my bench build thread but it is an old thread about bench building so some folks may not see the part about Narex chisels.

I've never been a fan of Narex chisels, I know they are inexpensive and probably have good steel but the handles are ugly and the chisels look unbalanced and I expect uncomfortable to use. Because of that I have not bought or used the Narex bench chisels. A year or so ago I wanted to buy some new firmer chisels, basically there ain't no such thing except for Narex. I ordered a set, they came, I sharpened and put 'em in the off wall chisel rack and there they remained until today. They were not my cup of tea as a bench chisel. I will not go into the whole story again, bottom line I needed a mortise chisel that matched the size of one of the Narex chisels so I used it to chop a set of mortises.

I still do not like the shape of the handle but after chopping the first mortise I found out the handle is Hornbean. Perfect for a mortise chisel and I can attest to the handle holding up to "Lumpy" with no problem. The steel held up very well as well. I still do not like the shape or size of the handle but if you need a large (greater than 1/2") mortise chisel the Narex Firmer chisels are a pretty good answer.

ken

[lowell holmes]

I have a set of Narex mortise chisels. You can whittle on the handles if you don't like them and it bothers you.

I bought a set and they do what I wanted them to do. I don't have much need for them, but if i need a mortice chisel
I have them.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with chopping mortises with bevel edge chisles. I did so at some Paul Seller classes
and have done so since,

[ken hatch]

I have a set of Narex mortise chisels. You can whittle on the handles if you don't like them and it bothers you.

I bought a set and they do what I wanted them to do. I don't have much need for them, but if i need a mortice chisel
I have them.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with chopping mortises with bevel edge chisles. I did so at some Paul Seller classes
and have done so since,

Lowel,

I agree you can use almost any chisel to chop a mortise but some types work better than others especially wide and deep. The problem comes in when chopping large mortises. Mortise chisels, pigstickers or shash, larger than 5/8, 16mm are hard to find. That was the beauty of lucking into the Narex firmer chisels, heavy construction with a Hornbean handle makes a good mortise chisel and sized up to 26mm.

I was surprised when I found out they had a Hornbean handle, the shame is they stained it a very ugly brown. I make so few wide mortises I may live with the handle but as always we will see. They could have spokeshave in their future.

ken

[lowell holmes]

They are substantial tough chisels. :)