# Good value chisels



## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Hey everyone. I am on need of a new set of chisels as my old cheap ones aren't worth sharpening anymore. I'm not looking for the lowest price ones, rather a set that are a good value, decent quality without breaking the bank. What should I get?


----------



## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

I would look at Lie Nielson, but instead of buying a set, buy the three sizes you will use the most. Or if you don't want to spend that much, look at Narex chisels sold by Lee Valley. In between those Lee Valley sells re-introduced Stanley Sweethearts. Or if you're into exotic, try Japan Woodworker for some Japanese steel.
Here are some links:
http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=bescset
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67707&cat=1,41504
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67689&cat=1,41504
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/dept.asp?dept_id=12758&s=JapanWoodworker


----------



## Huxleywood (Feb 24, 2012)

If you want to keep it on the low priced end it is hard to be the Narex, either from Highland Woodworking or Lee Valley, never compared the prices between them. 

From that price point the sky is the limit, things like Blue Spruce and high end Japanese chisels inhabit the upper arena of price.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

For the most part, you get what you pay for. The only exception to that, in my opinion, is Narrex and vintage. Narex chisel are one of if not the best bang / $ options out there for "new." do a search here for Narex and you'll see what the guys here, including myself are saying.

The other excellent option is vintage chisels. If you buy socket chisels they tend to be good quality as the manufacturing process and original price made it worth while to use decent steel. If you are willing to put the elbow grease into cleaning them up I'd recommend go that route. If you want chisels only in need of honing then I'd suggest Narex brand. 

Good luck


----------



## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

I think I'll look into those then.....I enjoy the rebuilding of mechanical things, not so much the cleaning and sharpening of chisels....well worth the money to me


----------



## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

Anyone have craftsman wood chisels?? Their still made in the USA, lifetime warrantied, and the price is pretty good.....I know their not high end....but do they hold a decent edge?


----------



## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

My chisels are a mixed bag. I've added as I find them at flea markets etc. I did add a 1" & 1 1/4" stanley sweetheart that I bought new from Woodcraft. I have no complaints with any of them.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

The only craftsman chisels I have are far older than me! Sorry I can't offer any advise on the new ones.


----------



## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

I have a set of the Craftsman chisels with the plastic handles and metal butt caps (these ones). I like them so much that I went to Woodcraft and bought a whole set of Wood River chisels....

In all honesty, though, the Craftsman ones aren't terrible. They're not even remotely sharp out of the box, though, and they don't seem to hold an edge very well. I keep them hanging from a magnetic bar over my bench for non-precision work: the Wood River set are kept in a box (for the moment -- I'm putting together a roll for them) where nothing can bang into the edges. The Craftsman set are decent enough for rough work, or if I just need to take a little bit off a piece of pine, but that's about it.


----------



## 65BAJA (May 27, 2012)

What do you guys think of the Pfeil chisels?


----------



## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

65BAJA said:


> What do you guys think of the Pfeil chisels?


I have one and except for the fact that it is metric, I like it very much. It was flat on the back, sharpens well and holds an edge as well as any that I own.


----------



## cocheseuga (Dec 15, 2010)

Love my Narex I bought recently. Not much more than about $10 a chisel through Highland on average. I didn't spring for the nicer Narex, but I love these all the same.


----------



## woodbutcher360 (Jul 1, 2012)

every chisel you buy you have to hone except maybe for the top tier chisels.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I've been a woodcarver most of my life and I can't see much difference in any brand of chisel I own and one set is Harbor Freight. They all sharpen and hold and edge pretty equally.


----------



## cocheseuga (Dec 15, 2010)

Steve Neul said:


> I've been a woodcarver most of my life and I can't see much difference in any brand of chisel I own and one set is Harbor Freight. They all sharpen and hold and edge pretty equally.


There was a huge difference for me - the time spent in getting them in shape. I spent more time doing two of the HF than six of the Narex. I haven't used the HF or Narex enough for them to lose their edge, but my expectation would be the HF would lose it long before the Narex.


----------



## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

Steve Neul said:


> I've been a woodcarver most of my life and I can't see much difference in any brand of chisel I own and one set is Harbor Freight. They all sharpen and hold and edge pretty equally.


I agree, I don't own more than two chisels of the same brand and don't see that much difference. I don't have any experience with Harbor Freight; but the Marples chisels from Home Depot work as well as the old ones that I have.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Steve Neul said:


> I've been a woodcarver most of my life and I can't see much difference in any brand of chisel I own and one set is Harbor Freight. They all sharpen and hold and edge pretty equally.


I keep looking at that comment and choosing to ignore but I just can't any more.

That's just crazy talk... HF chisels? Really? For S&Gs a while back I bought a set for some $5... They were junk. I hardened and tempered them, again for S&Gs and still garbage. They now reside where they belong... presumably a land fill or recycling facility. Maybe they'll have a new life as part of a chevy engine block :laughing:

Seriously though, they behave as though made of mild steel. They do not take a keen edge as they are too soft for that and the thought of driving a HF chisels through pecan, or even red oak are images night terrors are made of.

Hard woods aside, soft woods with such a chisel is even more frightening. It won't mushroom the edge like a hardwood will but it will gracelessly crush and tear fibers as the blunt barge is forced through them. 

The edge on a cutting tool it where that tool's angles converge into nothing. The harder the material, the keener and longer lasting the edge will be. There are obvious tradeoffs to hardness meaning there must be a balance drawn as well as optimal bevels angles for different tasks.

I don't believe there is a HUGE gap in quality between LN and Blue Spruce but there may be other design aspects they feel set than apart. As for the gaps from HF to buck brothers (new) to box Stanleys to Narex to LN is immense. 

Box Stanleys or Marples are about as low down the price totem as you can go and get a chisel with the ability to be honed to a fine edge and the ability to hold that edge somewhat. 

It's difficult to find out what type of steel the lower priced chisels are made of. This may be partly due to it changing as the market prices change. At best you will find a measure of Rockwell Hardness. This tells you something about the chisel's ability to be honed but it tells you little about the tools wear resistance and durability. Higher end chisel makers are proud to boast what type of steel goes into their tools... That alone should be a flashing light to those who think all chisels are created equal.

It really comes down to your expectations and your ability to sharpen a tool. If your best attempt at sharpening is only good for a cold chisels I'd think any chisel will do.


----------



## Wrangler02 (Apr 15, 2011)

The worst chisel I ever owned was in the Handy Andy Tool Chest my grandparents gave me for Christmas when I was five years old. Come to think of it the only tool in that set that worked was the plumb bob!! I was turned off early on really bad tools.


----------



## cocheseuga (Dec 15, 2010)

firemedic said:


> I keep looking at that comment and choosing to ignore but I just can't any more.
> 
> That's just crazy talk... HF chisels? Really? For S&Gs a while back I bought a set for some $5... They were junk. I hardened and tempered them, again for S&Gs and still garbage. They now reside where they belong... presumably a land fill or recycling facility. Maybe they'll have a new life as part of a chevy engine block :laughing:
> 
> ...


While I'm not an expert, and I do agree there *can* be a large difference between brands, does not necessarily begat the inevitability.

There is a difference just handling the tool. Given the choice, I'll reach for the Narex 100% of the time. The handle is nicer in the hand, is made of better materials and finished better. The steel, while I am unable to measure it, would be assumed to be better. My eyes and hands agree with that assumption.

It took me a much longer time to get the backs flat and shiny on the HF, and that's to be expected. What I didn't expect was how well it cut compared to the Narex. Not quite as good, but not a gulf between. I fully expect the edge to deteriorate at a much greater speed, but the results I got showed that it is possible to get a nice sharp angle. Not as good as the Narex, but I will keep them in my arsenal because I know I'll run into a scenario where I'll want to use them and not the nicer ones.

For $6 (or so, with a coupon), all you're really wasting is time spent tuning them up. But with the practice I got in the sharpening process, I still consider it time and money well spent. YMMV.


----------



## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

So not to add more fuel to the fire, but to leave my opinion for anyone else considering them in the future, I purchased the 5 piece craftsman chisels yesterday. Got them for 29 bucks after discounts, I used them today and couldn't be happier with my choice. They're very sharp, cut smooth and clean. They were us made and while not listing the exact specs list them as forged from high carbon steel. Maybe the best part is they're lifetime warrantied. Someday I may purchase more expensive ones, but for now I'm perfectly content with them.


----------



## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Awesome! Mine aren't great, but if yours work, it sounds like you got a great deal.


----------



## ntrusty (Feb 21, 2012)

Ive slowly and not on purpose acquired several older buck brothers chisels..it took some rehab, had to turn some new handles, but they have been great. I havent paid more than 8 for any of them. Edges hold well enough for me.


----------



## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

ntrusty said:


> Ive slowly and not on purpose acquired several older buck brothers chisels..it took some rehab, had to turn some new handles, but they have been great. I havent paid more than 8 for any of them. Edges hold well enough for me.


In case you think I'm bashing Buck Bros earlier chisel up above when I said Buck Bros(new) I'm referring to the junk Home Depot sells NIB. the older Buck Brothers chisels are certainly decent quality. 

Earlier in the thread I suggested tuning up some vintage chisels for the same reason you have. They tend to be of decent to even excellent quality and they are far less expensive than new tools of the same performance level.


----------



## ntrusty (Feb 21, 2012)

firemedic said:


> In case you think I'm bashing Buck Bros earlier chisel up above when I said Buck Bros(new) I'm referring to the junk Home Depot sells NIB. the older Buck Brothers chisels are certainly decent quality.
> 
> Earlier in the thread I suggested tuning up some vintage chisels for the same reason you have. They tend to be of decent to even excellent quality and they are far less expensive than new tools of the same performance level.


I agree the current mess they put out is what i consider " throw away" tools. I wasnt intending to post a rebuttal to your statement either. I didnt notice that it sounded that way. Just agreeing with the vintage and economical theme. On a related note the longer of the chisels on my other post is an older buck bros. Original handle i think and it is totally trashed but the steel band is still there. It should rehab nice after i get around to turning a new handle.


----------



## Puma (Jun 28, 2012)

I'm fairly new to woodworking and I bought two types of chisels to compare. I got a Japanese chisel from woodcraft and a Sorby. The difference betwixt the two is astounding! The Japanese chisel cuts wood like it's butter, cleanly, it sharpens so easily I can see the dots in my eye in the reflection. The sorby chisel is laborious to sharpen and never seems to cut with real authority. Again, that's my limited experience. I also recently did some custom trim work for a guy who had his own Lowes chisels. I literally could see the edge crumble before my eyes as I used it. I got through the job but I'd never tell anyone I did it. 

Next I'm going to try a new stanley sweetheart and a lie-nielsen bevel edge and compare them. Does anyone know what kind of steel the new Stanley's are?


----------



## Bill White 2 (Jun 23, 2012)

I've been bitten by the "old stuff" bug, and have collected a bunch of W. Butcher "cast steel" chisels. Sweet, and they sharpen very easily.
Never knew how well a chisel could work before them.
Having said that, I had to learn to sharpen, hone, buff, maintain, etc. Oh well....I'm only 69. Got a whole lifetime of learnin' ahead of me. :no:
Bill


----------



## Bwood (Nov 28, 2011)

Well, I have to agree with Firemedic on this one. I bought a set of hf wood handled chisels. It took me a long time to flatten the backs. Then I checked for squareness. It was off by about 1/32. The edge of the tip of the chisel had a dip in it. So i flattened it by putting a 25 degree edge and a secondary bevel to 28 degrees. I sharpened up to 6000 grit. It didnt hold the edge on a piece of pine 2x4. So I might use these to clean oit mortises or go to goodwill. Not too much lost at $7. Makes me appreciate my newly aquired stanley sweetheart 750 series.


----------

