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Thread: Anyone try out the Chestnut perfect pattern chisels at Lee Valley?

  1. #1

    Anyone try out the Chestnut perfect pattern chisels at Lee Valley?

    I've been looking for a nice, cheap chisel that feels good in the hand.

    Has anyone tried the Perfect Pattern Handled Chisels from Lee Valley?

  2. #2
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    There was a recent thread about these, but nobody had yet tried them.

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-style-chisels

    My desire for inexpensive chisels that feel good in the hand was fulfilled by making my own handles for used socket chisels.

    Another choice might be found at craftsmanstudio.com. They have some Buck Brothers chisels made in Milbury, Massachusetts.

    My accumulation of chisels includes a few Buck Brothers chisels and they are my go to chisels for many tasks. My preference is for socket chisels if the choice is mine.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  3. #3
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    I got a couple of the Bucks from Craftsman Studio to try out and they are great for the money. So are Narex, with Narex also having a premium line that is dirt cheap (Highland Hardware). For a few more bucks, you have Ashley Iles, which are good. With all of the above, I modified the handles. A few, I put "London" pattern handles on (Lee Valley and The Best Things, but then I learned how simple it is to make your own). With chisels with blades small enough to fit in the bore of my lathe, I simply turned the handles to suit my hands.

    I want to mention that many chisels need work to fit in your hands. What feels comfortable to one person is terrible to the next. Personally, I like the AI "round back" and "butt chisels", as they fit my hands nicely, without alteration. Also the new LV PM material chisels do.
    If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.

  4. #4
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    For the money I think the Narex bevel edged chisels would be a wiser purchase. For $2 less than the Perfect set, you could have a set of four (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1/1) and then add a 2inch.
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs View Post
    For the money I think the Narex bevel edged chisels would be a wiser purchase. For $2 less than the Perfect set, you could have a set of four (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1/1) and then add a 2inch.
    The perfect pattern chisels come with 5 in the set.

    The extra chisel is described as a 3/8" or 8mm.

    Anyone who has worked with wrenches much will know that 8mm is more like a 5/16".

    There really isn't a standard metric size conversion for 3/8".

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    The extra chisel is described as a 3/8" or 8mm.

    There really isn't a standard metric size conversion for 3/8".
    Yes that is odd. I've always visualised 3/8ths as 9.5mm which is pretty accurate.

    I have a set of Bahco chisels where 18mm is referenced as 3/4". It's quite disturbing.
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

  7. Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    The perfect pattern chisels come with 5 in the set.

    The extra chisel is described as a 3/8" or 8mm.

    Anyone who has worked with wrenches much will know that 8mm is more like a 5/16".

    There really isn't a standard metric size conversion for 3/8".

    jtk
    Wishing, again, that there was a 'reply to all' feature:

    For woodworking, why would there need to be any sort of equivalency between the two systems? Joints are made to fit the chisels you have. If a 1mm rounding difference or less is affecting how you work then there is a fundamental misunderstanding of how joints are sized and made.

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    I have a set of Bahco chisels where 18mm is referenced as 3/4". It's quite disturbing.
    My Sandvik, now known as Bahco, chisel marked 1/2" is also marked 12mm if my memory is working.

    A lot of my joints are made with 1X construction lumber that measures at 3/4". Nice to have chisels that mate up with the wood being worked.

    Among my inch denominated chisels there is some variance. Working with what I have is fine. I have seen chisels marked 18, 19 & 20mm also marked as 3/4". The size is not the problem, the problem is the makers do not know how to convert sizes from metric to inches. What kind of faith should we have in the abilities of those makers who can not even look it up on a chart?

    Maybe instead of lambasting us you could enlighten us.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Maybe instead of lambasting us you could enlighten us.
    Is this directed at me?
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

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    Nope, I think that was directed at the Resident Griper, aka Chuckie Stanford....

    Seem to recall a Soviet era machine gun the was supposed to match our 50cal one. It was 12.7 mm , whereas Ma Duece was at .50 inch, or just 1/2" .

    now, work out the fact that a .30 is also known as a 7.62mm? So, what would a 38 cal be in mm?
    Last edited by steven c newman; 08-04-2013 at 11:06 AM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs View Post
    Is this directed at me?
    No, you were not doing any lambasting.


    Quote Originally Posted by steven c newman View Post
    Nope, I think that was directed at the Resident Griper, aka Chuckie Stanford....
    That is what I am talking about... Chuckie the local lambaster, quick with the put downs yet never seeming to offer inspirational guidance from his self proclaimed superior to the point of condescending knowledge.

    Quote Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs View Post
    now, work out the fact that a .30 is also known as a 7.62mm? So, what would a 38 cal be in mm?
    A .357 is 9.067mm a 38 cal is 9.652, easy to find on the internet.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  12. #12
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    We talked chisel sizes recently:

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...-chisel-sizes/

    Charlie might have been a bit brusque, but I'm onboard with what he's saying, if not how he's saying it. If I'm doing dovetails, or most joinery, really, I really don't care what size the chisel is, as long as the joint proportion looks right. I size the joints to the tools I have. For dovetails, I size the base of the cut a hair wider than the chisel I'd like to use.

    The only time I really get worked up about tool size is when matching two tools, the primary example being making frame-and-panel doors; having a mortise chisel and a plough iron that match makes that task easier - the plowed groove helps guide the mortise chisel. But again - I don't care so much the size, just that both are the same.

    If you drill your mortises, I suppose exact sizes, matching the drill bit might be helpful; a quarter inch chisel to follow a quarter inch bit. But I only really drill to start a mortise when I'm working quite large mortises, in which case it's less of an issue, as I'm probably working with a smaller chisel than the mortise at that size. (I.E., Even just squaring up a hole, I'm often not chopping 3/4")

    I guess I posted all this before:

    The only time I worry about the exact size of a tool is when I'm "slaving" them to each other - if I'm making a frame and panel door, I don't really care if my 1/4" mortise chisel is really a quarter inch, just that's it's an appropriate size for the stock I'm mortising, and that it's the same size as the plow iron I'm using to groove the rails and stiles. The quarter inch chisel I use for a lot of dovetails I'm sure isn't spot-on, but the size looks right where I'm using it.

    Outside of matching tools to each other, the only time I could see being overly concerned about the size of my tools was if I was trimming a dado or something to fit another piece of wood - except I don't often thickness my wood to perfect dimensions, and the sheet goods or surfaced boards I use aren't really spot-on size anyway. For something like a dadoed shelf, I find it easier to make a slightly undersized female joint, and then rabbet the mating piece with my fillester to fit. Although I have ground down an extra plow blade to better fit some ply I was using for door panels.

    Am I missing an occasion where precise sizing of the tools and the metric/imperial difference really matters for hand-tool work? As long as my sizes match each other where needed, and complement each other as a set of sizes, I'm not finding a real reason to be overly stuffy about the difference between metric and imperial marked tools.
    It may just be the work I'm doing; but I haven't found a lot of instances where having an exact size of tool has been important to me. In fact, I don't even know what size a lot of my chisels are.

    I have found having two chisels almost the same size, one just a smidge wider than the other to be helpful in a few cases - things like taking the smaller tool to chop out the waste of a dovetail, and then the slightly wider one to pare out the last cut to the baseline.

    Charlie's "Joints are made to fit the chisels you have" line has really been the bottom line for me for a lot of what I do. Not to say that there aren't instances where having an exactly sized tool matters, but I haven't found them in the type of work I've done.
    " Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice

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    Quote Originally Posted by Joshua Pierce View Post
    Charlie might have been a bit brusque, but I'm onboard with what he's saying, if not how he's saying it.
    Hilton and I mentioned the error of equivalency between the metric to inch sizes, not whether or not we could use those sizes in our work. Charlie not only seemed "a bit brusque," he also seemed in a hurry to belittle people who know how to size a joint to their tools for not knowing what they were doing.

    If there wasn't already some 5/16" chisels in my accumulation an 8mm might be on my wish list.

    My first comment was:

    The extra chisel is described as a 3/8" or 8mm.

    Anyone who has worked with wrenches much will know that 8mm is more like a 5/16".

    There really isn't a standard metric size conversion for 3/8".
    Hilton replied:

    Yes that is odd. I've always visualised 3/8ths as 9.5mm which is pretty accurate.

    I have a set of Bahco chisels where 18mm is referenced as 3/4". It's quite disturbing.
    What is disturbing to me in this (Can't speak for Hilton) is 3/4" and 19mm are pretty much international standard sizes for automotive lug nuts.

    My next reply:

    My Sandvik, now known as Bahco, chisel marked 1/2" is also marked 12mm if my memory is working.
    There was no mention of this affecting one's work.

    Quote Originally Posted by Joshua Pierce View Post
    The only time I really get worked up about tool size is when matching two tools
    This is where the importance of accuracy in tool size marking comes in. If I needed to match a 3/4" plow blade, an 18 or 20mm chisel would not do. A chisel listed at 19mm might appeal to me.

    Just like auger bits for dowelling, there are a few different ones in my accumulation for use with oversized dowels, There are also skinny and fat chisels among the chisels of nominal sizing.

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 08-05-2013 at 11:14 PM.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  14. #14
    Thanks for the heads up on the Bucks. They look nice.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Lau View Post
    Thanks for the heads up on the Bucks. They look nice.
    I can not speak for the quality of the Buck Brothers chisels offered at Craftsmanstudio, but of all my chisels my Buck Bros are my favorites.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

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