Looking for a paring chisel

[Jeff Duncan]

I'm in the same place right now trying to decide between waiting for a nice vintage set to show up, or buy new and allow it to turn vintage with me

John, how did you make out with the Taylor chisels?

JeffD

[Richard Shaefer]

I'm looking to pick up some nice paring chisels. I'm really not interested in a bench chisel with a long handle, like the Lie-Nielsens. I want a real paring chisel with a long blade.

Who's making nice paring chisels these days?

I have an unhealthy love of old Stanley 720 paring chisels.
they don't make them anymore, but you can certainly find them used.

[John Coloccia]

I'm in the same place right now trying to decide between waiting for a nice vintage set to show up, or buy new and allow it to turn vintage with me

John, how did you make out with the Taylor chisels?

JeffD

I would buy them again and I recommend them. Kicking around here somewhere is me fooling around on YouTube for about a 1/2 hour with a new Worksharp 3000 and the Taylors fresh out of the package. Bottom line is that I'm happy. They're exactly what I wanted and I use them almost every day. I worked a project just the other day, in fact, where I had to trim a bunch of end grain and I though to myself just how happy I am to have dedicated paring chisels with 20 to 25 degree bevels on them.

[Chris Fournier]

I've used Sorbys while making guitars for 20 years. They've been good to me.

[Erik Manchester]

I had recently posted on another forum that I had found a few vintage paring chisels on the web in the last few years. Of the five chisels shown below, the upper two are Bucks with cranked handles and the lower three are English, I believe old Sorby chisels. The lower three came together for $30 in a midweek auction with poor quality pics. I use them often enough though they are not sharpened to a 20 deg bevel as some might. They have a nice dark patina, but it isn't rust, and hold an edge very well.

http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps4899d7ac.jpg

http://i770.photobucket.com/albums/x...psb26b976a.jpg

[Ryan Baker]

I have some of the Taylors too and like them. (I also have a Sorby. It is OK, but too soft like all Sorby tools.)

Vintage long paring chisels are good if you can find them for a reasonable price. Most of the decent ones I have been seeing lately are overpriced.

[george wilson]

Chris,if you have been using Sorbys for 20 years and are happy,don't sell them!!! We had Sorbys a lot older than that kicking around in Williamsburg,and they were very sift. I had to re harden some of the Sorby lathe chisels to make them keep an edge longer. No telling what kind of steel(what carbon content) they were made from,though. The 19th.C. Sorbys were just fine. I don't know when they started making them too soft.

[Jack Curtis]

My favorite paring chisels are the Tasai, and on occasion, other ultra thin. They are not matched by vintage western versions that I've tried (like Swan, Witherby, Buck, etc.), but Addis carving chisels come real close.