I know there have been many threads about the choice of chisels and I have read them all I think but I am still undecided on what to buy. I am interested in the idea of trying M and T and dovetail joints just for the fun of it (for me woodworking is only for enjoyment anyway) and also just having a reasonable set of chisels for general use. I have some very cheap draper chisels that cost £15 from a cheap big store. I am reluctant to invest much effort in getting these into a useable state (I have the relevant sharpening equipment) but would prefer to buy a set of decent or half decent chisels on the basis that I am more likely to get into using them if they are a pleasure to use (this principle seems to have worked with planes when I bought a couple of LN to replace an old poor condition Stanley).

I am prepared to consider buying something as expensive as a set of LN bench chisels but would also like to consider cheaper, particularly as many people regard some cheaper chisels as excellent value and more than up to the job. There seem to be a number of cheaper brands such as Narex, Two Cherries (otherwise known as Kirschen I understand) or Ashley Iles. There seem to be different camps of people preferring the Narex over the Two Cherries and vice versa. I don't know to what extent this is personal preference or people just trying the one brand and liking it. Many people very much like the Ashley Iles and regard these as a definite cut (sorry about the Freudian slip!) above Narex and Two Cherries. Others don't like the AI and I wonder if they are commenting on the latest Mk2 version (I don't know when this came out). Then there are the Japanese chisels such as these from Axminster:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/ice-bear-japanese-oire-nomi-chisel-set-prod820165/

If anyone would like to offer any advice it would be much appreciated.

Veritas brought out this metal which apparently best of both worlds  easy sharpening but still has good blade retention

http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.aspx?p=69847&cat=1,41504

Thanks for your suggestions/feedback Brett and also Richard - it was your comment on an earlier thread that made me think twice about the Ashley Iles. The PM-V11 are $360 (Canadian) which is around £230. After postage and import duties I guess that would be around £300. I have been offered 7.5% discount off the LN chisel set (if I buy some other stuff as well) so I may consider that as well. Yet another option is to try and get my wife to bring something back from San Francisco next week (she is there for a week) but she might clobbered for import duties and even worse, would have to know what they cost  .

Thanks for your suggestions/feedback Brett and also Richard - it was your comment on an earlier thread that made me think twice about the Ashley Iles. The PM-V11 are $360 (Canadian) which is around £230. After postage and import duties I guess that would be around £300. I have been offered 7.5% discount off the LN chisel set (if I buy some other stuff as well) so I may consider that as well. Yet another option is to try and get my wife to bring something back from San Francisco next week (she is there for a week) but she might clobbered for import duties and even worse, would have to know what they cost  .

U can get away with the import duty just say they are second hand and you where given them.  Just take them out of the packages etc make them look a little used or something.

Or

Buy them in the UK
http://www.axminster.co.uk/veritas-veritas-pm-v11-bench-chisels-prod887049/

I've done a bit of research and chisels attract duty as well as vat (I think it is 3.5%) so if the postage cost was £30 (a guess) then the total cost would be £335 which to me seems excessive compared to £209 for the LN set.

I have LN's, and like them. They are beautiful chisels, and turned up and sharp when you receive them but I do find them a bit "light" in my hands.

If you are like me and weight and feel are important, I would suggest you actually pick up a chisel and try it before you buy a set.

For every day bench work I still prefer my cheapo yellow handle Marples. The steel is a bit soft but I really like the weight and I find them great for almost every task except dovetails.

Tim

Tim, thanks for that. What would you recommend for dovetails? (speciality ones or ones that just have a thinner blade?)

I use regular chisels for dovetails but I do have a 1/8" LN chisel to get into the corners.

 I have a very mixed set of chisels.

LN are fantastic, a bit short in the usable steel for my taste, has a  big thick blade.
pfeil also very good, thinner blade gets really sharp good edge retention. (metric)

old set of marples softer than the above but sharpen up really fast.

ashley iles I have 2 inch chisel that was factory fresh. despite grinding and sharpening at least 5  times the edge crumbles like crazy.

I tried some of the woodriver a few years back and those are pretty good for a first set of chisels.

 I'd like to try the new lee valley ones but festool seems to be sinking into my brain.

Bottom line is your going to use the chisel that fits into your hand well. 

I have used the older Marples and the newer Marples/Irwin, and they were both nice but really soft steel and dulled quickly.  I tried the Narex, but they had handles that were so light the chisels felt strange and off-balance.  I was never comfortable with them.  I used the Ashley Isles, and they were pretty soft too.  I even had a set of Craftsmans quite a few years back.  I finally got sick of sharpening all of the bargain-priced chisels after very little use (and light use at that).

Just my 2 cents, but I highly recommend the Lie Nielsens if you can swing them.  I got rid of all the others and got a set of the L-Ns.  As a side benefit, I haven't had to sharpen half as much!

Good luck with whatever you decide on!

Thanks for all the latest replies, you are all helping me a lot in my decision making. I sharpened up a blue handled stanley (6 years old vintage) and it dulled very quickly when I used it to cut a mortise. After this experience I don't want a soft chisel. On the other hand I don't want to wreck an expensive chisel cutting mortises. Are LN suitable for this operation using a mallet? (I have ordered a Thor nylon hammer following the recommendation of Paul Sellers). Or would the PM-V11 be a better choice for this? I may do as Woodguy suggests and get LN for intricate/less aggressive work and something cheaper but still reasonably hard for heavy duty chopping.

As a side note, do you guys use waterstones for sharpening or something quicker like a Tormek or Worksharp?

I have a Tormek. "Quicker" is probably not a good thing to call the Tormek, but it does sharpen a lot of things well. If you get some good chisels it's worth becoming proficient with waterstones (practice on something you don't love too much).

I wouldn't use a worksharp on anything very expensive personally.

I may do as Woodguy suggests and get LN for intricate/less aggressive work and something cheaper but still reasonably hard for heavy duty chopping.

I would concur, I would use my LN dovetails etc. and get something else for heavy duty chopping. I haven't tried the LV's yet but I'm tempted.

As a side note, do you guys use waterstones for sharpening or something quicker like a Tormek or Worksharp?

Tormek and stones for fine tuning. The Tormek is a great system if you can swing it.
Tim

Quote from: cliffp on June 01, 2013, 03:21 AM

Thanks for all the latest replies, you are all helping me a lot in my decision making. I sharpened up a blue handled stanley (6 years old vintage) and it dulled very quickly when I used it to cut a mortise. After this experience I don't want a soft chisel. On the other hand I don't want to wreck an expensive chisel cutting mortises. Are LN suitable for this operation using a mallet? (I have ordered a Thor nylon hammer following the recommendation of Paul Sellers). Or would the PM-V11 be a better choice for this? I may do as Woodguy suggests and get LN for intricate/less aggressive work and something cheaper but still reasonably hard for heavy duty chopping.

As a side note, do you guys use waterstones for sharpening or something quicker like a Tormek or Worksharp?

I have a Tormek. "Quicker" is probably not a good thing to call the Tormek, but it does sharpen a lot of things well. If you get some good chisels it's worth becoming proficient with waterstones (practice on something you don't love too much).

I wouldn't use a worksharp on anything very expensive personally.

Yes Tormek system is very good, but Kev is right, it is not quick. But great for tune ups.

When all of my 40 year old Stanley chisels started to look ragged I started to look at all of those Exotic chisels until I saw the prices. I just could not see hitting a hidden stable with a 150.00 chisel.I went and bought a Tormek instead of the chisels.It was almost the same price as a set of Japanese chisels.My old Stanleys are sharper now then when I bought them. And every Knife in the house cuts now to Boot.

For chopping I like japanise chisels with simple high carbon steel blades (good ones, not cheap) and for paring I use japanese

What kind of Japanese chisels do you use?
Tim

Hey Cliff
did you make up your mind and buy any chisels ?

cheers fishy