Official Luthiers Forum!

From what I could read from many posts I can see that everyone has different opinions when it comes to chisels. I have narrowed down my choice to Lie Nielsen's or paring chisels such as Taylor's or Sorby's. So far I am using very cheap ones and I am looking to upgrade.

Could you let me know what would your choice be and why? Or if you have some other recommendation in the $250 range please let me know.

Regards, Gorjan

You don't need expensive chisels. Sometimes they are just nice to have though. I bought some Ashley Isles MKII's because of the accuracy of the ground Backs and the thin side walls. Not cheap but not in the Lie Nielsen price range either. I also have a fair number of old English Chisels from various makers.
They all do the job.

I have 4 2 cheries chisels (3/4, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8) - not pricey, they take a nice edge and seem to keep it well - and a long 3/4 paring chisel from Henry Taylor after some advice from more knowledgeable folks around here, but mainly because it was cheaper than the equivalent Sorby.This site has them closer in price, though: http://www.toolnut.co.uk/products/chise ... ng_chisels

My advice, don´t let the japanese chisel bug bite you. you´ll never stop.

good luck.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Todd,

What do you consider as "really good sharpening gear"?


Thanks,
Scott

Todd - has some really nice Youttube videos on sharpening - after watching them my sharpening improved and I decided to use DMT stones to sharpen and some green paste on a strop - that has worked great for me.
After gathering some Amazon rewards points - I used them to buy a Worksharp as well - so now I use both methods - the Worksharp is quick to get me where I want and I still strop with the green compound -

sharpening different tools requires different techniques -

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I have a very nice set of Marples I bought in the early 80's... but they were so nice I hardly used them for fear of damaging them. In fact, I think I cried when I broke a corner of the largest one.

So most of time I've used a few Craftsman chisels I bought back in the Stone Age in the sizes I needed. They've taken years of abuse and been re-sharpened hundreds of times through the decades.

My suggestion? Go to a pawn shop and buy old good quality brand name ones from the bargain bin to use as your day to day stuff. You need practice re-sharpening anyway. Right?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Good advise here.
For git building, I use an old Buck Bros. 1/2" for carving braces, it's long,
and a little 3/32" for saddle slot clean up,
and that's about it.
Find an old Swan chisel or something similar.
Or, spend more money if ya have it on good new ones.
I don't know which ones are best,
but I have some blue handle Marples that I don't like much.
Also, a 3/4" is needed.

Chris: I do need to practice sharpening and it is a great suggestion

Todd: Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it. If I am not wrong I have seen that you have a huge collection of chisels, and saying that you prefer and use your Lie Nielsen chisels most makes a difference. I have one question for you, why wouldn't you use them for paring? I know that they are on the thick side, but I have no experience with high end chisels or any types of chisels in particular, since here (in Macedonia) you can only find the equals to the $25 set you find in Harbor Freight)

Do you believe I need paring chisels more or should I start with some nice bench chisels and that with time (as soon as my budget allows) I should get some paring chisels?

Regards, Gorjan

Todd´s video(s?) on sharpening really opened up my mind, debunked sharpening and helped me streamline and speed-up things. Sometimes i do like a more zen sharpening experience, but most of the times it´s DMT and waterstone (in my case a Naniwa chosera 5000 and SS 8000 - http://www.fine-tools.com/naniwa-chosera.html , nice dealer BTW). I still don´t make the 60 seconds mark, though...

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I really like Blue Spruce chisels but they are quite expensive. I personally don't own a lot of chisels -- I find that eight has been the sweet spot for me and they are a variety of different sizes and styles that serve specific needs. Also, you might try looking into a good Japanese chisel.

Todd,

Thanks. I was just curious because I respect your opinion and I had just taken a sharpening class at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop. They had us grinding our new plane blades and chissels on a grinder then hitting them on whatever stones we had. I had the Norton waterstones, but they seem to highly recommend the Shapton's. Though I did two blades for my LN 60-1/2 and two of the Marple chisels that I have, I do not feel that comfortable on the grinder to do my other plane blades and the few Blue Spruce chisels that I have accumulated.

Scott

If I was given a choice now vs 5 years ago, I would buy a set of Narex chisels. I used a friend's Narex with the black resin handles a few months ago. They are excellent chisels and take and hold an edge every bit as well as my Lie-Nielsen's for a fraction of the cost. The Narex factory is located in the Czech Republic and has been is business in one form or another since 1919. Looks like the have a Greek and a few Bulgarian dealers.
http://proe.cz/narexby2/index.php?Lang=EN&r=art_first_page

Lee Valley is selling some Narex chisels, but they have beech handles.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

It's pretty difficult to come across Chisels that are unusable. I once bought a set from a Supermarket for very little money, whilst not the last word in refinement they are perfectly adequate for the needs of lutherie.
We just don't tax them anywhere near as much as a Cabinet maker does.