Narex

[Streepips]

Just received a shipment of Narex bevel edge chisels and first impressions are very good.
They are flat along both the width and length, ( No light through an engineers straight edge) have minimal fine grinding marks in the back and have a decent bevel and microbevel and edge on them straight out of the box, Tang type with beech handle, ferrules above the tang and also at the top for mallet work, nicely balanced and about midweight for a chisel of this type. handle has slight flats to stop bench rolling and help the ergonomics, and finished in a light satin/matt coat of something unobstrusive.
Looks like a minimal flatting will sort the backs out then I will hone them and try them out. The actual steel looks very fine grained.
I considered Ashley Iles, R Sorby, even Two Cherries and all the usual contenders but noted quite a few grumbles about these ranges and of course the price is not cheap, especially compared to less well known brands such as Narex.
The Narex get 59>61 rc hardness, which is as far as you can go without getting brittle, and there are some good reviews from European/American users.
Lee Valley Tools and Highland Tools sell Narex in USA.
Last set of chisels I got was a Marples splitproof and these were disappointing all round so up to now I have been using old Footprint, Bahco, Marples, Stanley, etc, all of which take and hold a good edge and take some clout.....mainly because the newest among them is at least 25 years old !...These are used for site work though and I wanted a decent set for benchwork.....I eventually got the Marples something like with a good flatting on the back, from 60 grit successive through to 1500, mirror finish after approx an hour and a half each, and I have a Scheppach 2500 whetstone with leather strop wheel so I can get an edge that cuts floating paper,however the marples just wont hold it, either dulling off rapidly or just nicking out too easily.
So I thought I would explore new territory, hence the Narex...Hope they perform as good as they look they might! Plenty to have a go at, 6,8,10,12,14,16,18, 20, 22. 26, 30, 32 and 40mm in the set.. Overkill I know, just felt like it !
and yes I know they are moly-chrome steel, not high carbon, hammer forged, etc etc, I did my research and made my decision and if anyone is interested in how I get on with them or would like a pic of them let me know.....

 

[Joe]

I'd be interested to know how long it takes to flatten/polish the backs. Where did you buy them from?

 

[Newbie_Neil]

I'd be interested to know how long it takes to flatten/polish the backs. Where did you buy them from?

Me too please.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Streepips]

Joe, Neil.

Certainly, will probably have a go this weekend, will write up the process and hopefully accompany with pics of before during and after the flatting,
I will probably do a midsize first, say 16 or 18 mm, because 4mm or 40mm would be unrepresentative of average.

 

[Oryxdesign]

Where did you buy them please?

 

[Alan Smith]

I see these chisels are made in Czechoslovakia but can't find anywhere selling them in the UK. Typical.

 

[Streepips]

I got them through the potential new distributor for UK.

 

[Harbo]

They are pretty cheap - $66 for 8 from Lee Valley.

Rod

 

[Streepips]

Very nice price: If you happen to live over there.
If not then cost in shipping and customs duties and customs handling charge from the carrier....

 

[Newbie_Neil]

I got them through the potential new distributor for UK.

What's your connection?

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Streepips]

Neil,

PM sent

 

[Anonymous]

At a woodworking show a few years ago, several vendors were offering Freud chiselsat 5 for $10. For that price I picked up five in some odd sizes (3/16", 5/16" etc). These were individual chisel with no box. Some had the handle shape as shown on Amazon and some had boxwood London pattern handles (really, really poor quality London pattern boxwood handles).
As you can see from the link, these look very much like the Narex and I suspect they are. I gave them a quick sharpen and was pleasantly surprised that the backs needed very little work. I haven't used them enough to see how well they hold an edge because the handles are really abysmal. After reading this thread, I dug them out for another look. The blades are thin and the sidewalls bevels extend very close to the edge so I think I will set two of them up for dovetail chisels and replace the handles.

 

[Streepips]

Some interesting points there Roger, let us know how you get on with them as dovetailers and with new handles ( They do look awful I agree)
I think the Narex link to them might be not all it may appear though. Firstly, the box .Made in Italy....Narex manufacture solely in Czech Republic as far as I know, but could have supplied OEM metalwork to Freud to fit their own handles.......Or Freud altered and finished the handles in a way to differentiate the product from the Narex equivalent. Also as far as I know Narex has only ever supplied in decimal gradations, not imperial. Guess we will never know the full story!
I have some pics of the Narex I received last week for comparison.

Full set of the bevel edge range
and heres a closer look

and a close up of the Beech handle, which are nicely finished and ergonomically sound, good to grip and not at all slippery

What thickness are the Freud ones? the Narex are not bulky..........

and the width is very close to what its intended to be:

They come with a decently ground bevel ( I have not measured the angle, itself, no doubt it somewhere near the traditional ) and a micro bevel as well, with a hardly perceptible wire at the back

As for the back itself, I am more used to seeing the grinder marks in an arc as per the Marples range and others but these have faint lines perpendicular to the length.

The grinder marks were not detectable with a fingernail so I began the flatting at 360 grit. I remember starting the Marples off at 80 grit ! and they were hard work !
Heres how it looked after the 360 grit for a few minutes.

I decided to be realistic here and allocate just a few minutes to each grade, 360, 600, 800, 1200 and 1500. The pics only go up to the 1200 finish but thats enough for this exercise I think. Total time spent on flatting the back by hand on one chisel through these grades was less than 30 minutes, so they are easy to work. I only concentrated on the first 60 per cent of the business end. so add some time if you want to go right up to the tang end. As I said, I wanted a realistic test.

This is how it looked after a further 4 minutes with 600 grit:

and then onto a few minutes with 800 grit:

Starting to get the beginnings of a reflective surface now

and so on to the 1200............................

and of course it cut beautifully after that ( and a quick wipe on an Indian stone )

First some endgrain paring on some old pine, the some work on oak ( USA White)

I think I will be happy with these !

 

[Anonymous]

The blades on your Narex chisels look similar to the Freuds but the handles are waaaay better. That is a nice looking set of chisels and good job setting them up!

 

[bugbear]

If anyone is concerned about the large side bevels for DT use, I would remind people that grinding sides is fairly easy.

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... 70&#130170

BugBear (who wishes Alf were still here)

 

[Anonymous]

I made a handle per Alf's howto and it is much nicer than the Freud chisel. :lol: