A recommendation for a chisel set for a beginner.

It doesnt look damaged , more like some one made a speciality chisel out of it. it looks like a fine set
When you get them cleaned and sharpened you will be a proud owner of some good tools. Well done.

I’m really pleased with my Narex chisels. They have wooden handles and decent appearing blades. They have sharpened up really nicely and give a real feel of quality all for £40. Be careful which set you get as they are metric. I ended up getting both sets so have 8 in total ranging from 6mm to 32mm. I don’t think a purchaser would be disappointed. They feel really good in the hand.
When paring lots I found (having flattened the flats) that I was slicing my fingers on the edges. Having looked it up here I ended up lightly sanding the corners like Paul does on his planes and so on.

I just had a good look at them and, yes, the 2 Diamond brand chisels are Chinese and should be useful for scraping dried glue and similar rough tasks. The altered one is a British made Marples and would be useful either in its present form or cut and ground back to full width. The no-name chisel looks respectable enough and is very likely British as well. Not a bad deal on the whole for 7 pounds.

Dave

Like you I had no idea what to get and had (have) a very limited budget and went with Paul’s advice of old British chisels found off Ebay or car boot sales from which I’ve had some real bargains. Didn’t look for a set as such, but bought individual sizes as and when they came up at a reasonable price. Certainly don’t be put off by a little rust. I now have a ‘set’ of chisels maybe not of the same make, but certainly of makes with a fine reputation in days gone by. All are old, most but not all needed fettling (flattening backs and sharpening) but all will see me out and no doubt last for generations to come.

I did the same for planes, saws in fact virtually all my tools and I haven’t been sold a dud yet.