Does anyone have the Ashley Isle chisels?
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My wife kind of surprised me by wanting to get me a gift. I say kind of because she wanted to buy me some tools but didn’t know what. So she told me to pick something out 🙂
Anyway, I have a set of plastic handled chisels and have been wanting some wooden ones – I don’t need them which is why I don’t have them but I figure if it is going to be a gift then why not.
Anyway, I have been looking at the Ashley Isle MK2 chisels for a while. They are right in my budget and everyone seems to loves them. I don’t have a dedicated set of mortise chisels, so I would want to make sure these would withstand the use they would get. Does anyone have them? The manufacture loves to brag about how thin they are. Are they touch enough to withstand a small beating while making a mortise?
I am just starting out and don’t have my workbench finished, but I have these chisels.
They came quite sharp.
I read a lot of reviews about them and I know that Paul can recommend these. I was going to buy something non-crappy and didn’t know about the Narex, but in US so couldn’t do the Aldi chisels thing (at that time).
I haven’t done a mortise yet and I haven’t had to re-sharpen them yet, but they seem to come highly recommended.
I have an Ashley isles gouge. It’s a nice gouge. Handle is is balanced very well and feels very nice inn my hand. I’ve had it for 3 years now. Easy to sharpen and holds a nice edge.
I have a gouge too. Its nice. Would like to have some of their chisels.
I have them they are the set that I use for best I have others that I use for mortices or heavy chopping.They take a superb edge and hold it well the edges taper to almost nothing so are superb for dovetails and paring work.I would say that they are possibly the easiest chisels I own to sharpen and hold there edge at least as long. I would not use them for chopping heavy mortices though I hear that Ashley Iles customer service is exceptional and from what I have read they would rectify any problems hope this helps . Ben
Thanks Ben. Since I don’t have a set of chisels for mortising maybe I would be better off not getting these.
Thinking about it…If the chisels from Aldis are good…can you buy a bad chisel? I have the narex, but don’t like the handles so I reshaped them. I have a set of the aldis coming. I don’t need them, but for the price why not.
I am not worried about them being bad chisels. From the makers reputation I am quite sure I couldn’t find better for the price.
However, The chisels are ground pretty thin, and are not sold for mortising, but dovetailing. I am a bit nervous spending upwards of $150 and bend or snap the steel using it for something other than its purpose. My old Bluechip Marples (The original, not Irwin) aren’t mortising chisels either, but I feel they are substantial enough to get the job done.
If it were me and I already had a decent set of chisels I would look into a nice plow plane or a rabbet plane instead. Definitely cannot go wrong with the quality of Ashley isles chisels, but in the end you have to consider whether or not you will get your moneys worth using them.
You could use the blue ones for mortising. You would probably be fine using the Iles if you are careful. I have tried both style of chisels and I like to use a mortising chisel. It seems like I stay more square with the mortise chisel.
I have the Mk2 AI chisels and they are thin and I haven’t had any issues but they do require small bites and a deliberate “feel” for the resistance when mortising. I’m very pleased with them but for something more robust I also bought these:
http://www.traditionalwoodworker.com/Set-of-6-Firmer-Bevel-Edge-Chisels-Sheffield-England/productinfo/225-F98/
The lands on the Henry Taylor are considerably thicker compared to others including the Marples.
They’re in the same price range as the AI chisels.
Craig
Oh, those look nice. I will consider it for sure!
I have some of the MK 2 AI chisels. They sharpen well, hold an edge, and have great balance. But I have used them for dovetails and paring, not for mortises- I do have a 1/4″ AI mortise chisel for this, which is also great.
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