Good Carpentry Chisels

[Rich Riddle]

I have read lots of reviews including from Derek concerning fine woodworking chisels and the proper selection. I am wondering what is a good carpentry chisel. I am starting to do far more work in carpentry and don't want to destroy expensive woodworking chisels to frame houses and such. Thanks.

[mark kosse]

Then a set of Stanley 60's or older professionals are in order. You can beat the crap out of them.

[Tom M King]

Blue handled Marples, and some old Stanley no. 40's (black plastic handles with metal caps) are my every day chisels. But these days, I use Wood is Good mallets for them doing carpentry work, instead of hitting them with a hammer.

[Ray Selinger]

It doesn't much matter. The old Stanley #60 were the firms most expensive chisel when they were introduced, that includes the 750,720s. I found the Buck Bro #60 clones not as good as the Fuller's Taiwanese made #60 clones.

[Brent Cutshall]

Ok,y'all don't laugh, but I use Buck Bros. chisels from Home Depot. They cut really good, plus I can respect that they still sell stuff. Oh, speaking of, did y'all know that Disston and Simonds still sells tools! KEEP ON KICKING DISSTON! I just figured it out the other day, it almost brought tears to my eyes. Don't laugh at that either.

[Rob Luter]

I have a set of Blue Handled Irwin/Marples I bought while they were still made in England. I use them for "rough work". They're not very refined, but they hold an edge very well and the plastic handles can take a heck of a beating.

[Bill Houghton]

Then a set of Stanley 60's or older professionals are in order. You can beat the crap out of them.

Yes on the 60s. They hold an edge for an amazingly long time under the stresses of carpentry work, and the steel cap on the older ones means you can use a hammer on them (don't use a waffle-face hammer on them!). If you go to garage sales, you can probably find them moderately easily; I generally pay about $1 for the ones I find.

And, although this was not part of your question, the two sizes I use the most for carpentry are 1/2" and 3/4". 1/4" less often.

[Jim Koepke]

I have read lots of reviews including from Derek concerning fine woodworking chisels and the proper selection. I am wondering what is a good carpentry chisel. I am starting to do far more work in carpentry and don't want to destroy expensive woodworking chisels to frame houses and such. Thanks.

As in other pursuits it all depends on what you plan on doing with these chisels.

The Stanley Everlasting chisels might be a good all around choice. They have a steel cap for striking and a solid core of metal from the cap to the chisel.

If you are hanging a lot of doors you may want something like a 1-1/4" butt chisel. Smaller for cabinet doors.

If you will be making 'pockets' or dados to hang a 2X4 you may want a 1-1/2" long firmer chisel.

What types of work be done using a chisel?

jtk

[Stew Denton]

Hi Rich,

Back in the day, I used Stanley Handyman chisels for carpentry. They were definitely a notch below the Stanley #60 chisels, but the #60s were too rich for my blood back then, being young guy working for an established carpenter, BUT, I sure looked at them in the lumber yards.

The #60s, as mentioned were better than the chisels I used, and some of the carpenters up the food chain from me used them. A few times I beat the tar out of the Stanley Handyman chisels I had, and they stood up to it fairly well. Well, I do have to say that the handles still have a some dents, but not too bad. Mine didn't even have the steel caps on the end of the chisel handle, like the 60s did.

If the handyman chisels put up with what I did to them, then you know that the chisels that Stanley had specifically designed to take that type of beating were great.

Believe it or not, 45 years later I still have my same two Stanley Handyman chisels, a 1/2" and a 1&1/4." I still use them, and they are in pretty good shape. Now, I did not DELIBERATELY abuse them, and I did take care of them to protect them from rust, etc. The fact is, however, that the work I had to use them for could be tough at times.

Back then, I wished that I had a 1/4" chisel, but all I had was a 1/2" and a 1&1/4". If I was limited to just two chisels for carpentry, now that I know a bit more than I did as a young fellow, I would buy the same two I had, the 1/2" and the 1&1/4", but the 3rd would be the 1/4". If I had carried 4 chisels, the 4th would have been a 3/4".

You use the 1/2 inch a lot for the tighter spots and to trim and pare things to fit, and the bigger size is nice when you mortise out for door hinges, and such tasks. Even for those tasks, the 1/2" comes in handy at times. It is not ideal to use the same chisel for both paring and as a firmer chisel, but I had no other options. In the ideal world it would have been nice to have both types, the paring chisel with a lower sharpening angle than the firmer.

Now that I have gotten older, and have a spare dollar once in a while, I have finally bought a few of the Stanley #60s that I wanted so many years ago. Some of the ones I have look like they have been around quite a while and done a lot of work, but some look hardly used. The ones I have sharpened have taken pretty good edges.

One more thought, as much as I have said about the Stanley Handyman chisels, don't buy them, the #60s are worth the extra money. My 1/2 inch Handyman has a slight twist to the handle now, and I don't think the #60 would have developed such, but don't know with certainty. From what I have seen, you won't pay any more for a #60 at a garage sale then for the Handyman, and a similar price structure may be on Ebay as well, but I don't know.

You can buy #60s on Ebay for reasonable amounts if: 1. you buy a group of 3 or more so that the shipping is spread over a few chisels, and 2. you buy ones that are easily slicked up with some Scotch Brite pads, #320 aluminum oxide paper, and some metal polish and past wax. As with everything else, If you buy one that someone else has already polished up, or one which is unused, you will normally pay a bit more for it.

As in one of the above posts, if you find one at a garage sale, you probably can buy it a bunch cheaper than you can on Ebay.

Stew

[Prashun Patel]

My marples chisels from home depot are great. Metal ends and rubber handles. They take a beating and an edge very well.

[Rich Riddle]

Are the #60 chisels the ones with yellow plastic handles?

[Stew Denton]

Rich,

The #60s varied some, but the ones that I see most by far, are kind of a brownish or amberish yellow. They are not a pure bright yellow. They also have a steel cap on the end of the handle, which is why that can be used with a metal carpenters hammer. Finally, the tapered part of the handle which is just above the blade is typically painted black. After a few years of use, however, the black paint can come off leaving the handle mostly the amberish yellow color.

I am pretty sure that I have also seen some that were completely jet black.

I would bet if you type in "Stanley 60 Chisel" on a certain auction site you can find a lot of them to see what they look like.

Stew

[Mike Holbrook]

Barr Tools has been hand forging tools for carpenters and timber framers for many years. You want hear as much about them, but there are guys, particularly in your line of work, who swear by them.They make nice chair making and other tools too.

[Brian Ashton]

Hi Rich,

Back in the day, I used Stanley Handyman chisels for carpentry. They were definitely a notch below the Stanley #60 chisels,

Stew

I've had a set of stanley handyman chisels since the mid 80s and they're quite good. I bought them so I didn't damage my good ones, Ashley Isles, but have found they have just as good steel. They're quite a bit shorter and that actually has a lot of benefit.

[lowell holmes]

I've used most of the selections already mentioned, but for rough use, I find the Stanley 60's are my favorites. They hold an edge and the metal cap is solid.

They also do quite well excavating a knife wall or paring.