c.i.fall bench chisels

[rich murray]

anyone out there know anything about C.I. Fall bench chisels?

[Maurice Ungaro]

I know that:
1) they are made of quality Swedish steel
2) CI Fall has been in business over 100 years
3) an 8 chisel set w/ tool roll can be had for $138
4) when I get my new shop squared away, I want to order myself a set.

[Tony Zaffuto]

I bought a single chisel (3/8") to try out the "feel". Steel is very, very good and took and holds a very sharp edge in the woods I use: cherry, white oak, and similar.

Price is good but I did not purchase any additional for the following reasons: Chisel is thick, and is better suited as a bench chisel than as a "finese" chisel for dovetail work. The handle is sort of odd--it doesn't roll off my bench, but, to me, is uncomfortable. I chucked the chisel in my lathe (could do this because it was only a 3/8"!) and turned the handle to the style of a Stanley 750. This also involved shortening the handle length.

All tools are very personal. Before buying a set and try a single one out. If you like, buy some more. As I said, the steel is very good. I would also say the same thing about the other brands, including LN, AI and what have you. Buy a single chisel (or use a friend's) and decide if this brand is for you.

[rich murray]

thanks for the good advice. have a stubai 2K and a c.i. fall on order. one at a time and then decide, good advice.

[rich murray]

Just to follow up, I opted for a 6 pc. set of #3560 (K2) Stubai bench chisels. Honing the set took less than an hour, and even though the steel in highly polished, any rounding was not a big problem. The edges are very sharp and holding up well. The handles are a "bi-material", which means plastic and rubber. They are well balanced, comfortable and offer a good grip. The sides are thinner than a lot of bench chisels which lets you get into dovetails better. I liked the C.I. Fall chisel (1-1/4 in.) too, but the handle was not as comfortable as the Stubai. I took the fininsh off the C.I. Fall handle, and even though it is blade heavy it no longer feels like it will slip out of my grip. I agree with Tony, the steel is very, very good on the C.I. Fall, and if the handle had been more comfortable I might have gone with a set. All the chisels performed well in ash, white oak and walnut.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Rich,

You could do like I did (only on those chisels who's blade width will fit in your lathe) and turn the handle. I only have the 3/8" C.I. Fall chisel and I turned the handle to a shape similar to a Stanley 750 (actually just a tad smaller to fit my hand).

I have a large number of chisels, ranging from 18th century English, to domesticantiques and vintage chisels to a wide variety of modern. I like picking up a sample of current chisels to see how I like them. The C.I. Fall, provided the handle fits, would rate very high, except for the heavy flats where a sharper side bevel would be nice. As a bench chisel, even with the existing handle, the C.I. Fall are a much lesser known bargain than many of the better known chisels.

Of modern chisels, I have several LN, Two Cherries, Hirsch, quite a few AI, some Sorby several Japanese and some Henry Taylor. I like the Ashley Iles (AI) "butt style" best of all (I have the standard handle AI too big for my hands, although the blades and steel are top notch). The AI "butt" style fit my hands perfectly and the business end is finished quite nicely for doing dovetail clean-ups. The LN are lovely also, except for the price!

The steel in the single C.I. Fall I have is equal to the AI, better than the Two Cherries, Hirsch, etc. The LN (cryo A2) is superb and retains edges better than all.

T.Z.

[Peter Tremblay]

Have you considered the Barr chisels?

I absolutely love mine. They are expensive but worth it...I think.

peter

[rich murray]

yes, I've considered Barr$, LN$ and Japane$e chisels, and the Blue $pruce too, and am tempted by all of them because of the good stuff i hear, but can't justify the expense right now. i think i got real good bang for the buck with both the c.i. fall and the stubais, and with the funny-looking red and black plastic and rubber handles on the stubais i don't worry about grip when my hands are tired and sweaty. i wanted the 3530 stubais with wooden handles, but the distributor was out of stock, didn't know when he could get more and convinced me to try the 3560s. i'm glad he did. the steel, the generous, comfortable handles and the great balance add up to make a fine chisel. for my hands, at least.

[Stephen Pereira]

I bought the 4 chisel set from Traditional woodworker. It is my first set of "quality" chisels.. previously I used the plastic handled chisels sold by my local hardware store. To my inexperienced hand the CI chisels work well.. after sharpening and polishing both back and bevel.

As Tony says the bevel on these chisels are not ground for dovetail work but since I use them as a mortise chisel the chunky bevel doesn't bother. My main gripe is that the width of these chisels and the few Japanese chisels I own are metric.. the 1/2" CI chisel mikes out at .475" I machine my mortises with a Bridgeport milling machine and HSS endmills.. When I machine a 3/8" mortise the width of the slot is .375 +/- .001 not .025 under. It irrates me to no end to have to take two cuts to square off the rounded end left by the endmill. Folks who use a spiral upcut bit in their router might find the same problem. Other than that I like the CI chisels.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Rich and Tony:
You mention the handles on the CI Falls are not optimum for your use, or uncomfortable. I was wondering if you could tell me what you don't like about them (shape, size, etc.). My hands are kind of on the big size, so I have a problem with smaller handles.

Thanks!

[rich murray]

Maurice,
I have one c.i. fall bench chisel, a 32mm (1 1/4"). the handle is 4 1/2 " long, 1 1/4" wide, and 1" deep. the overall length of the chisel is 10 3/4". I guess it would be called a rounded rectangle in cross section. after i took off the finish and put some watco oil on it, i liked it a lot better. since it's only one size i can't speak for the set. all the stubais have 5"Lx1"Wx7/8"D handles and the widest blade is 1". the more i handle the c.i. fall, the more i like it. taking off the finish made a world of difference. i like both chisels and wouldn't regret a set of either. the stubais are thinner bladed, but they are all bench chisels. with the thicker blade of the c.i. fall and the thinner (and narrower) blade of the stubai it's hard to make a comparison about balance. i haven't used them much, but i have whacked them pretty good on some ash and white oak and then done some end- grain paring and the edges are sharp enough for me. i read somewhere that a batch of steel is kind of like a batch of paint in that each batch is a little different from the next. I got good batches on both, and would recommend either.

[Maurice Ungaro]

Thanks Rich! I guess given the price of either the Stubai or the CI Fall chisels, it's not a great deal of money to be shelling out, but both offer a great deal of value.

[Tony Zaffuto]

Maurice,

With regards to the CI Falls chisel handles, I have somewhat small hands (take a glove size somewhere between a large medium or a medium large!). The handles on the chisels are rectangular in cross-section and pretty long, with a hoop on the striking portion. The finish is a laquer like film over stain.

Fortunately, the handles are big enough to reshape to your liking! I cut off the striking ring portion, still leaving enough material to turn the handle into a Stanley 750 shaped form. Don't know what the hardwood handle is made from, but it is hard and holds up well to use, although I did put a leather strike button on.

As I have said previously, the steel is very, very good. I don't take the handle re-shaping as much as a negative, as I'm a believer in making tools comfortable in the hand, particularly if you plan to use them! The price of CI Falls chisels is a bargain. As a bench chisel, they would serve any beginner or seasoned user very well. At their price, you won't be afraid of trying any task with them and won't think "I paid $50.00 for this chisel, do I really want to clean this mortise with it, or should I just grab that old 1/4" Hammerjab chisel, as it does everything this $50 one does?".

I have no connection with any vendor or manufacturer.

T.Z.