Bench chisels?

[Andrew Hughes]

Where is the current set letting you down?

Ken is in Lewiston Idaho.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I believe the metal in my current chisels is too soft. I tire having to sharpen them so often.

[Jessica de Boer]

If you want Western chisels for a good price and steel that's actually not all that bad for a Western chisels I would recommend these: https://www.fine-tools.com/mhg.html

[Brian Holcombe]

I believe the metal in my current chisels is too soft. I tire having to sharpen them so often.

I can understand that, I have chisels on the other end of the scale. 19th century laminated English maker chisels are common enough and well made. As far as contemporary makers go, I lean strongly toward Japanese.

I’ve user plenty of contemporary western chisels but don’t prefer them, they often combine abrasion resistant steel with billet construction to make a chisel that requires considerable tempering to retain flexibility while also requiring synthetic abrasives and grinders to sharpen them.

Laminated construction allows the best of both worlds, soft enough to handle shock but hard at the edge and able to be sharpened on natural abrasives.

[lowell holmes]

I have a set of Lie Nielsens and also some of these.

https://www.lowes.com/search?searchTerm=wood+chisels

[Tony Wilkins]

If you want Western chisels for a good price and steel that's actually not all that bad for a Western chisels I would recommend these: https://www.fine-tools.com/mhg.html

Just to point out that those are metric and some want to run an imperial only shop. If it’s not an issue for the op then carry on.

[Warren Mickley]

"I have read the posts in this thread. Some tout chisels I would find unbearable; some denigrate chisels that I have used for professional work. A few have given good advice"

Warren, let's hear which you love and hate. While I take your second point that it depends on skill and technique, but I do respect your perspective for calibrating my own.

I inherited my first 19th Century English chisel in 1975, but it is only in the last ten years that I have gone to all 19th c English. They sharpen very easily, have a very fine edge, and last a long time with good sharpness. I don't like stainless steel or semi stainless.

[Jessica de Boer]

Imperial makes no sense so it's better to switch :P

[Tony Wilkins]

Imperial makes no sense so it's better to switch :P

I’m American so you’ll have to rip my feet out of my cold dead hands lol

[Jim Koepke]

Just to point out that those are metric and some want to run an imperial only shop. If it’s not an issue for the op then carry on.

+1 on the metric issue.

It would have been less of an issue for workers still using wood cut to imperial sizes if the sets had 9 & 18mm sizes instead of 10 & 20mm. Though this may be more important for folks working with softwoods than hardwoods.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

Imperial makes no sense so it's better to switch :P

If you are willing to pay the cost of changing every chisel, drill bit, plane blade and ruler in my shop over to metric, then it would make sense to switch. Until then my tools will remain as the are an eclectic mix of three different systems of measurement designations.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

I believe the metal in my current chisels is too soft. I tire having to sharpen them so often.

In that case, my recommendation would by the Veritas Chisels made with PM-v11. My only tool with a PM-v11 blade is a spokeshave. It is amazing at how much longer it goes between sharpening than any of my other spokeshave blades. It also appears to be more chip resistant than my main A1 blade. The chipping on the A1 maybe due more to its use almost exclusively for shooting. It is also honed to 25º without a secondary bevel.

If you only need a few sizes, then PM-v11 may be the way to go. If you know you will eventually want a full set, may as well step up and get while the getting is good.

jtk

[Jessica de Boer]

I’m American so you’ll have to rip my feet out of my cold dead hands lol

Why would someone chop off you feet and put them in your hands when your dead? Am I not aware of a strange cultural custom in the US?

[Jim Koepke]

Why would someone chop off you feet and put them in your hands when your dead? Am I not aware of a strange cultural custom in the US?

Maybe he was alluding to feet, as in measurement, in a twist on a phrase often heard from firearm advocates.

Probably not a bumper sticker one sees often outside the states.

jtk

[Jason Martin Winnipeg]

Why would someone chop off you feet and put them in your hands when your dead? Am I not aware of a strange cultural custom in the US?

Haha, that was my first thought as well!