Any chisel experts around?

I had a basic chisel set which I wrecked through inexperience. I need to buy a nice new set which I promise I’ll look after much better this time 🙂

I could do with a boxed set with the tools in to sharpen the chisels as well. If I have everything in one box it’s much better for me as I’ll look after it much better and I won’t lose bits.

I’ll be using them for install door locks, general carpentry stuff like that, not Chippendale furniture…..

Budget is around £40-£50 absolute max.

Any ideas?

Found these two….

No sharpening in this one but I like Bahco stuff (wooden box too!): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bahco-424P-S6-EUR-424P-Wooden-6Pcs/dp/B0007WGHEO/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1479990787&sr=1-1

This one?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stanley-016130-Chisel-Oilstone-Pieces/dp/B004NOXJ4I/ref=sr_1_1?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1479990858&sr=1-1

Stanley stuff is very hit and miss these days. Some good things some not so good. Bahco1stuff is generally good ime. You should be able to get a set of irwin marples in budget. Decent mid range tools.

It is worth spending a little bit more for hand tools (well any tools really).

Have a look at Japanese chisels, Google ore nomi. Hold their edge for a lot longer. You will need a decent stone.

One word of warning they are more brittle, but if keeping them in a box this shouldn’t be a problem
Just don’t hit any nails.!

It is worth spending a little bit more for hand tools (well any tools really).

I fully subscribe to that, but I also know I tend to buy stuff which is way more than I actually need.

I can’t afford those japanese ones anyway.. Budget is very strict

I have had some Stanley Bailey chisels for about a year and have held up well, take an edge easily and hold it.

Im sorry, but suggesting Japanese chisels for what the OP requested is like suggesting a TT bike for someone wanting a bike to pop to the shops on!

Just found this set…

http://www.screwfix.com/p/irwin-ms500-marples-wood-chisels-sharpening-set-3pcs/80670

i have that irwin set.

its done exactly as you plan to over hte years for me .

just finished putting a door up this afternoon with them actually.

nice bits of kit. My dad has some nice fancy ones but thats his day job.

Irwins get used at work quite a lot. Whatever you do, don’t buy the forge steel ones from screwfix, even if they are £7 on the counter. £7 is a lot for something apparently made of cheese!

Buy Stanley or Irwin, but invest in a honing guide (Veritas Mk. II) and a pair of whetstones – an 800-1000 and a 6000-8000. They’ll all last you for life and will ensure quick and precise work, which you will really appreciate, I promise. For the work you’re wanting to do, hone to 30deg with a 35deg bevel. My top tip for chiselling is: don’t be greedy. Take a little at a time and you’ll make fewer mistakes (splits and chips), tools stay sharper because they’re effectively doing less work and suffer fewer chips.

Workshop heaven is a good place to look. They have a boxed set of namriks in your price range. I personally went for the Ashley iles bevel edge and they are an awesome upgrade.

Firstly, if you buy a set with the stone included etc, it’s likely to be aimed low end in my experience so you know…..don’t.

Secondly, workshop heaven may be higher in price than you seem to be looking for.
I have a set of Japanese chisels from there. Beautiful, but I wouldn’t recommend them to someone who wants an all round chisel.

Paul Sellers recommends the Aldi chisels and indeed, we’ve had some students with them and they seem perfectly good if prepared right.

Get a diamond stone, about £30 from Axminster.

Get a diamond stone, about £30 from Axminster.

A single stone isn’t really much use. A pair of stones, a few thousand apart, will mean one can actually put a polish on the cutting faces/edge. A stone with enough abrasion to level a face and take out chips is not going to leave an edge one would want to spend much time cutting with. Similarly, a stone one can polish a face with is going to take forever to get a straight, clean edge with.

Marples (now owned by Irwin) – job done.

Get a diamond stone, about £30 from Axminster.
A single stone isn’t really much use. A pair of stones, a few thousand apart, will mean one can actually put a polish on the cutting faces/edge.

Hmmm. If I get the required 2 stones for £30 each I then will have minus £10 to buy the chisels.
🙄

Buy Stanley or Irwin, but invest in a honing guide (Veritas Mk. II) and a pair of whetstones – an 800-1000 and a 6000-8000.

Honing guide £40, whetstones are £12 each from Axminster. So minus £14 to spend on chisels. Yay.

You don’t have to spend £30 each on stones. Unless you’re very well-practised you’re going to need a honing guide to get the correct angles on your blades. As I said, the guide and stones are one-off purchases but they are pretty much mandatory if you want chisels that work. Do you understand?

Edit for example after 30sec search:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361698233385

(I’m a furniture maker, by the way, so I do have a little experience)

That looks exactly like one which you get in a packaged set. Still have to buy the honing guide which after a quick look is about £10-15 (the one you advised to get is £38) so we are looking at £30-£35 max for the chisels, or nothing if I buy the honing guide you recommended.

My budget is £50 absolute max. Do YOU understand?

Thanks Trail_Rat, that sounds like a good recommendation.

Well, I bought some chisels from B&Q in a case – I think they are branded JCB….

They work & have yet to be sharpened or put anywhere near ‘a stone’,

I am not saying that sharpening them wouldn’t make them better than they currently are, but they work fine at the moment as is….

Just get some chisels & crack on. Buy the stones & honing guide if you need to at a later date.
If you need to bring an edge back, you could always get some really fine wet & dry, stick it on a flat surface (piece of glass??) and run the edge carefully over that a few times.

STW – your resource for over-thinking things……

marples/irwin are fine, you can buy just the sizes you need.

whetstones are OK in the workshop but a fuss if you are moving about.

I bought a trend credit card diamond thing which is meant for sharpening TCT cutters, each side is a different grade I keep it in my pocket and use it regularly.

dont bother with a honing guide, a bit of practice and you’ll get the knack of keeping your tools razor sharp. just prepare the back of the chisel to a mirror finnish first.

Hold fore for Axminster’s ‘Black Friday’ deals later tonight or tomorrow morning; they normally have a decent set on offer. They had the Kirschen sets on offer last year and I wish I’d bought one then… will do if they’re on offer again!

http://www.axminster.co.uk/hand-tools/chisels-axes-adzes/bevel-edge-chisel-sets

Another way to look at it is your butchering door frames and doors for hinges and catches.

Not building the ornate door.

I absolutely buy good tools for precision work but the Irwin’s work fine for doing hinge rebates and sinking a catch/plate in. The stone and honing guide keeps them sharp enough to continue doing them on a diy level.

And if I catch a screw a previous owners drilled the head off I won’t cry.

My budget is £50 absolute max. Do YOU understand?

Pick your toys up, of course I understand. When you start having to hammer your shitty blunt chisels into doors/frames/whatever and end up ripping out around the rebates, don’t forget to drop back into this thread. Enjoy your woodwork…

Dang knew I was doing it wrong.

Off to get my hammer from the garage to rip around the hinges.

Nothing wrong with wet+dry instead of stones as long as you’ve got a nice flat surface. I use it spray mounted on glass. I see Paul Sellers uses double-sided on one edge.

Cheap to get started.

Then any chisel will probably need some work, so I’m not sure the cost makes a lot of difference. My Stanley set came with one edge pretty rough, but they all needed work on the back.

So maybe buy some chisels you like the shape of the handle of. For me that means not plastic as it just never feels right on my set.

When you start having to hammer your shitty blunt chisels into doors/frames/whatever and end up ripping out around the rebates, don’t forget to drop back into this thread. Enjoy your woodwork…

Come on. That’s not a helpful attitude. We’re all working within budgets.

OP, father Christmas is bringing me a set of Rider chisels but they’re a little outside your budget. No doubt certain posters would consider it a moral failing to be using such inferior tools, but they’ll do for me.

I did a google and came up with these which are within your budget and very well reviewed.

Workshop heaven is a good place to look.

Ah great. Thanks for that.

Here was I, feeling all superior to Kryton57 and his insecure conspicuous consumption, and now I’m drooling all over a £200 tenon saw 😀

I’ve got the Bahco 424p chisels, nothing wrong with them at all. I don’t regret buying them, and would do so again if I had to as they were great value.

Hold for for Axminster’s ‘Black Friday’ deals later tonight

That was good advice

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-bevel-edge-chisel-sets-ax857158

or hunt out some old ones boot sale etc – its acrually nice to have different handles for each size /style.
Sharpening kit can be made up with wet n dry on flat boards .
Watch Paul Sellers video on sharpening.

Workshop heaven..local to me, the guy knows his stuff. I have some of the Narex chisels. I bought the sizes I needed and just add when I need another. I also have a couple of the Bahco ones.
You’ll find the more you use your chisels the more you’ll strive for better quality and sharper which in turn makes a chisel easier to use…this leads to honing guides, lapping film etc…
The Narex bevelled edged chisels are inexpensive and excellent vfm.
Whether you go with Bahco or not get a good honing guide, lapping film ( avaiable at workshop heaven ) and learn to prepare a chisel ready for honing.

I could do with a boxed set with the tools in to sharpen the chisels as well. If I have everything in one box it’s much better for me as I’ll look after it much better and I won’t lose bits.
I’ll be using them for install door locks, general carpentry stuff like that, not Chippendale furniture…..
Budget is around £40-£50 absolute max.

Go to Aldi innit.

I’m no expert but when I was doing the same thing as you are I ended up with Bahco 434’s. Supposedly better at holding an edge than the 424’s but not silly cabinet making grade. Ended up **** the big one on its first outing by hitting a nail, no great shakes as it will grind down fine.

Again, Aldi or Lidl chisels are also very highly regarded watch the Paul whosisface video on how to sharpen them and apply to whatever you buy. If going second hand then old school Marples are the go to, better than their Irwin namesakes (like Record vices).

I bought these individualy as an apprentice carpenter 20 years ago, still used regularly. I keep cheep old ones for using around nails or concrete.
http://www.tools4trade.co.uk/irwin-bevel-edge-chisel-set-6.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAvNrBBRDe3IOwzLn6_O4BEiQAmbK-Dl46hE3GSJl4yJS1y2DPOaGLbSLm5oKlc2jDHqqMV_oaApNk8P8HAQ

Buy a couple of Narex chisels from Workshop Heaven and a sharpening system of your choice.

Narex chisels

Have to say I regret buying them for our workshop. I find they don’t hold an edge nearly as well as the Marples and Sorbys we run alongside.

I’ve been looking in Aldi for ages for one of their sets but I don’t think they’ve sold them for a while now.

I have the bahco set Op listed. T’is lovely.
Cheap Irwin set for grunt work.

newrobdob – Member

I’ve been looking in Aldi for ages for one of their sets but I don’t think they’ve sold them for a while now.
I think Aldi sell them twice a year.

23rd of Jan 2015 was one date, so keep an eye out for a similar time this coming Jan.

Edit: Of course some chancer has them on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Powerfix-Woodworking-Chisel-Set-Lidl-as-Recommended-by-Paul-Sellers-FREEPOST-/291939916364?hash=item43f8f99a4c:g:kxAAAOSwo4pYJdGE

Edit2 – actually if you search for Powerfix chisels, they can be had for less:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Chisel-Set-Of-4-/322278759422?hash=item4b094f9bfe:g:pSoAAOSw3mpXK11-

Here was I, feeling all superior to Kryton57 and his insecure conspicuous consumption, and now I’m drooling all over a £200 tenon saw

I have to say, while I was on a day trip to Axminster in Warrington :), I played with their Japanese saws, fell in love, bought one and will probably never go back.
I was already a massive fan of Japanese pruning saws, and these confirm to me that they know best 🙂

This was the one I bought – £25 and I can’t imagine it being better. I will add one without the spine for finishing off plunge cuts. Replacement blades are interchangeable, so in theory I could just buy a blade at £12

http://www.axminster.co.uk/japanese-small-dozuki-tenon-saw-110048