Chisels
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Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Chisels
Tagged: Narex
I have the Narex chisels and really like them so far. More than adequate for hobbyist work or even moderate craftsman work. If money is no object then definitely get the LNs which have received excellent reviews in the trade. Good luck!
So, after reading everyone’s input, it has left me as confused as I was before, except I think the two cherries/hirsch/ece will be to, hard of a steel for what I am looking for. Also, George’s response has resonated with me on my want versus need on a new set of chisels. Also, with having a couple of cheap, but usable chisels, I wonder if just piece-milling a set together, as I need certain sized chisels, is the way to go. In the interim, I order a buck brothers chisel from craftsman studio and I am impressed so far. The feel in my hand is pleasant, the ease.of.sharpening to a razor blade sharpness is nice as well. The back has a hollow spot, that will require some work to flatten, but other than that I like what I am seeing. As the week goes on I will put it to work and report back and try to post some pictures.
On a side note, I read an article about chisels online and the author was talking about the hardness of steel, stating that having a hard steel isn’t always better. If a steel is to hard, the edge becomes brittle and is harder to sharpen, but can retain a sharp edge longer. Softer metals are not as brittle, easier to sharpen but dull quicker. So with that information, I was chopping some dados 4″ wide 1/2″ deep in 2×6’s and 2×4″, using my irwin blue chip marples and I kept a strop near by to strop the blade as I felt the chisel give some resistance. When I was done with the 4 dados, I gave the 1″ chisel a final stropping and it was still razor sharp. I was able to slice a sheet of paper in half by using the weight of the chisel only.
So, I am begining to think I just need to understand the limitations of my tools and learn how to work with them…. There are better chisels out there are great values, but sometimes working with what you got is even better value.
Dan