What should I look at for first "higher" end chisels

[travis howe]

I realize I'll need more than one set of chisels but still a bit confused on what it is that I'll need...general chisel use and some inlay work.

What would be a good middle of the road chisel for this set and what about higher end chisels?

Whats the easiest way to keep them sharp w/ out getting too crazy?

[Pat Germain]

If you want some really nice chisels, find some used English or Japanese examples.

If you want some decent chisels for a very good price, buy Grizzly chisels. Fine Woodworking recently reviewed chisels and the inexpensive Grizzly examples performed amazingly well.

Either way, you're going to have to establish and maintain a very sharp edge on each of your chisels. You can use glass and very fine sandpaper. Or, you can pony up some dough and buy water or oil stones. You could pony up more dough and buy a slow speed grinder of the Tormek variety.

[Tom Adger]

As Pat said, read the Fine Woodworking October issue cover story first. Chris Gochnour reviews 23 brands. You will be surprised to find that cost doesn't always mean the best.

Whatever you buy, proper sharpening will make any chisel much better. Always flatten the back first. Coat the back with a black felt tip marker, and rub it some on a piece of sandpaper fixed to a piece of glass(or something really flat) you will find that even expensive chisels are not completely flat from the factory. I use a combination of scary sharp, and a 1000/6000 combination waterstone to finish up the back and secondary bevel.

[Alex Shanku]

I have the Ashley Iles bench chisels and like them. Affordable at a little over 125 bucks.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Comfort in use should be priority #1. If they are not comfortable (or cannot be made to be so) they are useless IMO. Everything else is secondary. I suggest you try out several different styles to figure out what is comfortable in your hand before you buy a set.

Edge retention is over hyped for chisels. The fact of the matter is that you will need to sharpen them at some point. Harder/tougher steels that have longer edge retention are typically harder/take longer to sharpen while steels with less edge retention are much easier to sharpen. I like plain old oil hardening O1 for chisles. It gets hair splitting sharp without having to resort to space aged abrasives (like diamond plates and paste) and when properly heat treated and sharpened to the correct angle (relative to the particular chisel) holds its edge just fine for me. I touch up the edges often while I'm working, before they are dull anyway so edge retention is a minor consideration for me. If the edges don't fold over or chip out in normal use and they sharpen easily they're perfect. I want them to be able to take an edge very quickly so I can get back to work. O1 allows this.

A2 and D2 are harder to sharpen but hold an edge slightly longer. Up to you which you prefer. If you hone freehand, you will likely prefer O1 since you can hone so quickly. If you use a jig, you may like A2 better. Antique chisels are basically O1 steel (there were actually different types depending on the age of the chisel but that's another discussion). Most new chisels, including most Japanese chisels are O1 steel (e.g. Irwin, Ashley Iles, Two Cherries, Hirsch, etc.). Some high end modern chisels use A2 (e.g. Lie-Nielsen) or D2 (e.g. Ray Iles mortise chisels).

[John Dykes]

You can search on this board about my Hirsch experience...

I studied and researched and finally decided on Hirsch - I'll never buy a Hirsch or Two Cherries product again. I'll readily admit that there are probably many others here that may love them and do much better work than I, but I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy.

The backs were way out of flat - and after hours of work, little progress was made on the super hard polished backs.

Bleh.

- jbd in Denver

[Jim Koepke]

My accumulation of chisels has mostly been from eBay. My brother has also brought me quite a few he has found at auctions and estate sales.

This has resulted in a wide variety of bevel, firmer chisels and gouges.

Good quality chisels from Witherby and Buck Brothers can be bought at less cost than what one would pay for a contemporary set. The hassle of this is one usually has to buy them one at a time or buy a group with a bunch of junk to get a good one. You also have to be wary of poor quality photos and other eBay caveats.

The up side of this is the junky ones can be used to learn sharpening, restoration and making custom tools like skews and such.

I prefer socket chisels because of the ease of changing handles. Recently bought a used lathe and have been turning out handles made for my hands and it is a joy.

just my 2¢,

jim

[travis howe]

Thanks all!

Tom mentions doing the bottom first and tells how he does it what about the top side, anyone? Same thing, just start w/ the bottom?

travis

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks all!

Tom mentions doing the bottom first and tells how he does it what about the top side, anyone? Same thing, just start w/ the bottom?

travis

The top side is not used in the cutting process. The bottom (or back) is actually part of the edge that forms the cut.

jim

[Robert Rozaieski]

Travis,

Read this http://www.antiquetools.com/sharp/index.html for a great how to on sharpening chisels and plane irons. There's a video you can purchase as well if you are the type who needs to see it done.

Bob

[David Keller NC]

Travis - I'm far from a person that can recommend buying low-priced tools without hypocrisy, and I do think spending more money on tools is justified in many circumstances.

However, this is not one of them. It's completely possible you could buy the Lie-Nielsen set, be very happy with them, and never buy another chisel. That's not how things typically go for us hand-tool types, though. Most of us have several sets of chisels, each designed to do different things.

So to start with, I'm going to assume you have no chisels currently, and are looking for a general purpose chopping set. These chisels are often called "bench chisels" and the name fits, because they're constantly on the bench. Other types that are common to find in a hand tool shop are a set of mortise chisels, and a set of paring chisels. The mortise chisels look very different from bench chisels or paring chisels, and are designed to do only one thing - chop mortises. Paring chisels look a lot like bench chisels, except they're a lot longer, and the blades are usually thinner. They are not designed to be struck with a mallet, though they might stand up to light mallet taps if done carefully.

Bench chisels, on the other hand, are definitely designed to stand up to mallet whacks. That's the primary reason for Lie-Nielsen's socket design - they are incredibly strong, and since there's no tang on the metal part of the chisel, it can't act as wedge to split the handle. However, most socket chisel types are fairly pricey, and a good condition set of Stanley Everlast chisels can easily run you considerably more than a set of new Lie-Nielsens.

So for starting out, I'm going to suggest that you get an inexpensive set of Buck Brothers or Marples with plastic handles. Though the plastic handles aren't pretty to look at, they will take some serious abuse from a hard mallet. Also, you're likely to have a learning curve when it comes to flattening the backs and honing the bevel. With these, you need not worry that you've trashed something expensive.

After you've used them for a while and mastered grinding and honing, you can set them aside, donate them to your local high school shop class, or pass them down to a descendant and buy an expensive set with superior steel and beautiful wooden handles.

[Casey Gooding]

As FWW says, the Narex are good chisels, though the ones I have have taken some work to flatten the back.
On the high end, Lie-Nielsen will never disappoint.

[Tom Adger]

Travis,

What I did not mention in my earlier post was sharpening the bevel. I invested in a Veritas Mk II chisel sharpening jig. It's around $50. Not cheap, but it is a solid, quality piece of work. In addition to getting an accurate bevel(s) set to the degree you want, you can go back to the original bevels(primary and secondary) that you honed to and resharpen. Usually you can just redo the secondary bevel, and it just takes a few minutes. Don't forget to touch up the back as well. The jig works equally as well on sandpaper and waterstones.

[Phillip Pattee]

What you’ll need is very limited. You could start by picking a project and buying only the specific tools required to complete the work. Over time, you will acquire what you need. You will also want the tool to feel comfortable in your hand. This is really important. If you don’t like it, you probably won’t use it.
If you had no chisels at all, I would start with a 1/4” a ½”, and a ¾”. Sets will usually include a 1” and possibly a 1/8” and a 3/8” or a 5/8”, but these IMO constitute filling out a set and go beyond essentials. Many woodworkers start out with the Irwin/Marples that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes and are perfectly happy with them. This is a very affordable route. By way of analogy, if you just want to get drunk, Mogan David wine will work and it’s a very affordable route. You should consider Japanese and Western style chisels. Both have their advocates. This is a good time to purchase chisels because many fine and reputable retailers have sales. Here are some affordable alternatives that I suggest are worth considering.
Japanese chisels from Rockler http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10344 (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10344). I have these, and for this price they are a very good chisel.
The Grizzly chisels faired well in Fine Woodworking, http://www.grizzly.com/products/Japanese-Chisels-10-pc-Set/G7102 (http://www.grizzly.com/products/Japanese-Chisels-10-pc-Set/G7102)
Tools for Working Wood has the big handle Ashley Iles on special http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=IL-100-10.XX&Category_Code=CLW (http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=IL-100-10.XX&Category_Code=CLW) . They also sell the small handle American Pattern – I have these and am pleased with them. I prefer the smaller handle.
These from Hartville tool are also on sale. http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11737 (http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11737) and http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11752 (http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/11752) These are a German company MHG, similar to Two Cherries and Hirsch. I have set of these in metric, they are fine, but I greatly prefer my Ashley Iles chisels.


No matter what you buy, you will need a sharpening system. Scary Sharp is probably the cheapest entry price. Here is good article that explains several sharpening methods. http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp (http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00003.asp) .

[Mark Singer]

The more I use Japanese chisels , the more I appreciate them

[Danny Thompson]

After starting with a lower quality set, I did some research and opted to build a set of high quality chisels a piece at a time rather than opting for a full set of lower quality chisels.

I started with 2 Lie Nielsens (1/4" and 1/2") and couple of months later added another (1") and almost a year later another (3/4"). Amazingly sharp and consistent. A real pleasure. No shipping from Craftsman Studio, at least when I bought mine.

In the middle there I happened to be near Tools for Working Wood, so, on a whim I picked up a Ray Isles English Mortise Chisel--now that's a hunk of steel! It can take a real beating. If you plan to bang out some heavy mortises by hand, take a look at those.

[travis howe]

Good deal, thanks all! Yeah, I have a set of bench chisels from home depot... So I can pick up some goods and practice my sharpening skills there.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback!

Travis

[Wilbur Pan]

If you're thinking about Japanese chisels at all, you should consider the Fujihiro brand chisels made by Imai from Hida Tool (http://www.hidatool.com/shop/shop.html). They're a step up from the typical budget Japanese chisels you'll find, and cost about the same as Lie-Nielsen chisels. They are very easy to sharpen, and have really good edge retention (which is over-hyped, I know). ;)