Recommend a nice set of Chisels Please :-)

Discussion in 'Carpenters' Talk' started by BibTap, Jul 17, 2009.

  1. BibTap

    BibTap New Member

    Hiya,

    Just poped into my local tool shop to check out a set of chisels, Irwin Marples yellow and red handles M373..
    the first one I looked at was sharpened with a angled cutting edge ie.not square to the shaft, somewhat put me off, the tang stopped not long after entering the handle too, hmmm

    So, checked out a set of 5 Stanley Fat Max's, nice thru tang :) But, same, not sharpend with the blade square to the shaft?? Whats going on with the manufacturing quality?

    Checked out the set of 3 Fat Max's they were dead square sharpened, with a much better quality print on the blade... Cool, but very short, not good for locks!

    What to do?

    The shop is getting in a set of Bacho for me to check out...

    Where would you suggest I look to get a decent set of chisels please ?


    Cheers
     
  2. Guest

  3. Mof

    Mof Guest

    The red and yellow handled ones you mentioned are very very good, decent steel.
     
  4. !!

    !! Active Member

    I've had the yellow and red ones (marples at the time) for tens years now they are very good and I've a few robert sorbys i.e 3/4 and 1''

    all great chisels
     
  5. lightning bolt

    lightning bolt New Member

    had a set of marples 20 plus years bought for me when i started joinery (left to be electrician) still use them to date a little rough from lifting floor boards, yes i know before any one starts
     
  6. murrmac

    murrmac Member

    if the steel quality is good and the price is right, why would it matter that the edge isn't ground square ?

    it only takes a couple of minutes to grind the edges of the whole set square on a bench grinder.

    you will then need to sharpen them, but you would have had to do that anyway ...
     
  7. Welshmally

    Welshmally New Member

    I have an old set of the red and yellow handled chisels - they belonged to my Dad and he bought them from Buck & Ryan in Camden Town probably 40 years ago.

    They don't get a huge amount of use (not like you guys anyway) but they're still in excellent condition and hold a fabulous edge.

    Any tipe on the correct grinding angle and subsequent sharpening would be much appreciated.
    Cheers

    WM
     
  8. stevie-c

    stevie-c Member

    ive had a set of red an yellow marples since 1969 an thet r still going strong- just square em up on a grindstone
     
  9. Captain Leaky

    Captain Leaky New Member

    I have two sets of chisels - a decent Marples set for quality work and some tatty B&Q ones for levering, hacking, bashing and general abuse ;)
     
  10. BibTap

    BibTap New Member

    Cheers the Rutland's ones look pretty good :)

    Thanks everso for all the feedback on the Marples red/yellow chisels.

    It just puts me off a bit when a quality piece of equipment is not finished nicely. Not having a square edge to a number of chisels in a set makes me wonder about the actual quality of the product let alone the manufacturing process.

    After all, having manufactured decent chisels for a good number of years would not one think they would have perfected a square finish to the blade, unless of course manufacturing quality assurance has fallen off a cliff.

    Sorry probably me being pick nickity, and wanting good quality stuff to look as if it's cared about during design and manufacture.

    To throw another name in to the mix what would your thoughts be on Footprint chisels, not seen any as of yet, just a friend said his still got his from years ago.

    Many Thanks
    :)
     
  11. JarraMag

    JarraMag New Member

    To be fair I bought my set of Marples recently and they came with a nice square edge!
     
  12. Mr Mike

    Mr Mike New Member

    Trust me bibtap, you don't want a clumsy set of firmer chisels a la Rutlands........stick with any of the other bevel edged chisels mentioned......your work will be better for it.
     
  13. Mof

    Mof Guest

    Look you have seen the verdict, forget the footprint, get a set of yellow red handled ones, you wont be disapointed.
     
  14. MAERSK

    MAERSK New Member

    If you want your chisels to last, then buy marples. simple.
     
  15. jimbotee

    jimbotee New Member

    A handy tip for chisels is to 'Hollow Grind' them, this means that, if you put a straight edge from the blade edge to the top edge, there is only those two points of contact and the metal inbetween is curved away slightly. This method is better for speed of sharpening, as you only have to hone about 3-4mm of metal and not the whole length of that particular angle. If your grinding the chisel with a bench grinder, dont forget to dip the end in water every couple of seconds, this 'tempers' the metal to keep it hard, I didn't do this once and the chisel edge was similar to butter. good luck.
     
  16. BibTap

    BibTap New Member

    Thanks for all the tips and experiences, seems to be well in favor of the Marples
    Cheers :)
     
  17. MAERSK

    MAERSK New Member

  18. wuddy

    wuddy Member

    i would have said the red/yellow marples as they are pretty much industry standard with most joiners, i had a set for years and they were excellent but i lost them.
    i bought a new set a few years a go and they are not the same quality steel as the last ones and do not seem to hold an edge aswell, i bought them in a wooden box set quite cheap so maybe they used a lower quality to get the price down on the sets or maybe the quality has dropped or maybe i just got a bad batch who knows?
     
  19. I do agree with kevsid i use dto have a lovely set of marples which my father bought for me when i was about twelve then they got stolen so i bought myself a new set last christmas and as he said they don't hold there edge like the used to but if you get into the habbit of touching your chisels up evey time you get them out not only will your chisels be nice and sharp your work will be the better for it :)
     

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