Low priced chisels that I won't end up replacing? Possible?

[Jacob]

.... poor quality steel which won't keep a good edge. .....

But quicker to hone. All I'm saying is they'll probably do. There is some advantage in buying better, but not necessarily a big one.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Carbon steel turning tools are fine - they just don't hold an edge as HSS do. Carbon actually sharpens better, so is better for making fine detail cuts or smoothing wild grain - the edge just won't last as long. Tools like roughing gouges and bowl gouges are better in HSS as they take more of a hammering. I've a lovely old spindle gouge that I only use once in a while for one or two cuts at a time - it's got to last!

 

[graduate_owner]

Thanks for that Phil. The next turning tools I get will be HSS - I suppose that's all that will be available soon anyway. But I'll keep my existing ones while they still do the job. I'm not ready to splash any cash yet - I'm still waiting for delivery of my Axminster evolution chuck. They said it will be in the next few days.
To Jacob I would say it's horses for courses as usual. If someone needs chisels but can't afford a good make then they just have to go for the cheaper option, so in some ways what you say is right. I just think you can go too cheap, and end up with nothing worth having at the end. Personally I would rather buy perhaps 2 good 'uns at about £6 each than a set of 8 for £12. Or as has been suggested, go the second hand flea market route. Those my mate had were a real education though. Talk about rubbish!! Not worth bringing home. But then, they were really cheap so he should have known better.

K

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If you owned a Renault van and a Bentley, you would no more take your wife out on your wedding anniversary in the van, than throw ten bags of cement in the Bentley. Horses for courses.

 

[graduate_owner]

Dead right Phil, couldn't agree more. Just make sure the van isn't a Daewoo, Moskvitch or a Wartburg. (Does anyone remember seeing these on the road? Smelly 2-stroke things.). As for the Bentley, well now you're talking. That reminds me, I must get round to hoovering the cement dust out of mine before the wife sees it.

Back to topic - want to open tins of paint? Get a cheap chisel or screwdriver. If you want to cut wood, get a decent chisel.

Now, talking (again) of chisels, do people really get them sharp enough to shave hairs off their arm? Actually, I think I'll start a new thread on this.
K

 

[zodiac]

Well, I've finally got fed up of trying to decide and just ordered these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-89726-Ex ... chisel+set

Which shows 27 reviews and all but two were 5/5

but I bought them a bit cheaper again off ebay instead of amazon at #14.49 and free postage

I found that reviews for modern Marples chisels are a bit variable, but everyone loved these so I hope I will too! Has anyone got a set or used them? Draper have a DIY range which didn't sound at all special, hopefully adding the word Expert means they are higher quality as well as price!

 

[Roughcut]

I've got a cheap set of 4 Stanley chisels which I think cost me £12.99 at a tool show.
And I've got a couple of Ashley Isles mk2 bevel edge chisels.
The Ashley Isles chisels look lovely, are very thin, have a nice bubinga handle, hold a good edge and really look the part.
The Stanley chisels have plastic handles and a thicker iron but in my opinion they still do as good a job as the Ashley Isles chisels.
If it ultimately came down to value for money, I would have to give my vote to the Stanley's. :shock:

 

[bugbear]

Draper have a DIY range which didn't sound at all special, hopefully adding the word Expert means they are higher quality as well as price!

Certainly at one point, Draper Expert spanners were considered a bit of an "insider secret" amongst mechanics, because they were really very good, and not very expensive.

BugBear

 

[G S Haydon]

FWIW I bought a set of cheap blue Faithful blue handles and they have been fine for most tasks.

 

[zodiac]

The Draper Expert chisels arrived today, a quick hone and tried them out. Can report that they feel really good and work very well. I think I did okay

 

[Andrewf]

Have thought about this subject quite a bit. I have a collection of marples with the blue handles and some faithful ones with the yellow split proof handles and some old second hand ones from various makers. These all sharpen easily and hold good edges.
I also have inherited a set of very fine bevel edge socket chisels.

Which are very nice, but a bit fine for day to day stuff, and live in a tool box. Unfortunately when doing some fine stuff I forget about them and end up using the day to day ones that are laying on the bench.

So perhaps I should sell the good ones and only use the day to day ones. Or dump the day to day ones and only use the good ones. Or perhaps leave the good ones in the tool box and leave them for the next generation. As they are over 40 years old and haven't had to much wear.

 

[marcros]

They are some nice looking socket chisels Andrew- they look like Stanley Defiance? I am slowly gathering a few. When I get a set, I am thinking of some nice holly handles for them.

I have a couple of suggestions for the OP if he is still reading:

Get some quality pig stickers for morticing. I have a 1/4 or 3/8, a 1/2 and a 3/4. I must get a 1/4 if I don't have one because it would be handy. Each cost me a fiver or so from eBay. Makes are ward, ibbotson and the like, so quality items. I could pass them to my children and their children and there would still be plenty of cutting edge left to them.

When I started work I bought a set of marples split proof bevel edged chisels with the red and yellow handles. This was about 2001ish so not in the heyday of when we expect tools to be good, rather firmly in the "modern tools are crap" era. They were just from the builders merchant where i was working. There are pretty roughly finished- you can see fringing marks and they are hollow ground on the bevel so it makes a good few sharpens to get rig of every bring mark. The faces were probably not that flat either. But they are nice to use, and you can use a hammer with them if necessary. I don't do any site work, but they would do just fine for it, and I have used them for the usual tasks on the bench. Flattening a few mm of the face by the cutting edge doesn't take long once in a while and they hold an edge well. Worth looking for on eBay.

NB the eBay items are also a ail able from car boot sales but I don't have the patience to do that.

If you are looking at new, I have just received a Ray Iles bevel edged chisel. It is 1/8" which probably isn't the best size to appraise a range with and has a London pattern boxwood handle. It was £17. The finish is spot on- no grinding marks a d it feels nice in the hand. Time will tell about edge retention, but off you have £114 to spend on a set of 8. I think you will struggle to find better quality for the money. It also supports British industry. I don't know whether they are the same blades as any of the asey Iles range.

 

[Graham Orm]

I use these daily for site work. They stay sharp for long enough and take a lot of abuse. http://www.screwfix.com/p/stanley-fatmax-chisel-set-5-pc/83232All chisels need sharpening regularly, especially if you want them razor sharp all the time. If you just want them 'useable sharp' rather than 'competition sharp' most will do. The more you pay the better the tool, however there is more than the average dose of BS involved when ever sharpening chisels is discussed. On better quality tools the type and hardness of the steel should be available, if you want to be really obsessive read up on it then look at them, but like anything you'll find that the better stuff is expensive.

 

[heatherw]

The £60 set from Marples probably will need sharpening every five minutes - older stuff is usually better.

Can't agree. Marples will be good, just not as nice looking as an old one. Good steel really isn't rocket science and I've never encountered a modern chisel with a steel problem.


The last Marples ones I bought ( about 20 years ago) were ****. So soft, didn't hold an edge. Never again. My Sandvik ones (which it would never have occurred to me to buy a present from my brother), are much better, and they say that Bahco are of a similar quality, while not being too expensive. You can get a set of 3 for about 20 quid on ebay.

 

[Duncumb.fc]

Zodiac,

I'm a tool snob, so you should probably ignore me. But I am also a bit miserly when it comes to tool buying.
I would suggest going to a car boot, take a tenner and you'll get all the chisels you need.
It should be said that bevel edge chisels, while an improvement over firmer chisels, are not so superior that they render firmer chisels useless. I believe also that firmer chisels tend to be made of better steel due to their age.
For the same reason I put forward in this thread I also prefer older chisels. After the old chisels were made they were left to stabilise for a long period before grinding flat. This way stresses came out.
New chisels (especially mass produced ones) don't do this, and to counteract it they are made thicker and heavier (more metal = less warping in theory)

Personally, I can't speak highly enough of (OLD) Marples, and I have a toolgasm whenever I get an I. Sorby (basically the same thing except the name). Both of which are mainly seen in bevel edge format.
Other than that, anything with Sheffield stamped on it is generally a goer!

Car boots are a goldmine, you just have to keep going as you can never be 100% that you'll find what you want.

Fraser

 

[JakeS]

I would suggest going to a car boot, take a tenner and you'll get all the chisels you need.

The thing everyone fails to mention all the time is that it's not just "going to a car boot", it's "going to a car boot at six in the morning before all the dealers have taken anything that's worth anything"!

 

[Duncumb.fc]

I would suggest going to a car boot, take a tenner and you'll get all the chisels you need.

The thing everyone fails to mention all the time is that it's not just "going to a car boot", it's "going to a car boot at six in the morning before all the dealers have taken anything that's worth anything"!

While it's true that earlier is better for the bargains, if you're just looking for a working set of chisels, then most dealers aren't interested.
If one was going for a Ward bevel edged paring chisel, or something of similar value, then yes, fights will start.
Otherwise, turn up after a bacon butty at 10, and shop to your hearts content!

Fraser

P.S. Some car boot sales start in the afternoon, although less common than morning ones

 

[JakeS]

While it's true that earlier is better for the bargains, if you're just looking for a working set of chisels, then most dealers aren't interested.

Maybe it's a different story down where you are, but up here the only thing left at 8AM is spanners and hammers!

 

[Duncumb.fc]

While it's true that earlier is better for the bargains, if you're just looking for a working set of chisels, then most dealers aren't interested.

Maybe it's a different story down where you are, but up here the only thing left at 8AM is spanners and hammers!

Time to set the alarm clock then :wink:

Fraser