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Thread: Reasonably priced chisels?

  1. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by glenn bradley View Post
    I have had excellent service from my standard Lee Valley bevel edge chisels.
    +1 on these. I bought just one to try them out at first then ended up filling out the set

  2. #17
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    Mar 2016
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    Narex chisels are pretty good, and come with nice (wooden) handles. I used those for the longest time and never found myself wanting / needing anything more. They seem to hold up to mortising too, as long as you don't do anything foolish like prying waste with the bevel side (rather than back).

  3. #18
    I was looking at the same price range as the OP. I settled on the Narex Classic Bevel Edge chisels that Lee Valley sells in imperial measurements http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67707 . I chose them because I wanted tanged over socket, wood over plastic, I have NBA size hands and need a decently sized handle for paring tasks, and Narex have a reputation of being of a quality above their price-point. I've been very happy with them and thus far have had zero desire to get anything nicer. I will say though, the downside is they are not the most attractive chisels which may or may not matter to you.

  4. #19
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    They sell good chisels at Home Depot and at Lowes.

  5. #20
    I’m a noob and got caught up a bit in thinking I needed the best tools. Then I realized I’m probably too new to even appreciate the difference between moderate functional and high end. So I bought a set of stanly 750. I’m just prepping them now. Backs are a bit inconsistent. Exactly the same as the issues Chris Schwarz reported in a PW article. But they will work fine after I get them set up I think.

  6. #21
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    IMO, all bevel edge chisels should be lapped on the backs while sharpening.

  7. #22
    Hi Brandon, here is a recent thread on low end vs high end chisels from a non-scientific compare I recently did. Link

    YMMV.

    Fred
    Last edited by Frederick Skelly; 07-14-2018 at 9:59 AM.
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  8. #23
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    If you like sharpening, just score a set of the Aldi chisels. They are all you need to make whatever you want, and you'll enjoy getting and keeping them razor sharp.

  9. #24
    Hey Brandon,

    A few questions:
    1. What are you most comfotable with?
    2. Hand use or Mallet?
    3. What type of woodworking?
    4. Do you like tough and gummy steel (German) or sharp and brittle (Japanese)?
    6. What type of woods?
    5. What do you like the look/feel of most?

    I'd encourage you to buy just 1 or 2 chisels that you have your heart set on.
    Gradually add to it.

    On my shortlist (I'm a Japanese tool lover): Stan's "economy" chisels, Stu's Koyama chisels (white steel), Ashley Iles...maybe Stanley Sweethearts.

    For good and cheap, anything from Lee Valley or Highland Hardware should be really good.

  10. #25
    Join Date
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    Hands down the Narex chisels are the best bargain and quality I've ever bought.

    Recommended.

    Happy chips mon!

  11. #26
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
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    I've been reading along and telling myself to stay out of this, it's mostly personal preference and mine will be different than OP's. But, I can't seem to resist....

    One thing I don't see ask is how the OP intends to sharpen. A good basic carbon steel, (vintage, O1, many cheapies), will sharpen with most stones/systems. A few of the more exotic steels, while much better in some ways, can be frustrating without specific sharpening tools. With the cheapie mystery steel chisels you can occasionally find some that also don't sharpen easily. Another thing to consider at the lower price points is inconsistency in the heat-treat & tempering can make individual samples sharpen & perform much differently than than typical.

    Narex is gets consistent recommendations as a value choice. Ashley Illes, Woodriver socket chisels, and *good* examples of vintage chisels have all been recommended as a way to get better for not much more. Of course, you do get more fit, finish, & technology with Blue Spruce, Lie-Nielsen, Veritas PMV-11, etc. if that's what you prefer.

    But really it's all about budget & personal preference, so the advice to get one or two that look good and see how they actually work for you is key.

  12. #27
    There hasn't been much comment about vintage American chisels, which can be a good value and superior quality to anything that is available new for under $30. per chisel. You have to be willing to do some rehabbing and possibly turn some new handles, but that can be very satisfying as part of the craft.

    I'll go out on a limb regarding new chisels and say I wouldn't buy any chisel at any price that wasn't ground in a profile that aids in the cutting of dovetails. The Lie-Nielsen chisels come to mind. They have that deep chamfer on the sides of the blade that come almost to a knife edge. This grind really aids in paring of the corners dovetails and once you use them this way any other profile seems like a compromise. Perhaps some of the posters here can identify which brands are similar in profile. Woodcraft sells a couple of brands that may meet this standard, but I have no idea how good those chisels might be in edge holding. The ones I saw were by WoodRiver and Pfeil.

    The suggestion above that says to buy just one chisel from a brand to try is a good one. I did this with the Stanley 750's and never bought another one.

  13. Quote Originally Posted by David Eisenhauer View Post
    snip.... Decent chisels should re sell at not much of a price drop as cheaper/less quality chisels will .....snip

    I see this said a lot. If it's true you should be able to find plenty of barely used but prepped and flattened chisels abandoned along the upgrade path by users with deeper pockets than yours and at a bit of a discount from new.

  14. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Brady View Post
    I'll go out on a limb regarding new chisels and say I wouldn't buy any chisel at any price that wasn't ground in a profile that aids in the cutting of dovetails. The Lie-Nielsen chisels come to mind. They have that deep chamfer on the sides of the blade that come almost to a knife edge. This grind really aids in paring of the corners dovetails and once you use them this way any other profile seems like a compromise. Perhaps some of the posters here can identify which brands are similar in profile.
    The Ashley Iles "American Pattern" chisels are very good for this. They require more work than the L-N etc to get started with (backs are very rough,) but they excel at getting into dovetail corners (better than the L-N's IMO, unless we're talking about the L-N fishtails, which I find slightly annoying to sharpen whether by hand or by machine.)

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Brady View Post
    I'll go out on a limb regarding new chisels and say I wouldn't buy any chisel at any price that wasn't ground in a profile that aids in the cutting of dovetails. The Lie-Nielsen chisels come to mind. They have that deep chamfer on the sides of the blade that come almost to a knife edge. This grind really aids in paring of the corners dovetails and once you use them this way any other profile seems like a compromise. Perhaps some of the posters here can identify which brands are similar in profile. Woodcraft sells a couple of brands that may meet this standard, but I have no idea how good those chisels might be in edge holding. The ones I saw were by WoodRiver and Pfeil.
    I find that I only really like the dovetail profile in a couple of sizes, 1/4" and 3/8" or metric equivalents. I use these for chopping the baseline for pin sockets, when the pins are very narrow which is my usual preference. If the base of the pin is wider, then any sort of chisel can work, it just needs to be a bit narrower than the baseline so that you can skew to clean the corners.

    I don't think I'd want knife edge lands on my other chisels- I can't recall needing them, it makes the corners of the edge more fragile, and if they are truly knife edge then they can be treacherous to hold (I have to wrap my left index finger in tape to protect it from the lands on my dovetail chisels when paring). So my set of bench chisels have fairly heavy lands, and then I have two "specialty" chisels for pin sockets. Mine are Koyamaichi with a triangular profile, but any western chisel could be ground down (only the last 1/2" or so really needs to be).

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