Chisels and sharpening stone and...

[Adam Cruea]

I have the Stanley Sweethearts, and my father gifted me his LN chisels.

The difference is the LNs are heavy, yet balanced. The Stanleys are light, and decently balanced. I went with the 8 piece Stanley for my starter set, and if I had to do it again I'd probably get their 5 pc (or is it 4?) and an individual 1/8th chisel.

As for sharpening stones, that's a fight everyone has a dog in. After much time here and some nasty knock-down-drag-out fights, I've seen many gravitate toward Shaptons, Sigmas, or Arkansas as a general rule and they will get you very good sharpening. That said, if money is tight, you can even get a decent edge with something like Nortons.

Like David E said, I buy quality when I can (which, thanks to the career in IT is often) instead of buying cheap. Cheap will get you frustrated quickly in this hobby; moderate pricing will get you happy and engrossed. High end will make you forget your significant other, children, and job, so be careful there. :-P

Whatever you get, make sure there's a good, lifetime warranty on the tool. I'm not sure of Narex, but I can tell you the Sweethearts have a lifetime limited warranty (basically, don't use it for a pry bar and you'll get it replaced), and anything Lie-Neilsen has a lifetime warranty that short of melting down the metal LN will uphold.

And FYI, if you think this is flip flopping, wait until you get further into the hobby. There's a reason most of us have more tools than most hardware stores.

You might also want to check out Lee Valley's offerings. They're a spot-on company that stands behind their product as well.

[lowell holmes]

I'd like to speak up in defense of the usefulness of having at least one wide chisel, as wide as you can find. When truing up a shoulder, paring off a peg flush with a surface, adjusting a fitting surface- that sort of thing- having the chisel wider than the workpiece helps me maintain registration.

Plus they look really cool in the chisel drawer....

I agree, I have one that is a full 2" wide. I don't use it often, but when I need it is razor sharp.

[lowell holmes]

I use the Narex chisels. I got a few of them from the Lee Valley website a few months back. They are decent overall for the price. I will say however, that they were an absolute nightmare to flatten. It took me way more effort than I was expecting to get them into a state that I was happy with. Some of them were better than others, but all required a healthy dose of elbow grease to get the backs flat.

I have some Narex mortise chisels that are good chisels. I also have some LN mortise chisels. The two sets give me all the sizes I need.

[Stew Denton]

Kevin,

No comment on chisels, as the guys above are more expert than I am, as my chisels are almost all Stanley chisels from the 1960s and 1970s and I use them. Most of my chisel work has been carpentry related, and I use them for firmer chisel work, but I do use some for paring work by sharpening them at a lower angle, and if sharp they work fine for that, but I am slowly adding a few true paring chisels. The old Stanley 60s work fine with a claw hammer, and were designed for that. Carpenters always have a hammer with you on the job, and the Stanley 60s were designed for carpentry use with steel headed hammers, and they can take a beating.

I do have a few vintage socket chisels of various makers, and one Stanley Sweeheart simply because I had trouble finding a vintage 1/8th" socket chisel in the needed size. The vintage ones I have I bought for paring, and they have a longer and thinner blade than the Stanley 60s, which are butt firmer chisels.

My main comment is to go with what George mentioned, at least I think that was his intent, which is get a wooden mallet if you go with wooden handled chisels. Do not use a hammer with a steel head on a chisel with a wooden handle chisel if you want the handle to last. That is if you use those chisels for firmer chisel work.

Stew