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Well, after regrinding the angle of my Ashley Iles chisels to 30 degrees and trying them they still are way to brittle to be of any use. I could feel a difference in the amount of pressure required for paring cuts with 30 degrees compared to 25 degrees. The US retailer has blown me off regarding the Ashley Iles guarantee and I have not heard a peep from Ashley Iles regarding my complaint.
So, I sprung for some Veritas PM-V11 chisels and I am very glad I did. They hold an edge extremely well at 25 degrees. Even when the edge gets the slightest amount of crumble a few passes on a 6000 grit waterstone restores the edge beautifully. These Veritas chisels are roughly 3x the cost of Ashley Iles so it is not really a fair comparison. I just wish I had gone straight to the PM-V11s rather than the intermediate step of Ashley Iles, which will wind up collecting dust in a remote corner of my shop.
This post is not meant to savage Ashley Iles. Just a bit of info to share that might help some others make an informed choice in selecting chisels.

Thanks,

I got some plane blades with the pmv 11, seems they take an edge real nice.

I've got the powdered metal irons in a #4 smoother and a bevel down jack, both Veritas planes. The PM-V11 metal really is nice but unless you have $500 for a set of 7 chisels, there are other chisels that work well for lutherie that won't break the bank. $50 for a set of 6 Narex chisels will do 95% of what I need.

That being said, I am thinking about selling off most of my chisel sets to buy the PM-V11 set. Everyone I have spoken with loves these things after getting a set.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

John, A cabinetmaker might need a whole set of chisels for different tasks but I find 2 chisels work for nearly 100% of my tasks: a 1/4" and a 3/4".
Just about any brand of chisel will work. It just depends on how much time you want to spend grinding and sharpening. I could not carve the braces of a single guitar top with my Ashley Iles chisels without 3 sessions on the sharpening stones and a least one grinding to re-establish the hollow grind. Irritating to say the least!

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Buy one (maybe a 1/4" or 3/8") and try it...and you'll soon be ordering more. I've got several sets of chisels, but I always seem to reach for a PM-V11. Great chisels.

Hey Tom-

It sounds like you got a set from a REALLY bad batch of chisels. I have never heard of problems like this from AI - I bet the heat treatment process failed at some stage. I'm glad the Veritas chisels are working well for you. The more I think about it, the more I want some.


P.S. Thanks for the kerfed linings you sent.

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

You can make these chisels that won't hold an edge into VERY useable tools by sharpening them to a 80° angle. Yes, nearly straight up! Even the cheapest chisel will hold a decent edge at that angle...

You'll soon realize that it will have become one of your most used and loved chisels, too.