Best chisel set for a reasonable price?

[W666]

Bought a set of Fatmax chisels about a year ago and they've been truly awful. They loose the edge quickly and deep strange lines of rust or discolouration appeared, even though wiped down with Wd40 regularly.
Are the Marples going to be much better? O es with yellow and red handle. They're about the same price for a set.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Sets will irritate you eventually especially because they don't now tend to graduate the size of the handles. Look for good quality tools of the sizes you actually use.

 

[thetyreman]

what is your budget? the steel in these old ones will be good https://www.tooltique.co.uk/shop/5-no-m ... -1-4-to-1/

 

[W666]

Circa £60. There are some nice things on that site, never been on it.

 

[Trevanion]

I can vouch for the older style Marples blue chip like Tyreman linked to, excellent steel and well ground so that they're not overly chunky on the sides like the more modern counterparts.

I quite like the older style Stanley 5002s which are wonderful to use and have excellent steel also.

 

[W666]

Okie dokie, I'll pull the trigger on those blue handled Marples. Cheers all.

 

[ED65]

Probably too late now but we're soon enough heading into car boot season where £1-2 chisels aren't unheard of, even really nice ones with box handles.

Do you have any interest in seeing if you can improve the heat treat on the Fatmax chisels so they're not just paperweights? It's quite doable at home with minimal kit and without any need to remove the handles, although you could take the opportunity to do so and replace them with something nicer that you make yourself.

 

[Bm101]

Also. ToolsntatAndy has some for sale if you own a bit of wet and dry etc and want to save a few bob.
various-tools-for-sale-t116490.html
Personally I'd be after them box handled old lads. Can't justify it here though.

 

[AndyT]

I reckon somebody out there in Internet land is reading this stuff and paying attention.
It's quite a regular theme on here that old Sheffield made chisels with boxwood handles are pretty good, so I was interested when a rather nice set appeared on eBay the other day.

Six bevel edge, six firmer. Quarter inch to inch. All in mint condition, handles unscuffed, original labels. Marples, from some time in the last century. This is the listing image, which should be visible for a few weeks.

They got 44 bids and reached £410 for the set, plus postage. That works out to £34.17 each. It's a lot for old chisels, but compared to the cost of a new set from a current maker, suddenly it doesn't look a silly price at all.

 

[rafezetter]

Hope you haven't bought that £45 set of chisels yet - found another set on ebay for less money, even with postage. I'd say the previous owner (not the seller obvs) was a general chippie going by the fact the picture shows 1 inch is about 2 inches shorter than the rest

Yes AndyT they do, and some seem to really take the pinapple, but then if ppl willingly bid £410, who am I to say what thier value is?

(not allowed to link live ebay auctions apparently)

 

[D_W]

I reckon somebody out there in Internet land is reading this stuff and paying attention.
It's quite a regular theme on here that old Sheffield made chisels with boxwood handles are pretty good, so I was interested when a rather nice set appeared on eBay the other day.

Six bevel edge, six firmer. Quarter inch to inch. All in mint condition, handles unscuffed, original labels. Marples, from some time in the last century. This is the listing image, which should be visible for a few weeks.

They got 44 bids and reached £410 for the set, plus postage. That works out to £34.17 each. It's a lot for old chisels, but compared to the cost of a new set from a current maker, suddenly it doesn't look a silly price at all.

Those are excellent looking chisels. Last year, I bought a set of ten bevel edge chisels of the same style (though mine might be slightly newer, the elements are the same - style of the tang - round, grinding, etc). 8 of mine are unhardened.

I have a severe excess of chisels, and set my set aside in favor of others, but they respond well to rehardening.

I can't say too much about the price - they're nicely proportioned when they're hard, and the issue of hardening mine is no problem (i have the setup to do it) other than that I will have to disclose that I did and that will likely affect value negatively). I paid about a quarter of the price you mentioned, though.

Can't give the OP a good suggestion - I've probably taken in and moved through something on the order of 400 chisels. I'm not aware of much that never has any defect. It's better just to get something and get started. Buy on proportion and reasonable finish quality. if I had a blocky set of perfectly hardened chisels, they'd never be as pleasant to me to use as the ones that I have should I manage to reharden them.

If money is an object, the later sheffield made footprint gear is more consistent than some of the late run marples stuff and certainly well hardened. It's harder to find here in the states, though.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I have sold hundreds of chisels here (not all of them ground or sharp, I hasten to add ). Surely the cost you are to prepared to pay depends on 1/ how much free cash you have, and 2/ the likelihood of seeing what you're after coming up again? 25 years ago I paid £30 for a Stanley No.8 from about 1930 with a near full Sweetheart iron - whether it was worth it at the time is irrelevant - am I likely to see another? No, probably not.

 

[Trevanion]

I have sold hundreds of chisels here (not all of them ground or sharp, I hasten to add ).

Back bevel?! BACK BEVEL?!!!

 

[Phil Pascoe]

One or two might have had a a belly or a hollow ............... who'd a thunk?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If I were buying for a neice or nephew or a talented child of a friend had I the free cash I would have paid that money for the Marples (my children would use them to lift drain covers ..... no, I tell a lie - they wouldn't know what a drain cover is). I gave my friend's daughter a (mixed ) set of about nine, (Marples, Wards and old Sorbys) - if she didn't realise what she was given at the time, she would have have as soon as she encountered people who knew their trade ........knowing where she had the apprenticeship, about five minutes after she started work the next day.

 

[Trevanion]

I hope I never buy anything off you Phil, I wouldn't want to waste my £50 an hour hobby time MAINTAINING TOOLS!? It'd be cheaper for me to buy a new chisel every time than it would to actually sharpen it!

BACKBEVEL!?

:lol:

I've also got some nice tools waiting for the right person who'll do them right, I could sell them and make a pretty penny compared to what I paid for them but I'd rather give them to a keen apprentice one day or somat.