Official Luthiers Forum!

The cheap set of Chisels that I have couldn't hold an edge if I were cutting butter all day, so now that I'm starting on my second guitar, it was time for me to invest in some new Chisels.

I have purchased a few of the Two Cherries Chisels based on their price and the reviews that most of you gave.

I think I will still invest in the LMI glue clearing Chisel since I could see this as being a great addition to my set.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

And for Peter who is also looking to buy some Chisels, please keep the suggestions coming, as some more options may help him to decide on which to purchase.

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Japan Woodworker is a great place for chisels. There house brand paring chisels are a great value.

5.99 each or this set for 46.99 at Highland Woodworking .com These are Czech made and I purchased a couple for bracework. Boy was I ever amazed at the bang for the buck. Hold an edge very well and polish like a mirror. Highly recommended, by me.

I also have a set of Irwin Marples and they are wonderful chisels as well.

My favorite though of all is the dog-leg chisel from www.leevalley.com 23.50



Truth is they all seem to work pretty good, no complaints.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

The Czech made Narex above are an incredible value.

At 5.99, they polish and sharpen very well. The set is an incredible value, though I just bought two of the 3/4 inch size.

My Hirsh dog leg bent chisel is the 16mm.   

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I have the curved pairing chisel like yours bruce.. cept it's two cherries,
which means it is identical, except a different logo, and I concur they are
awesome. I have three different sizes, but I tend to use the smallest one
most.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I just got a set of the blue spruce chisels and marking tools. Without question the finest available anywhere....at any price! Todd, Arnt? -have you tried these yet!!?

The are smaller than I thought they would be, but have excellent ballance and presence in the hand. A favourite with top furniture craftspeople... And as they become better known I think instrument makers will join in.

I hope to order a custom 3/4 and 1/16" to compliment the set. They hold and edge forever! My LMI handled EA. Bergs hardly get a show anymore! Highly reccomended.

www.bluesprucetoolworks.com

 

 

I special ordered some paring chisels from blue spruce, use them all the time, great quality.

I have Lie Nelson, Two Cherry and Crown. as far as dollar value I have to say for $80 for 1/4" through 1" the Crown From Woodcraft, while not my best set by no means is a darn good value. I could be wrong here but I believe these are Sheffield steel. It took some time to get them to hold an edge as well as the Two Cherry, but now they hold and edge as good if not better than my Two Cherry.

Marc, those are some sexy looking chisels.

John, I just may try a smaller dog leg Hirsch, I sure like the 16mm. What MM is your favorite?

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I have Pfiel and LMI chisels, and the LMI are superior IMO,a little more expensive, sure ... but with beautiful cocbolo handles, which as Hesh said are certainly more ergonomic.. and nice German steel they are definitely worth it!
Its easy to go overboards as someone said - I have a complete set of Pfiels and LMI's, plus some glue clearing chisels, plus I just ordered some dog-leg Robert Sorby chisels as well - Im looking at some LN as well, I still need some nice framers and mortise units.....
of course I do other woodworking besides guitars, but I think most ppl here prolly do also.
So it depends what your complete woordworking needs will be.
Cheers
Charliewood

I second the vote for the inexpensive Narex chisels. I bought a set for a young friend who works in my shop & was super impressed. For the price, they are great. I bought them from Lee Valley.

I'm with Arnt, my favourite currently avaliable paring chisels are the Henry Taylor, they take a stunning edge and seem to hold it forever ,6mm 13mm, 19mm. Good value as well, about midrange.

I also have some of the dog-leg two-cherries which come in very handy at times, 10mm, 16mm.

You must also have a good 2mm chisel, I use it for hand cutting the binding channel, when I get all traditional, but has a lot of other uses.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

It's not only easy to go overboard on chisels, it's fun!

I periodically buy more chisels I don't really need from Ebay auctions. There are lots of great old American brands. Witherby, Swan, Jennings, Greenlee, Buck, Keen Kutter, Stanley, Union, and many others are good tools. I prefer long blades and bevel edges for guitar work. Beware of any chisel that looks like it was beat on; the blade may no longer be flat.

It seems that most of the advances in metallurgy in the 20th Century, at least as applied to hand cutting tools, went into making the metal stay shiney rather than making it take a better edge. Some of the newer tool steels will hold the edge longer, but they still don't sharpen to a better edge than the old carbon steel.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Howard, I know you are an experienced turner. Do you also sometimes buy old chisels without or with broken handles, and if so have you turned new ones for them? Looking for ideas for handles for a drawer full of flea market specials...

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I like my two cherries but also like the japanese chisels I bought from Japan Woodworker. If it's sharp I like it. If it stays sharp I like it even more.

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

Handles are fun and easy to turn. What kind of ideas are you looking for? Just copy a shape that you find comfortable for starters. Minor variations in shape, decorative grooves, and different woods help make the tools easy to identify on your bench. Copper pipe makes good ferrules, but you can also find precut brass ferrules, brass tube, or aluminum tube. Drill in steps for the tang. One mistake I keep making is not drilling big enough and splitting the handle when I drive it onto the tang. But even then, superglue will mend it. Turning the taper for a socket chisel is tricky because it is a relatively short taper and has to be just right. My only advice there is to go slow.

You don't need to put any finish on them, but shellac applied with a rag as the lathe is turning will dry almost instantly, and get a good gloss. I'd rather not have a glossy finish on a tool handle, so I sand them out but leave them unfinished.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Attention-Attention Look at Hesh's picture. Check the logo on the blade just below the ferrule. This "glue clearing chisel" is genuine Ron Hock steel- as far as I know, the only run of chisels he has made. I have talked to him a fair number of times and begged him to make chisels. He is busy enough as it is.

     As for Blue Spruce, I have a set of standard length, two skews, two awls and now, parers coming. Dave has made one 1/16th" chisel- for me. He told me it was a real hassle to do- it will take somehing to get another one out of him. He is as pleasant a fellow as you would ever talk to and your satisfaction is his only real concern.

     My parers are a mixture of vintage socket chisels- my choppers are a set of Stanley 750's. A well made and heat-treated chisel, properly honed offers pleasure equal to the feel of a honed and fettled plane.mt

I agree that you should focus on a few chisels, which would give you a budget of $50 each. At that price, you can get some very nice chisels.

I really like my Japanese chisels from Japan woodworker. They stay very sharp for a very long time.

I've been using the Lee Valley chisels...very happy with them. They can be
bought as a set or individually. The price is reasonable, but if you're looking
for cheaper or more expensive, they have them - plus an assortment of
other tools, including the mirco planes and Japanese wooden instrument
planes. www.leevalley.com I believe.

By the way...just new to the site...Bob Garrish turned me on to it and I'm very
happy to have found it.

Jamie

Welcome to OLF, Jamie.  Hope you like hanging around and talking shop.  It seems to be what we live for around here.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

[QUOTE=fmorelli] [QUOTE=Miketobey] Attention-Attention Look at Hesh's picture. Check the logo on the blade just below the ferrule. This "glue clearing chisel" is genuine Ron Hock steel- as far as I know, the only run of chisels he has made.[/QUOTE]



Mike, I'm slightly miffed. If you go to the LMI web site, it says their chisels comes out of a German foundry. If I recall, Ron does his stuff straight out of California. I'm sure I'm missing something



Thanks,



Filippo[/QUOTE]

I think the "Glue Clearing Chisel" is of a different ilk than the LMI chisels.  It is a Schneider Chisel.  It does not indicate where it is made.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

i would not recommend butt chisels for guitar making, they are carpentry tools. they are too short. shaping braces with a chisel is a two handed operation, and you need a longer chisel to have something to hang onto.

Thanks, Michael. I appreciate the input.

On the "Glue Clearing Chisel, if you look closely at the marking below the ferrule, you will see Ron's trademark. Mine certainly has it and so does Hesh's. My beef with the lovely LMI chisels was the stupid coating and rounded backs. I sold them to a fellow forum member at a price that reflected that.mt