Hej Kate,

This is more on the Robert Sorby and Henry Taylor chisels in general. Based on my experience with quite a few Robert Sorby products and some from Henry Taylor, I’d say they make good chisels; as long as one is prepared to spend time (occasionally a lot of time) on flattening, and “absolute” accuracy and precision aren’t required. Nothing to remark on sharpness or edge retention, and as can be seen in some of the earlier WWMC videos, the Robert Sorby chisels withstand quite the beating.

Good very early morning (CET-zone),

Perhaps the comparison is unfair, but when putting my Robert Sorby Gilt Edge Chisels against Henry Taylor paring chisels and swan-necks, the latter flattened with less effort on my behalf. In addition, a couple of years ago I posted a message on comparing the time it took to get chisels flat. After adjusting for variations in the widths of the chisels, the Robert Sorby ones fared rather less than well; which is sad because I like them otherwise. Those from Lie-Nielsen – needless to say – came out flat, accurate, precise.

As Mr. P. Sellers makes no reference to the R. Sorby chisels, please allow me to point out that they are recognisable by their very red handles.

Chisels come as flat as the need to be, after all they are not planes and modern chisels are ground from a billet of steel.

In reality, if you are only using the chisel for chopping mortises and slicing, then you only need to have the last 1/8 to 1/4 inch flat and polished because it is one side of your cutting edge. The rest of it plays a supporting role, so to speak.

For chisels that are used for paring, then again, providing that the edge and a few registered points along the backs are mainly flat, then that’s good enough. When all is said and done, we don’t need engineering tolerances in wood. The blade will flex in use and render close tolerances useless.

Paradoxically, Japanese chisels and plane blades intentionally have a hollow section along the centre of the back; only the back 1/4 inch or so of the bevel and a section up each side is flattened. Their reasoning is that it is less effort to maintain a small amount of flat metal at the important points of contact than the whole surface.

A little bit of work on polishing the backs progressing down the grits each time you sharpen will, in time, give you a true, flat back, if that’s what you wish.
In the most recent videos, Paul Sellers is intentionally using inexpensive chisels bought from a supermarket – new, grind marks and all to begin with. He’s been using them for a couple of years or so and if you stop the vid and look carefully you’ll see that he’s polished the business end, but further back the grind marks are visible although beginning to fade away. Come back in a couple of years and they’ll have mostly disappeared.

Good luck.

Agreed. the economics of tools is a complex subject.

Journeymen workers in times past (my Gt-Grandfather was one) worked mostly on piece-rate, had to provide their own tools which were prone to damage or loss – hence their name stamps. Apart from the cost, tools were an expendable item.

I was given a new set of Lie-Nielsen Stanley750 copies once; They are very nice, work OK ……. but don’t ‘feel’ right. One day I’ll sell ’em on.

My own preference in chisels is usually toward second-hand pre-war forged chisels, usually by Marples or Sorby. Even so, the quality of some of these well-regarded makers can vary, so you take a risk and in time build up a good selection that work well. I’m always able and willing to make and replace damaged handles with a replica. If it’s a good one, I’ll put my name-stamp on it and keep it, otherwise I sell it on.

The crucial part as far as I’m concerned is the quality of the back. I don’t care if it’s dirty – I can clean it. Likewise a colouring of rust – I can get that off. Damaged edges can be re-ground. Busted and split handles can be re-made as the original. However If I see corrosion or pitting on the back within an inch of the tip I’ll leave it alone. Any pitting more than an inch back is a problem for the next generation of owners, not me and it’ll probably get flattened-out by then with repeat sharpening.

The hardness of the steel is a double edged sword, so to speak. Some of the modern, high quality hard steels can be a pain in the neck, literally, to sharpen, so that the time expended getting an edge weighs against the effort. Alternatively, too soft and it does not cut well and you’ll spend more time at the stones getting your edge back.
There is a happy medium and for me it is the old fashioned forged steel that is getting hard to find nowadays.

Hello Kate
Looking at your original post, it suggests that you are working in larger timber and heavier framing.
Two things spring to mind; firstly if you are doing it for a living, why not look for a mortise machine? I know that ‘machine’ can be a dirty word, but when it comes to earning money we sometimes have to get dirty. Second, heavier framing work needs a heavier chisel than a firmer … typically a pig-sticker. Bigger tools were all iron, but they are very rare, mostly in museums.

Now, these chisels are still available in reasonable numbers second-hand and because there’s less of a market, tend to be a bit cheaper. Because they are heavy duty, the aesthetics are less important.

Some of the modern makers are making these, but the new ones are best avoided. Most are unusable. The main problem regarding old, damaged Pig-stickers is replacing a damaged handle: Where you can use a square, tapered tang on a conventional chisel to form its own path in a replacement handle, Pig-stickers use a tapered tang with a rectangular section which means that the hole has to be carefully cut by hand.

Hwyl fawr