Return Stanley 750 Chisels?

[John Kananis]

I'm considering grinding and polishing the bevels on mine to flatten them out, really would be a perfect set then.

[george wilson]

If those Stanleys are made of 52100,they ought to be excellent chisels. Especially after several sharpenings. As I mentioned with my pocket knife blade,I used 52100. It was in the form of 1 3/8" balls. Forged but not ground balls for real big bearings. Jon and I bought 2 5 gallon pales of it. Just last week,Jon got his cannon out and shot it several timers. Sounded like a huge pistol. He was only using a 1/2 load of black powder. The balls might reach the speed of sound if he loaded it up higher.

I made the trunnions and screwed them in very snug,using Loctite after all wasperfectly fitted. We wanted to make sure those trunnions would not come out!! Hence the light loads.

To make mu knife blade,I welded a ball onto a 2' long steel handle of 1/2" steel. The balls MUST,MUST,MUST be annealed or they will blow up after being welded in the one spot. I hammered the steel into a long rectangular bar about 3/4" x 1/4" x 12". Enough to make 2 blades,actually. It is a BAD steel to expose to te air when it is real hot. Decarbs freely. If I had it to do again,I'd make the forged billet larger than I did,drill the hole where the blade swivels,and harden the billet,THEN begin grinding it to final shape.

52100 is a simple steel,having only 3% chrome,and a very high carbon content. I
d like it even better if it had NO chrome. Then,it would be pretty much just W1 steel. W1 will take a sharper edge than an of the fancier alloyed steels.

[Tom Stenzel]

A few years ago I bought a new made in England Stanley 78, the iron had a clear coat on it. I would have left it but it caused the iron to slip in use even though I had tightened the screw down as hard as I dare.

I tried acetone, naptha (cigarette lighter fluid), nothing seemed to faze it. Then I tried regular isopropyl alcohol. The coating came off in short order. I don't know what they put on the chisels but you could try it.

Oh, and without the slippery coating the iron now stays put.

-Tom

[Frank Martin]

If those Stanleys are made of 52100,they ought to be excellent chisels. Especially after several sharpenings. As I mentioned with my pocket knife blade,I used 52100. It was in the form of 1 3/8" balls. Forged but not ground balls for real big bearings. Jon and I bought 2 5 gallon pales of it. Just last week,Jon got his cannon out and shot it several timers. Sounded like a huge pistol. He was only using a 1/2 load of black powder. The balls might reach the speed of sound if he loaded it up higher.

I made the trunnions and screwed them in very snug,using Loctite after all wasperfectly fitted. We wanted to make sure those trunnions would not come out!! Hence the light loads.

To make mu knife blade,I welded a ball onto a 2' long steel handle of 1/2" steel. The balls MUST,MUST,MUST be annealed or they will blow up after being welded in the one spot. I hammered the steel into a long rectangular bar about 3/4" x 1/4" x 12". Enough to make 2 blades,actually. It is a BAD steel to expose to te air when it is real hot. Decarbs freely. If I had it to do again,I'd make the forged billet larger than I did,drill the hole where the blade swivels,and harden the billet,THEN begin grinding it to final shape.

52100 is a simple steel,having only 3% chrome,and a very high carbon content. I
d like it even better if it had NO chrome. Then,it would be pretty much just W1 steel. W1 will take a sharper edge than an of the fancier alloyed steels.

This makes me want to try the Stanley chisels. If I do, I will report back with comparison to Veritas chisels. Sounds to me Stanleys may be an excellent value. I absolutely don't expect the finish of Veritas but may be quite sufficient with more frequent sharpening / honing after initial prep.

[lowell holmes]

I bought my Lie Nielsen chisels when they were introduced. I never regretted it. I have both bevel edge and mortise chisels. They are a pleasure to pick up and then use. I'm not one that worries about alloy, I know when a tool pleases me and Lie Nielsens do. I did have to use hairspray on the handles and sockets to keep them from falling off.

[Joe Williams]

I bought my Lie Nielsen chisels when they were introduced. I never regretted it. I have both bevel edge and mortise chisels. They are a pleasure to pick up and then use. I'm not one that worries about alloy, I know when a tool pleases me and Lie Nielsens do. I did have to use hairspray on the handles and sockets to keep them from falling off.

I am with you! First set I ever owned is the full set of LN Bench and then I bought the mortise set. I love socket chisels because you can have paring handles or whatever you want! I do get annoyed at them falling out, I guess it's probably time for hairspray too.

Later though I did end up getting a set of Blue Spruce dovetail chisels and now I would love to have the bench set, the butt set and just about every other set he makes. The Blue Spruce to me are in a class all by themselves. I sometimes wish I had never seen them, I know my wallet does.

[Robert Engel]

I own only 1 750 chisel just to try it. Not impressed with edge retention (neither with my Narex, but they are better than the 750's). But for me, the biggest problem is the handle is WAY too small and the chisel is too light. The side bevels are also pretty high for dovetail work. I use it only rarely.

I have 2 sets of chisels: blue handled Irwins + Narex premium. The Irwins occupy a row in my tool cab because I've found for general use they are very acceptable. They take a LOT of work to get the backs flat, tho.

The other row is a set of Narex premiums. I'm satisfied with them, I like the larger handles my only knock is edge retention.

If I had to do all over again, I would keep the heavy duty Irwins, but instead of the Narex, just go with LN in 1/4, 1/2 and 1" to start and build a set from there.

[lowell holmes]

It is not uncommon to keep a stone on the bench and touch up when needed. It only takes a few seconds. FWIW, I have not experienced that with my Lie Nielsens.

Also, I have a Stanley 16-791 from Lowes that is my nail apron chisel.