Narex Chisels - lots of photos

[Jacob]

..........
Now this I find odd. I don't doubt for a second that the machining was a little rough, in fact in one the pics the ground surface looks little better than a ploughed field. What's odd is that some time ago, Matt asked me to review the mortise chisels for F&C which I gladly did for him and the finish on the blades was superb...far better than the ones shown in your pics and I couldn't really fault the chisels in any way (at that price, which was under a tenner each) Clearly something untoward has happened with the manufacturing process so it would be interesting to see if future chisels from Narex display the same poor finish - Rob

I think you should take this fairly seriously Rob (even though it's just about some cheapo chisels :roll: ).
If the chisels you were given were not typical then you have been tricked into giving them a good review and have effectively helped to pull a fast one those who bought them on the strength of it.
You should protest strongly, as your reputation as a reviewer, and that of the magazine, become discredited by cheap tricks like this.
Shouldn't be tolerated.

 

[scubadoo]

..........
Now this I find odd. I don't doubt for a second that the machining was a little rough, in fact in one the pics the ground surface looks little better than a ploughed field. What's odd is that some time ago, Matt asked me to review the mortise chisels for F&C which I gladly did for him and the finish on the blades was superb...far better than the ones shown in your pics and I couldn't really fault the chisels in any way (at that price, which was under a tenner each) Clearly something untoward has happened with the manufacturing process so it would be interesting to see if future chisels from Narex display the same poor finish - Rob

I think you should take this fairly seriously Rob (even though it's just about some cheapo chisels :roll: ).
If the chisels you were given were not typical then you have been tricked into giving them a good review and have effectively helped to pull a fast one those who bought them on the strength of it.
You should protest strongly, as your reputation as a reviewer, and that of the magazine, become discredited by cheap tricks like this.
Shouldn't be tolerated.

I think you're getting a bit carried away there Jacob, as I keep saying, the camera was a DSLR with a Sigma 50mm DG Macro lens. At that level of magnification it's going to show up machining lines on anything that hasn't been polished wether you can actually feel them or not (as you will see on the photos of the Ashley Iles in my next post).

 

[scubadoo]

So, for my third brand, I've just received a 1" Ashley Iles Mk2 Bevel edged cabinetmakers chisel from Matthew at WSH today, great service as usual.

This thing is beautiful. It looks and feels gorgeous and is very nicely made. The bubinga handle is lovely to the touch and is beautifully finished.

Nice and sharp as well.

Whilst I like the Pfeil chisels, this is definitely nicer and doesn't suffer from the wedge shaved bevel ( the bevel on the AI goes down to 1mm from the underside) and the workable length you get before hitting the shaft is greater (105mm).

All in all, out of the chisels I've tried - Bristol Designs, Narex, Pfeil and AI - I would absolutely choose the AI. Obviously they're roughly twice the price of the Narex, but I'd say that they're more than twice as nice and will be ordering a couple more sizes from Matthew. Just need to decide wether to keep the Pfeils or swap them for the AI's. I would put the Bristols at the bottom as the steels really were quite rough even though the design looks nice and traditional. If the Narex were finished nicer and the handles were nicer I'd probably have stuck with them.

Clearly, these comments are based on the appearance, design and manufacturing quality of the tools as at the moment I can't comment on their cutting performance or edge holding capabilities but I hope it's useful to see and compare a few different chisels.

 

[Doug B]

..........
Now this I find odd. I don't doubt for a second that the machining was a little rough, in fact in one the pics the ground surface looks little better than a ploughed field. What's odd is that some time ago, Matt asked me to review the mortise chisels for F&C which I gladly did for him and the finish on the blades was superb...far better than the ones shown in your pics and I couldn't really fault the chisels in any way (at that price, which was under a tenner each) Clearly something untoward has happened with the manufacturing process so it would be interesting to see if future chisels from Narex display the same poor finish - Rob

I think you should take this fairly seriously Rob (even though it's just about some cheapo chisels :roll: ).
If the chisels you were given were not typical then you have been tricked into giving them a good review and have effectively helped to pull a fast one those who bought them on the strength of it.
You should protest strongly, as your reputation as a reviewer, and that of the magazine, become discredited by cheap tricks like this.
Shouldn't be tolerated.

I think you're getting a bit carried away there Jacob,

Whilst not wanting to put it in such strong terms, I do agree with Jacob on this.

I had read Robs review amongst others before seeing these chisels & was left wondering if i was looking at the same chisels.

Something else that occurs to me is, if so little attention is payed to the quality control of the finished chisels as shown by these wildly differing reports, it leads me to wonder what control is applied to the manufacture of the steel these chisels are being made of.

Will we in the future have threads such as we have had on other makes of chisels where one owner compares them to cheese & another claims they hold a good edge.

 

[Harbo]

I've got a couple of Bristol Designs ones from their carving range.
Their chisels were supposed to be hand forged by a local blacksmith/craftsman?
When I bought mine a few years ago, they said the man had retired and they only had some remaining stocks?

Rod

 

[jimi43]

Matthew sent me a mortice chisel to review (reminds me...must send that back to you Matthew!) when they first came out and it was really nice though I don't particularly like the handle either.

The finish is "silk" on all but the bevel...and the bevel is as finely ground as any I have seen...it cuts well too...

The side grinding is a bit rounded as you can see but for the price...this is one nice chisel indeed.

I don't use it simply because I need to send it back to WH and also because my 100 year old plus boxwood handled Sorby is...and always will be my tool of choice...

.....and pretty good value for a quid too!



Roll on the bootfairs! :wink: (mind you...as others have pointed out..I may need to wait a few weeks to collect a "set"!) :mrgreen:

Jimi

 

[scubadoo]

I've got a couple of Bristol Designs ones from their carving range.
Their chisels were supposed to be hand forged by a local blacksmith/craftsman?
When I bought mine a few years ago, they said the man had retired and they only had some remaining stocks?

Rod

From their website:

"This effort was done in conjunction with a forge interested in keeping alive traditional techniques of quality production and ran as a sideline along with more modern techniques. Unfortunately the accountants have gained an upper hand at the forge and our production runs have been stopped. We still have stocks of most of the tools but they will gradually run out."

 

[Doug B]

I would absolutely choose the AI.

I`ve been very happy with mine & I`ve found them a really helpful company, even being happy to make me a one off turning chisel.

I bought a set butt chisels from them whilst on an arranged visit to their factory which is well worth doing if you are in the vicinity, otherwise they stand at a lot of the wood shows & are always happy to give good advice.

 

[matthewwh]

I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the AI's, they are a very popular line.

Don't worry about Jacob - he won't be satisfied until you have dug one up out of a ditch with your bare hands and rounded the end over on an oily kerb stone.

The chisels sent to Rob were simply added to the list of orders for the day, so the person who selected them had no inkling that the order was any different to the others, they were just the next ones to come out of the box.

Out of interest Jacob, what warranty do you offer on the windows that you make?

 

[scubadoo]

I'm glad to hear that you are pleased with the AI's, they are a very popular line.

I'm not suprised, they're lovely. Is there much difference between these and the dovetail ones? Is it just the elliptical section? they also look lovely.

Oh, and not that Workshopheaven needs anymore plaudits but I just have to say what great service. I ordered a waterstone that turned up cracked in half, not sure how as it was well packed :?

Anyway, Matthew posted a replacement to me the same day and told me to keep the broken one as a spare to chuck in my toolbox. How good is that! Thanks Matthew =D>

 

[GazPal]

Ashley Isles do make their 'regrind' offer in writing. It's on the homepage of their website, anyway.

Jacob - out of interest, do you think that the ideal cabinetmaker's bench chisel is different to the ideal joiner's chisel? It just occurs to me that joiners are not often called upon to cut dovetails; most joinery work is mortice and tenon, sinks in door-frames for hinges and other square-edge work. Would most joiners prefer the stronger firmer chisels (the rectangular cross-section ones you never seem to see these days)? Is there a difference between the ideal joiner's bench chisel and the ideal site-work chisel?

The same can be said of most tools in use, but tool kit depends on the work undertaken or necessary to complete a given project. Investing a working set of bevel edge and firmer chisels (Adding whichever sizes you need) was a route recommended to me during my apprenticeship and I've not regretted making that particular initial investment over the past few decades.

Very general guidelines:

Firmers = carpentry/framing.

Bevel edged = joinery and cabinetry.

The main thing is being able to produce an end product via the most streamlined route possible and this is where having the right tool for the job seriously comes into play, but only if the expense can be justified.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Jimi, I think that pattern is london pattern, (someone feel free to correct me) but is the mark "i" or "r" Sorby?
Some years ago I had a 2" bevel edge I.Sorby -it was beautiful!...................some "friend" relieved me of it (probably to take home to dig holes for hi
s pansys or marigolds).
Has anyone knowledge of I.Sorby- I've not had much luck tracing them (everything directs me back to R.Sorby

 

[Noel]

As for returning for a free regrind, who would be bothered?

Well for some of the carving chisels, for a start, that'd be an offer worth having. Some of them are pretty diabolical to grind, and if you'd made a mess of it - or, woe betide, the edge was badly chipped - it might well be worth getting back to "factory settings". Dunno if AI do corner chisels, but there's a type that is absolutely no fun to grind too. It's a mistake to judge the value of the offer just because one's own experience might only encompass half a dozen basic bench chisels.

All told, AI don't have to make the offer, but they do. Good PR? Yeah. But why not? At least they're making an effort and not just throwing a piece of cheese with the corners knocked off at the market and calling it a "bevel edged chisel", like so many manufacturers of formerly good reputation.

It may be worth it for speciality/non-regular stuff but as we're discussing common-or-garden chisels I'd imagine most wouldn't bother and as mentioned I'm sure most owners know how to cope with a chipped or badly ground edge. And I'd also imagine the company in question are aware of this too.

 

[studders]

If the chisels you were given were not typical then you have been tricked into giving them a good review and have effectively helped to pull a fast one those who bought them on the strength of it.

I very much doubt that this would be the case. What would be the point? In a very short space of time a hard earned good reputation would be ruined.

 

[jimi43]

Jimi, I think that pattern is london pattern, (someone feel free to correct me) but is the mark "i" or "r" Sorby?
Some years ago I had a 2" bevel edge I.Sorby -it was beautiful!...................some "friend" relieved me of it (probably to take home to dig holes for hi
s pansys or marigolds).
Has anyone knowledge of I.Sorby- I've not had much luck tracing them (everything directs me back to R.Sorby

With excuses for the minor hijack...yes it is and it is I&H Sorby "Hanging Sheep" mark and an absolute gem. There is a great page on the interwoven family history of the various "Sorbys" on the ROBERT SORBY HISTORY PAGE....

Cheers

Jim

 

[woodbloke]

Matthew sent me a mortice chisel to review (reminds me...must send that back to you Matthew!) when they first came out and it was really nice though I don't particularly like the handle either.

The finish is "silk" on all but the bevel...and the bevel is as finely ground as any I have seen...it cuts well too...

The side grinding is a bit rounded as you can see but for the price...this is one nice chisel indeed.


Jimi

...and that was exactly what I found as well with the mortise chisels and for less than a tenner each...difficult to better - Rob

 

[bugbear]

stop it! you're all confusing me :lol:

i don't know which is the back, front, face or side now :roll:

That (sadly) probably means you've understood correctly!

"flat side" and "bevel side" are a little long, but not prone to misunderstanding.

BugBear

I have spent a rather enjoyable part of Sunday afternoon perusing my books. I can now report a conclusion of the correct use of "back" "front" and "face" w.r.t. plane blades and chisels.

No one has a clue.

Gary's notion that the authors slavishly copy each other is not borne out - each and every one of them seems to make up whatever seems convenient! I have seen "back", "face", and "back face" all used for the flat side of the blade.

I have also repeatedly seen "back" used for the bevel side of the blade.

"front" is used so rarely, I can't form an aggregate view.

About the only point of agreement is that "front" and "back" are opposite sides.

I would therefore reiterate my recommendation of "bevel side" and "flat side" as a means to avoid the morass, and withdraw any assertions previously made about the traditional use of "back", "front" and "face".

BugBear

 

[Jacob]

Well that's very interesting BB. :roll:
I think I'll stick to the sensible convention of back/bevel, face/flat. I wasn't going to change anyway, whatever you found out!

 

[RogerP]

I think just flat-side and bevel-side is the clearest and avoids all confusion with different interpretations of front and back.

 

[ali27]

I have the narex chisel set. Bought it a while ago. Haven't
used them yet, but yesterday I flattened the backs of these chisels.
Wasn't difficult as the back was a bit hollow. All chisel backs were
flattened quite quickly except one which was convex around the edge.
The edge was more than a thou higher. So I stopped flattening the back
of that one when it was less than a thou. I was going to grind away a mm
or so of the edge anway.

So overall quite positive in terms of flattening the back
of these chisels.

Ali