Chisel Selection

[Clint Schlosser]

I am an amateur woodworker and I am begining to learn the joys of working with hand tools. I just sharpened my Lie Neilsen low angle smoothing plane and I now know why it cost so much. What I want to know is some thoughts on chisel selections. I read the 2009 tool guide and there were lots of good things to say about the grizzly japanese hand chisels. I currently have the standard Irwin blue chisel set but they are not "cutting" it. I would like to do some mortise work for sure maybe some hand cut dovetails. What does everyone else recommend?

[Brian Kent]

For Mortises: Ray Iles

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/M...gory_Code=TBMC

I am satisfied with my Two Cherries bench chisels, but a lot of people more experienced than me say there are better chisels out there.

[Mike Henderson]

Chisels can be expensive. For doing mortises, you can drill out the mortise and then clean it up with regular bench chisels - so you could start with a good set of bench chisels. Most woodworkers don't do mortises that often, so a set of mortise chisels can wait until later.

The question of western chisels or Japanese chisels is mostly one of preference but I would generally recommend you start with western chisels. The Grizzly chisels are about $100 so I assume that's what you're looking to spend on a set.

You also don't need special dovetail chisels to start - regular bench chisels will work fine.

I have a number of sets of chisels but it's hard for me to make a recommendation. Lee Valley has the Hirsch set for a bit over $100. Other people speak highly of the Ashley Iles chisels. You can also get good older chisels on eBay, such as Swan and Witherby.

I'm sure other people will offer additional suggestions.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

Clint,
if 20 people offer answers to your question, there will likely be at least 15 different opinions. That is all any of us can offer is our opinion based on what has worked best for ourselves.

My chisel accumulation started with some Sandvick chisels. There name has since changed to Bocho, iirc.

Eventually, my attention turned to that great auction site we all know and either love, hate or somewhere in between. Buying groups of chisels and my brother buying groups of chisels has given me a rather large collection that one could consider to have a few holes left to fill. Others might think that there are to many and it is time to thin the herd.

My preference is for the older Buck (Brothers or Charles) and Witherby socket chisels. As Mike says, the Swan chisels are also a quality tool. There are only two of these in my accumulation so far. I also like Some of the Stanley chisels, however, they tend to also be loved by everyone else which causes them to cost a touch more.

For light mortising, most chisels will do OK, but the lighter chisels may not stand up to the wear and pounding. Getting a good mortise chisel is recommended and others will have to give opinions on that. Being the frugal type, read cheap, mine came from an auction and did not cost much. They both needed new handles. This is often the case with a mortise chisel as they do get beaten a bit. Mine are a little ragged at about 200 years old, but they still can do the job. It is better to spend a little more and get a good modern day chisel if you do not want to wait and loose a lot of bids to save money. It took me over a year of trying, but being retired, hurry is not something I do any more. Heck, didn't do it much before retirement. There is a very true saying that going slow can get one where they are going faster. Too many mistakes are made when one is in a hurry. Of course, going slow is not to be confused with dragging along.

For dovetails, paring chisels are often chosen. Some like skewed dovetail chisels. These have the cutting edge at an angle and come in pairs. Other folks like a fish tail chisel.

Lie-Nelsen has a page of videos with one on using a fishtail chisel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LieNielsen

Some folks seem to be able to get it all done with just regular paring chisels. Then the preference comes down to whether you like to use short chisels or long. My preference is for the longer. That does not mean short chisels are wrong. I only have a few short chisels, but they are my favorites for certain jobs. My preference is for socket chisels, others like tanged chisels. The world goes round because of things like this.

There has been a lot of discussion here about chisels in the past and it is all available via a search. Here are a few good places to start:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=13734
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...18301#poststop
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=59018

Another thing to consider is how the chisel feels in your hands. There has been a lot of discussion on that. No problem for me now that there is a lathe in my shop. Many others also make their own handles to get them to fit their hands comfortably.

If possible, get to stores that carry chisels like Woodcraft and handle the different makers wares.

Your profile does not show a location, if you live near another member, perhaps they would be willing to let you give theirs a test drive.

One thing you will have to learn if you do not already have the skill is how to sharpen your chisels. That is another whole can of worms full of hand sharpening and power sharpening fans. There is also the great decision between water stones, oil stones, diamond stones, ceramic stones or just sand paper adhered to a known flat surface. They all work, but they all work a little different.

In my opinion, one can not have too many chisels.

Hopefully you are not too confused by my answer.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

Forgot to mention, Fine Woodworking magazine did an article not too long back comparing a lot of the modern chisels. You may be able to pick up the copy at a local library.

At their web site, a search on > chisel review < brings up the article:

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworki....aspx?id=31061

You can sign up for two weeks free. There are a lot of other articles about chisels that may be worth reading.

good luck,

jim

[John Keeton]

As a relatively new entrant (and I've only stuck my toes in to test the water) in the neander world, my decisions have been based on my prior usage, my intended future usage, and for the most part, on the accumulation of thoughts gleaned from SMC.

While I enjoy the searching and buying of tools, I seem to be the opposite of most here - I don't like accumulation. In fact, it really gets to me at times if I have tools not being used. So, it wouldn't work for me to buy dozens of chisels - and use only 6-8 of them 98% of the time. I would feel like I needed to cash those in to buy more toys

On that history, I have ended up with a good set of bench chisels (Pfeil) which seem to do most things well, a set of Blue Spruce dovetail chisels, )which I just received, need to hone, and have not used but am anxious to do so!), and a $22 set of Narex chisels for those times that I just don't want to risk damaging the edge of my good chisels. I also agree sharpening skills should come very soon after the first purchase - you are already there with the LN plane.

In addition, I have a couple of cheap Grizzly mortice chisels that I have had for several years. They work fine for the rare mortise cuts that I need to do. I agree with Mike Henderson on the drilling out and cleaning up of mortices. I also have a bench mortising machine that I use rarely.

So, my advice is to buy a good bench set first, then a cheap bench set, and then fill in as your needs expand or evolve. There are some LNs being sold on the auction site - you may be lucky and "win" a set. It still amazes me that they have been able to market that concept! When I win at the track - they pay me!!

[Dave Spaeder]

The advice here so far has been -- as usual around here -- excellent. I would only add that it's probably not a bad idea to leave yourself room to grow. If you absolutely need a set of chisels, I'd start with a cheap one like the Narex. They're pretty good all-around chisels, and they don't cost much at all. What I've found in use is that I tend to pick up the same sizes over and over (in my case, the smaller ones like 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2") while the larger ones are almost always idle. There may be many good reasons for using a larger chisel, but I just don't tend to do it. Once you know what you use most, you can target your upgrades to those sizes you use most. You'll also have a better idea of what characteristics you want in your chisels. It's taken me a long time to realize I don't like my Hirsch chisels as much as I thought I did.

It's even easier with mortise chisels. You probably only need one. Just get a good one in the size you make most of your mortises.

[David Keller NC]

Clint - Do a search on this forum for "Chisels" and you'll find more threads than you can handle. It's worth doing this, both so that you can totally confuse yourself with 8 billion conflicting opinions (or just keep reading this thread as it grows - you'll get a similar mix of conflicting opinions), and perhaps put together a "majority rules" recommendation on inexpensive, moderately expensive, and top-end brands.

What Mike said is absolutely correct. Never mind the brand, you want to get chisels by type. Bench chisels will allow you to do dovetails, paring, and trimming jobs - they are the most versatile in the shop. The exception is mortising - for this task, and assuming you want to do it in the traditional manner, a chisel in the form of a mortise chisel is required. Otherwise, you can indeed drill out the waste and use a bench chisel to pare the sidewalls, though it will not be as accurate as when cut solely with a mortise chisel.

Since you've already got a cheap set and find it lacking, I'm going to assume you'd like something better (probably with nicer handles and better edge retention). One aspect of this is re-sale value. Chisels, more than almost any other tool, doesn't have a "best" consensus - it depends largely on personal preference within the cost categories I mentioned. So if you purchase a set and don't like them, being able to re-sell them and get most of your money back is a consideration. Among new tools, Lie-Nielsen is by far and away the champion in this regard. On fleabay, you're almost guaranteed to get 80% of the purchase price back, even in this mediocre economy.

Among antique varieties, sets (true sets) of older Stanely Everlasting chisels, Swan, Witherby, Berg Eskiltuna, and pre-WWII Buck chisels will hold their value extremely well.

Finally, and this is just by personal experience, if you would like a set of new chisels in the medium high-end price range that have flawless machining, excellent geometry, and most important of all, incredible edge retention, you may wish to consider the Blue Spruce Toolworks line - David Jeske has just come out with sets that have bolstered ferrules and nearly indestructible acrylic-impregnated wooden handles, and based on the dovetail and paring chisel sets I have from him, I can say that these chisels nearly equal Japanese laminated chisels in edge retention - they're truly amazing.

[Phillip Pattee]

Clint,
I am one of those guys who has Ashley Iles chisels and is pleased with them. Since you already have a "beater" set, I suggest that you take a good look at the MK2 Ashley Iles bench chisles. Joel at Tools for Working Wood sells them http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/M...egory_Code=CLW. They have cut down the edges considerably to make them better for dovetails. They have flat backs, take and hold a good edge, and now have handles sized better for the specific blade. Any more fill in sizes that I get are going to be these.

[george wilson]

The Narex chisels might be a real good tool for the low price. When I first started teaching,the Stanley Everlasting chisels were advertised as "boy proof",which they were. We used them in the school shop. Now they seem to be worth a fortune.