Are Chisel Prices About to Plummet?

[Jim Koepke]

Often when Chris Schwarz mentions a fondness for a tool, everyone wants to get one and the prices on ebay seem to escalate.

In a recent writing on his Popular Woodworking blog he mentions getting rid of all his chisels but a few. (The Theory of Chisel Monogamy)

Could it follow that we will be seeing a multitude of chisels soon on ebay from all of his readers emulating his ways?

jtk

[Christian Castillo]

Here's hoping that happens, Jim.

[Sean Hughto]

His piece is sort of silly, for the most part. Even high end chisels are not all that expensive (relative to other woodworking tools and machines) and no chisel is very big (such that eliminating from your chest frees up much space). His post may be useful to the frugal beginner who wants to know whether to buy one or two to start or a set of 6. Other than that, any woodworker who does any variety of work will appreciate having a reasonable set, even if they tend to use one particular size for the majority of operations.

I love chisels. Vintage ones are cheap and excellent. LN sockets are great too as are Blue Spuce's offerings and on and on. Making do is certainly possible, but why would someone who enjoys tools and woodworking deny oneself the pleasures of a variety?

[dan sherman]

I'm a big supporter of Chris's but that post is going to misguide a bunch of people If they take it at face value. Some times I think Chris gets a little carried away, because he loves woodworking and blogging, and i think posts is one of those cases. I think he should have been a little more verbose in saying don't buy more chisels than you need, rather than saying you only need one or two.

O and no way chisel prices are going to fall, the world is still full of collectors looking for wall decorations.

[Jim Koepke]

LN sockets are great too as are Blue Spuce's offerings and on and on.

Wish I could afford a set of each and then some.

O and no way chisel prices are going to fall, the world is still full of collectors looking for wall decorations.

My thought on that is to have sharp ones hanging around for protection against carnivorous animal attacks, the zombie apocalypse or other unwanted intruders.

jtk

[Sam Takeuchi]

I'm a big supporter of Chris's but that post is going to misguide a bunch of people If they take it at face value. Some times I think Chris gets a little carried away, because he loves woodworking and blogging, and i think posts is one of those cases. I think he should have been a little more verbose in saying don't buy more chisels than you need, rather than saying you only need one or two.

I don't see why it's Chris Schwarz who has to watch what he writes. It's more of a problem for the people who doesn't examine the information critically, isn't it? Just like anything else, no one should be blindly following someone else's thoughts and ideas. It's actually bizarre that some people are copying thoughts and trying to behave like someone else without question. That is truly bizarre.

[dan sherman]

I don't see why it's Chris Schwarz who has to watch what he writes. It's more of a problem for the people who doesn't examine the information critically, isn't it? Just like anything else, no one should be blindly following someone else's thoughts and ideas. It's actually bizarre that some people are copying thoughts and trying to behave like someone else without question. That is truly bizarre.

It's not a popular view, but that average human isn't very smart. People will almost blindly believe information given to them by the press, authoritative or well known individuals. Chris is all of these, and writing/teaching is his lively hood. Thus it is in his own best interests to be very mindful of what he writes. It's sad that it has to be that way, but its true for anyone who lives a public life.

[Sam Takeuchi]

See that's the weird thing. I think someone in the position to teach should be ahead, not lowering standards to accommodate the mass, to 'elevate' from the present position. If anything, this one chisel idea of his should have stirred readers' idea about chisels and tools as a whole, to re-think how to approach and use a tool. Outcome of that thought process and what readers concluded is irrelevant as long as they have a conclusion of their own. If readers or "students" can't get much out of a teacher other than to copy, then I think he's a wrong teacher for them. That's what magazines did, isn't it? They basically lowered standards for the mass, ended up as 80 pages of advertisements and product shoot out with products from sponsors, 2 page of letter of editor and 2 pages of something technical that has been written about about 3 times in the past 12 month. And people bemoan the quality and leave subscription to expire. I think same thing can happen to the ones in teaching position too.

[David Weaver]

What do professional woodworkers do? What do they use?

[Jim Koepke]

What do professional woodworkers do? What do they use?

I couldn't tell you about a professional woodworker. For me though, sometimes my work is on a fence post, sometimes on a stump that is being turned into a place to sit along the back trail.

A 1/4" chisel may be fine for dovetails, but my 1-1/4" chisel is faster at making waste of a lap joint on a 2X4.

My 2" chisel and big gouges are better for shaping a tree stump than any 1" chisel.

Framing a chicken coop is not a job for my good chisels nor is cutting dovetails a job for my Everlasting Stanley and friends.

Yes, there are some overlaps but so what?

jtk

[Wade Holloway]

It's not a popular view, but that average human isn't very smart. People will almost blindly believe information given to them by the press, authoritative or well known individuals.

So true, so true, that is why we have actors telling who did not even graduate high school telling us about things like global warming and who we need to vote for president.

[David Weaver]

I couldn't tell you about a professional woodworker.
jtk

Yeah, I'm no professional woodworker, either. I guess sometimes we disregard what they do because it's fun and it feels good to indulge yourself. That's my excuse for the stones, and I guess a lot of chisels.

I sure do wish I could absorb some design ability off of the professionals, though. Even just some basic sense so that I don't build something and then say "ew...not right".

[David Weaver]

So true, so true, that is why we have actors telling who did not even graduate high school telling us about things like global warming and who we need to vote for president.

I don't even like it when they tell us which movies we're supposed to find entertaining.

I recall Tina Fey going on a tirade a while ago (and I don't really have any opinion on her other than to remember her fit, because I don't watch anything she's in) saying that despite the fact that other shows got much better ratings, her show was still much better than all of the shows that beat them, and had better writers and better content and that she was frustrated with viewers because they didn't realize it. I.e., "it's my show and I like it better and I think it's smarter and you should, too". I'll bet a lot of viewers didn't know that they were supposed to ask someone else what they should like and why.

Not that it has anything to do with this topic.

I do maintain (acting aside), that if we're ever questioning what we should do in our shops and we have some ends in mind, we can probably make up our own minds. If we're looking for the best quality of advice becasue we don't have an idea which direction we're going, there is a lot of literature floating around written by professional woodworkers that would have us worrying about elements that affect our work products (selection of wood, tying together design elements, marking accurately, etc) vs. things that don't (what brand of planes we buy, how many chisels we're using and ...look the other way....what sharpening setup we're using).

There is a whole group of us who have picked up hand tools because we saw something online, or because we found some hand tools and then searched online to try to figure out how to use them. Much of that group relies on beginners classes and blogs for information, and that's fine at the outset, but there are also a lot of the same folks who have read mostly or only blogs and some brief magazine articles and who have read little that was written pre-internet by contemporary professionals or professionals not contemporary. It's like spending years training for a sport by eating scoops of sugar. There are not many discussions on here about stuff like "what's a good book for ...." or "what's a good source for ....". Inevitably, we'd turn toward a lot more older more static things to fill our mind with if we got there.

[Chris Hachet]

I couldn't tell you about a professional woodworker. For me though, sometimes my work is on a fence post, sometimes on a stump that is being turned into a place to sit along the back trail.

A 1/4" chisel may be fine for dovetails, but my 1-1/4" chisel is faster at making waste of a lap joint on a 2X4.

My 2" chisel and big gouges are better for shaping a tree stump than any 1" chisel.

Framing a chicken coop is not a job for my good chisels nor is cutting dovetails a job for my Everlasting Stanley and friends.

Yes, there are some overlaps but so what?

jtk

Right now, I am in the process of trying to complete at least 4 sets! I have a complete set of Miefer Spanish chisels that I have used for the last twenty five years, I am completing my set of Lie Nielson socket chisels, I am buying a set of Irwin blue handled cheap chisels just as back ups and for my nastier work, I am completing a set of buck brothers chisels for my really nasty work (I am pulling up carpet tack in my family room with my 2" Buck brothers chisel right now) and I just bought my first Japanese Chisel, and many more Japanese chisels will follow. I have more than 15 chisels and more than 15 Planes....amazingly, I find myself using almost all of them on a fairly regular basis. In my garage I have almost 30 different saws, for cutting everything from dovetails to PVC pipe to tree limbs....and I use almost all of them on a regular basis. It's a good thing I'm not one of those people that crave food the way that I crave tools....I'd weigh 400 lbs!

[Chris Hachet]

I don't even like it when they tell us which movies we're supposed to find entertaining.

I recall Tina Fey going on a tirade a while ago (and I don't really have any opinion on her other than to remember her fit, because I don't watch anything she's in) saying that despite the fact that other shows got much better ratings, her show was still much better than all of the shows that beat them, and had better writers and better content and that she was frustrated with viewers because they didn't realize it. I.e., "it's my show and I like it better and I think it's smarter and you should, too". I'll bet a lot of viewers didn't know that they were supposed to ask someone else what they should like and why.

Not that it has anything to do with this topic.

I do maintain (acting aside), that if we're ever questioning what we should do in our shops and we have some ends in mind, we can probably make up our own minds. If we're looking for the best quality of advice becasue we don't have an idea which direction we're going, there is a lot of literature floating around written by professional woodworkers that would have us worrying about elements that affect our work products (selection of wood, tying together design elements, marking accurately, etc) vs. things that don't (what brand of planes we buy, how many chisels we're using and ...look the other way....what sharpening setup we're using).

Pretty much people would rather argue on the internet than walk into the wood shop and get something done. Personally, I have gotten more out of a commitment to myself that I would try to spend an hour a day working on my woodworking in my shop than almost any internet debate....