FYI - Toms Toolbox - LN 01 Chisels

[Nathan Johnson]

I've a few of the Mk2 bench chisels. The TFWW store sells a dovetail chisel model and the "american pattern" model, I don't have any of those, nor do I plan on getting them.

If we're talking about the Mk2 chisels, I quite like the pattern. In general I prefer chisels with a tang, with an octagonal bolster if possible. I also prefer the handle shape, it's called the "carver's pattern".

On the other hand I do not like socket chisels, mainly because I don't like the feel of the rim of the socket when I'm holding the chisel.

The MKII are great.

[kenneth hatch]

Chisels are personal so what works for one may drive another to howling at the moon. I'm happiest with a Marples chisel with a square tang (quality started going down when they changed to a round tang) and a Boxwood carvers handle. Light with good steel, great balance and wonderful feel in the hand. Only two modern makers that I know of come close to the vintage Marples, Ashley Iles and Sorby. I just wish AI made their chisels with Boxwood handles. Like Rafael, I'm not a fan of socket chisels. They usually have terrible balance and the damn handle and socket are always coming apart. I was cleaning up a couple long, deep mortises for the vise replacement with modern Stanley Sweetheart socket chisels and I was very lucky a couple of times when the chisel without handle missed my toes. BTW the reason I was using the Stanley chisels is they have Boxwood handles, with Boxwood I can use a Japanese hammer for chopping.

As an aside, back in the day socket chisels were carpenter tools, furniture makers used tanged chisels.

ken

[Graham Haydon]

Nicely put Ken.

[Jim Koepke]

would someone explain why they prefer O1 over A2? Personally I never had any issue sharpening A2 steel and from my research it is able to hold an edge better than O1. Is the interest because these O1 chisels are offered in hard to find sizes?

A few reasons for my preference of O1 steel over A2:
- A2 is more likely to chip, especially at lower angles.
- A2 is a bit harder to sharpen and doesn't sharpen well on oilstones.
- O1 seems to take a keener edge, this could be an effect of lower bevel angles.
- O1 is more common when purchasing vintage tools.

I returned the AI chisels and got LN ones instead. I like them but the handle falling off is a curse and a blessing, depending on what you are doing.

I'm not a fan of socket chisels. They usually have terrible balance and the damn handle and socket are always coming apart.

Of all my socket chisels only three had handles that would regularly separate from the socket. A little time was spent to determine why just these three chisels had this problem. It turns out there was a bit of looseness or mismatch between the socket and the handle tenon. With older chisels (meaning some oxidation and dirt inside the socket) it is easy to insert the tenon and give it a turn to find the high spots on the tenon. The high spots were removed with a fine file and the process was repeated until the tenon came out with an even coat. I am still careful when picking up a socket chisel by the handle, but even the one that would regularly fall off hasn't fallen off in years.

LN socket chisels may have a different problem. The sockets may be machined smooth inside and haven't built up any oxidation over the years. Though morse taper pins and sockets fit together tightly and do not come apart without some force being applied.

One of my first tests when making a handle for a socket chisel is to insert it lightly and wiggle it to check for play. If there is play the angle needs a slight adjustment.

A couple solutions for the top of the socket annoying the fingers in use is to either file the edges of the socket or to make the handle so it buts up almost flush to the top of the socket.

jtk

[Stephen Rosenthal]

My collection of chisels includes a set of LN sockets and a bunch of 50+ year old vintage tangs. I really couldn’t care less what steel they are. I’ve had the LNs for 20+ years and never had an issue with a handle coming loose. I use them only for precise work on fine furniture (dovetails, etc.) and rarely strike them with a wood carver’s mallet. The vintage chisels get used for everything else.

[Robert Hazelwood]

would someone explain why they prefer O1 over A2? Personally I never had any issue sharpening A2 steel and from my research it is able to hold an edge better than O1. Is the interest because these O1 chisels are offered in hard to find sizes?

A2 is not that hard to sharpen even with oilstones if you have a grinder to keep the bevels small, and A2 does have significantly more wear resistance than O1. But at angles less than 35 or so degrees it always seems to develop tiny chips all along the edge that make it effectively dull well before the less wear resistant steels, and on a smoothing plane those tiny chips, despite being just barely visible to the naked eye, will leave visible marks. Generally the blades will still cut for a while with the chips present, albeit with extra resistance and a not so great surface finish. When its time to sharpen you have to remove more material to get it sharp, which may be the reason A2 is said to be difficult to sharpen.

My A2 experience is with planes, and I don't think the micro-chipping would be as big of an issue with chisels most of the time. But with chisels of any steel you will generally be resharpening from little dings and folds in the edge before the steel gets a chance to demonstrate its extra wear resistance. So I'd rather just have a steel that isn't so wear resistant, so that I could sharpen faster when the inevitable damage occurs.

Extra wear resistance would be useful for planing, if it did not come with other drawbacks like microchipping which negate the advantage. I think PM-V11 does a better job of this than what I've seen of A2.

I think A2 has more benefits for the manufacturer (doesn't warp during heat treatment) than the user, and for any use I can think of in an edged hand tool meant for woodworking, I'd rather have any form of plain carbon steel.