Reply To: Chisels
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It was perhaps 8 years ago that I bought my first “cabinetmaker’s” chisel. I studied and researched and compared for weeks. I finally decided on the Hirsch brand (which I think is made by Two Cherries).
As Scott V has said, these very hard, highly polished chisels aren’t quite the same beast as you might expect. I spend literally days trying to prepare my new chisels. The hard, polished backs were the very devil to flatten.
After one particularly long session of trying to prepare the 3/4″ Hirsch, I decided to try and hold a bit of wood and pare it a bit. It took a great deal of effort to try and get any shaving – however, due to being tired, frustrated, and lazy – it seemed to take no effort at all when the chisel came off the wood I was holding (I KNOW! I KNOW!) and took off the top 1/4″ of my right thumb….
At that point (well, after I got back from the Emergency Room), I decided to splurge and get the newly released Lie Nielsen chisels. I’ve been quite happy with them…. (and yes, I need to try the hair spray trick)
Since then, I’ve tried the Blue Spruce bench chisels – I think they are measurably better than the Lie-Nielsens. I don’t own any of Dave Jeske’s (Blue Spruce) bench chisels, but I do have several of his dovetail and long paring chisels. Again, I’ve never used a better tool.
I also have a Japanese paring slick made by Tasai that I got back at the first Woodworking in America conference in 2008. Some people like the Japanese chisels (Charlesworth, Kingshott, et al)… eh…. As David Charlesworth says, they’re a bit of a thoroughbred – it takes a time and a touch to get the best out of them. The Tasai chisel is a fine tool, but perhaps I just don’t have the talent to fully appreciate it.
That said, I’ll never buy another tool from Hirsch or Two Cherries. Some people love them; but just hearing the name makes my thumb ache……..