Don't buy these USELESS vintage chisels.
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- Опубликовано: 20 май 2024
- Save your money and make the smart choices when you're tool shopping.
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0:00 Intro
1:03 What you're seeing
3:50 Evolution
5:40 Tang v Socket
7:00 What I use
11:31 Avoid these
13:55 Outro 
Хобби
I would like to suggest that there is a very important use for these $1-$5 yard sale chisels. Someday, someone you know, maybe even someone you love...will grab one of your chisels to scrape some paint off of something or pry something open. This means your "real" chisels must be hidden under lock and key, and these chisels can be strategically placed as decoys. You can also practice your sharpening skills before you start sharpening your "real" chisels.
I have a drawer full of scraping and breaking apart-tools, among them my first cheap chisels, so I'll always be able to supply someone with such a tool without them wrecking my good chisels 😅 But you're absolutely right!
Well said.
I picked up a super cheap set of harbor freight wood chisels specifically because they're not super hard and easy to sharpen. I use them for scraping old gaskets off of engine blocks. Super easy to flatten and sharpen, and they don't bend like a razor scraper might. Modern "gasket scraper" tools that don't use replaceable razor blades are carbide edged or hardened tool steel. Extra dangerous on aluminum blocks and near impossible to flatten properly.
Most definitely a good practice to have a chisel shaped object close to the entrance of your shop.
For some reason? People tend to walk in the door and pick up the first thing that looks like it might work and run off hoping to not be seen.
I have a set of Harbor Freight screwdrivers hanging on the peg board for just that reason. They do a good job of prying open paint cans, knocking a hole in a tin can with the help of a hammer, and even stir paint fairly well.
When found they are either tossed or put back in the rack for the next time someone is creating. 😁😎
everyone needs a few "beaters" in their tool kit if they also have fine chisels, otherwise the temptation to do something dumb can be overwhelming....
I would add one more chisel to the daily use set. A chisel you can abuse. I have a Stanley FatMax folding chisel. There is also the "knife chisel" made by various manufacturers (Mora makes a nice one with a belt sheath). I gave my brothers-in-law (a carpenter and a handyman), my son (a carpenter) and nephew (an electrician) one like mine for Christmas. They get used for everything. Small enough to carry like a pocket knife, but you can hit it with any hammer-like object (big adjustable wrench, rock, brick...) and cut rope, open paint cans, and still pare a 1/32" off the corner of a tenon. (I think I could shave with mine if I had to). I used to use an old hardware store 3/4" butt chisel for this stuff that just tucked into my apron. It saves the good ones from abuse. (You know you have thought of it when you have a piece of extension cord to cut...)
I have that mora. It never left my side when I had a business where I did actual client work.
In my region, vintage chisel always so abuse that not only they slighly bent, also bevel shape so bad feel waste time to fix it. I also still grab one or two time by time when I saw some mediocore codition one. they are good for abuse. expecially when dealing reclaim wood.
I have a Mora knife chisel on my quiver belt because it’s study and more versatile when I have to dig arrows out of trees! I’ve bent a multi tool chisel and I really don’t want to cart a big ass knife around, so it’s ideal.
I keep the mora and a beater plastic 3/4 Stanley that I feel fine striking with a claw hammer in my go to bag. I may grind a sharp edge onto one of my 6in1 screwdrivers for those tiny-chisel times so I don't have to run to the woodworking bench...
Seconded. _THOSE_ are what I call "Bench Chisels". As in, "they live in the bench's tool holder instead of a foam insert in a drawer."
I, weirdly, have a bunch of tools, antique and brand new, that I've not used. Some of it is just too neat to not have. Some, I've got "plans" for loool. Every time I clean out the garage to set up my wood shop... something happens and I don't have time for it, and by the time I do... I get to spend that time cleaning out the garage again >_>
Been there. Worked in MANY garages before this channel existed.
Over 30 years going to car boot sales every week means I am always one [or two] shed behind where I need to be to store it all .... maybe this summer.......
Some people just like buying tools and planning. Fairly common
The sash chisel looks like it could have been used as a turning tool. Like a skew chisel.
Try building or refitting a wooden boat somewhere over 35’ in length. You would end up using most of those chisels. The large framing chisels for the backbone down to the smallest for the cabinetry on the interior . High end boatwrights use skills from logger, sawyer timber framer to fine cabinet maker , all to the specs of a luthier.
Yup comes up all the time for most people :)
Would love to see you do more chisel restores. That big timber chisel would be a great showpiece once polished out, plus maybe encourage you to. . . I dunno, build a log cabin or something lol.
I have a big timber framing slick chisel and I use it sometimes. Like Rex said sometimes you just need a really big chisel. I just used it to define scribe lines of a pocket I was cutting for a hone stone holder.
Usu Nomi are good for slice
You could use those large chisels for breaking large chunks of wood with the grain, or to help other chip breakers
I would think that the big thick framing chisel is, instead, a small slick chisel. It is used as a plane and when started the weight allows it to continue with ease. It is usually used in boat building.
I got some old socket chisels for free when I was a teen. They were all mushroomed like that, so I heated them up with a torch and coffee can forge. I used a 3lb mash hammer and a chunk of scrap steel as an anvil and turned them into tang chisels. There was probably a fair bit of filing involved too. Those were my only set of chisels for probably a decade. So if you find a set you like and want to make them your own, don't be afraid to experiment and expand your skill set. It might be easier than you think.
I also feel I would be remiss if I didn't recommend the Narex unhandled chisels. They are very affordable and come with everything you need but the wood. You can make whatever handle style you want. Getting them in stock can be a bit luck based though.
i was thinking along those lines, too, although i've never actually done that. was wondering about welding on a piece of rod in what's left of the socket, leaving the flattened 'tang' part on the chisel, then sharpening the rod and driving a piece of wood on it.
@@edwardvermillion8807 Never done it myself, but you're pretty much doing the same thing. As long as the weld penetration is good, then it should be fine. I had some juggling to do with heating the socket and not overheating and losing the hardness in the blade. I'd guess welding will have less of an issue with that.
I've been in the furniture trade for years and have accumulated so many chisels, but I only use two most of the time. A marples spilter proof 1' 1/2" and an Ash handled vintage 1/2" chisel.
When I'm really going at it I'll use two about the same size. One that I hammer on and one I pare with. Then I don't have to sharpen as often. Hammering takes the keen out of an edge quickly for me.
By the way Rex I remember you got a set of chisels from I think Amazon for like 19 bucks and you made your own handles for them. I remember you saying they seemed like great chisels and you intended to use them a lot and let your viewers know how the faired over the long term. You may not have completed your final assessment or you did and have not yet made a video. I’d love to know how they worked out. Thanks.
I used them for months. They're nice for the money.
for me, if a tool has a combination of brass and wood, i'm hooked. i have more vintage squares than i'm comfortable admitting.
The makers know we are suckered for it. It's why they do it :)
An Australian Wood Butcher here.. I was taught that bevel edged chisels were for softwoods and the Firmer chisels were for use on hardwoods. Our hardwoods here are very hard so they require a stronger chisel.
Narex chisels are awesome. The Richter set is totally worth the money. They also make paring chisels and other specialty chisels. Some of the best I've found for the money.
The Eskilstuna chisels from Sweden from the 50’s and 60’s are the way to go.
I have only one of them and it is a true joy to use.
My father bought a few in the 50’s and I inherited them 🙂. I also have a German “Ulmia” brand chisel I bought new about 35 years ago with a hornbeam handle and it takes a very, very good edge. Has “Span saage” stamped on the back.
Nicely done Rex. You just keep getting better. FYI, according to Wikipedia, the woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus Scolopax. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name its first recorded in about 1050. According to the Harleian Miscellany, a group of woodcocks is called a "fall". Cocker Spaniels we’re originally bred to hunt woodcocks. Enjoy…
I've been working with some red oak that I salvaged from an old bank!
It's the densest wood I've ever worked with, it's very unforgiving if you're off half a degree with a drill!
But it's sooooo nice to be worked with chisels and carving tools, it just takes patience and a steady hand.
Fantastic tips, Rex! Thanks! 😃
I'm going to keep an eye for those!
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
This is some great info Rex. Thank you. When I first got into hand tool woodworking, I wanted to buy everything. I have found, though, that I don't need everything. I am able to so much with the modest hand tools that I do have, that , when I see tools at the flea markets or antique malls, I just pass them by. I don;t collect tools and so I only buy what I absolutely need. Thanks again for the info.
Sharp video and straight to the point. Love it. Cheers Rex.
I have so many nice vintage chisels. And so many that aren't nice. This was a really helpful video to help me identify and categorize them while I figure out which to restore and put into use. Thanks as always Rex!
I have a bunch of chisels I picked up here and there. I'm still looking for nicer ones all the time though. You really don't need that many chisels to woodwork with. I'd say Rex was pretty spot on with assortment he showed. 5 or 6 does the job.
Great video as always. Thank you Rex. Recently I started feeling guilty about the content of my flea market chisels box and so I kicked off a mass-restoration project. I'm probably still never going to use them, but bringing tools back to their former glory is so rewarding. BTW. I actually found a god use for a very narrow (3mm and 4mm in my case) mortise chisels. When doing kumiko style work - it's good to have a mortise chisel matching the thickness of the wood strips you are using. That way you can make slots for a nice fit, very efficiently.
Some of those unrecoverable socket chisels could be repourposed as the iron for a plane just take a hacksaw to them and cut of the socket.
Yeah or they can be heated up and the socket can be reforged.
@@1pcfred Yes. If you are a bit of a blacksmith and have some basic tools they should be easy to fix. A "pro" tip is to quickly heat the work area with a welding torch and have the rest of the chisel stuck in a big potato. Helps with keeping the hardened parts cool.
Well done Rex.
My chisel selection is eclectic. Based loosely on what was available at the time I was looking. I started serious wood working in the early 90's when I began restoring the farm buildings at the farm we purchased.
Timber framing was needed for the structure so I began looking for broadaxes and large mortising tools.
Auger bits for large stock removal and timber framing chisels capable of knocking out a 2" wide mortice.
I actually used my corner chisel.
It is a real bear to sharpen. 😁😎
Now I live in a suburban ranch house with a 2 car garage, a basement shop, a blacksmith shop, and about 100 more chisels than I will ever use.
Most are fun restoration projects left over from a run of YT videos.
While Butt chisels are designed for a specific purpose, they can be very useful (especially for aging hands) when cutting dovetails: smaller, easier to hold and maintain vertical control. Not their 'intended purpose', but nonetheless effective. Unless you habitually cut many different size dovetails, you can get by with only two - one for narrow pins and a second for wider tails.
I use mine for detail work, and cleaning out a dovetail or adjusting it is just a job for a butt chisel.
Great video. Completely accurate. Great recommendations. I have a collection of about 40 chisels and only use less than 10
Over the years I've bought loads of old chisels. Some because I just liked the look of them, some because they looked like I could get some use out of them and some simply because I wanted the metal.
I earned my living with vintage chisels for quite a few years. The socketed construction allows them to be driven hard with a mallet. My big framing chisels were great for big mortise and tenon joints. I also have fine paring chisels and it’s all about knowing which one to use and keeping them like razors. Some linseed oil keeps them fitting the sockets. The gooseneck chisel you showed is great for deep lock mortising and finishing the back cut. I even used my 4” wide Swann shipwright’s slick surprisingly often. The 3/16 Woodcock chisel would be great for flicking out waste while inletting a gun stock. You’ve got a very nice selection there! 👍🏻
Thanks for the video. Also thanks for making me feel bad, locally it's hard to find vintage chisels and seeing you getting all those for cheap upset me deeply lol. At least I know what to look for now. I bought a set of narex chisel blanks and sharpened/turned my own handles for them, quite fond of them.
I have a left and right skew chisel, which I use more than I thought I would.
EXCELLENT, now I am going hunting for them all. THANKS, Stay Safe and God Bless.
Great tips thank for sharing
Rex --- Call me old fashioned, but I find all of the different styles very USEFUL. --- For their particular purpose. I have a nice set of NAREX and junk drawer full of old nameless "Bench" chisels but I find I use the useless vintage chisels the most. Most will take a better edge easier the the newer one! --- Just my 2 cents!
I think I've got 4 sets of chisels. I started with a set of Marples (when they were quality), and added a beater set with plastic handles that I don't think I've ever sharpened because they don't need to be. I then got a set of the Wood River chisels and sharpened them at 17° for use on soft woods. About 6 months ago when Taylor Tools had the Narex Richter on sale, I bought that set, which are now my daily users. I'll loan out my beaters or Marples depending on who's asking, but don't touch the ones that I use regularly. I also splurged on some of the other Narex models (mortise and skew) in case I ever need them and they look good on the wall. - Chris
There are also the Japanese oire nomi chisels, or "spoon" chisels as I call them due to their hollow ground shape. They are short, tanged and hollow-ground on the bottom to make flattening on water stones easier. The hollow-grind also reduces friction in the cut as there's less metal to wood contact. The blade is hard to fit in most western honing guides, but once sharpened they hold an edge well. Popular with carpenters, they make good all-purpose mortising chisels. I bought a bunch of them when I moved to Japan but really only use two of them, 15mm and 25mm.
I remember buying a narex 3mm cabinet maker chisel because I first had to make my own out of a flat head screwdriver shaft on the bench grinder and heat treating the shaft to get some kind of edge retention. That little guy did a job I needed so well that I found it justified buying a tool. I don't use it often but I really don't want to use that screwdriver again.
I like having two sets, some japanese cheap chisels that get wicked sharp but are brittle and prone to chip, and my irwin marples set that you covered on your channel years ago before he went off the deep end of politics. Those old irwins honestly do most of the heavy lifting in my chisel woodworking. I love that set, 3 chisels and a mallet for like $25 and it's never put a foot wrong.
Thank for a great video Rex. +1 on the Richters. I used to use some from a normal hardware store, because they fit my hand ok, but they had the stronger edges and I didn't really like them. The Richters fit my hand really well ( personal, I know) and they are very well balanced, i.e. the center of gravity is in the right place. Might still get myself a mortising chisel, but now I know what not to buy.
I have a weakness for such.
It's best I stay at home away from yard sales and flea markets.
Antique shop prices must mean they only made one.
Antique stores are for rookies when it comes to buying this stuff.
@@alandesgrange9703 So you are implying I'm a rookie?
@@ClintsHobbiesDIY No. The opposite.
@@alandesgrange9703 👍👍
My wife likes antique shops and every once in a while, I'll find a decent deal.
Awesome man!
Great information and well spoken video as usual bud!!
Only thing is that in my neck of the woods "vintage" chisels at garage sales and markets start at $10 !!
As a guitar builder, the 3/16" and 1/8" chisels are definitely useful in some of the small, tight spaces like pickup and neck pocket corners and truss rod channels.
Great points
So your a tool junkie as are so many cabinet makers carpenters and engineers. Basically there are no bad tools only tools used badly
Keep up the good work
I suspect that one with the funny angle was ground to be used as a skew chisel for lathe work.
In the UK we have a charity called Tools With a Mission that collects unwanted tools, refurbishes them, makes them up into e.g. carpentry sets, ships them to their contacts in certain countries in Africa where people are trained in e.g. carpentry and then given a set of tools to set themselves up in business and earn a living. I am thinking Rex that you could encourage something like that in the US with tools going to say Guatemala (I was talking to someone from there about such an idea recently) - go on, put those unused tools to work.
You seam to like the celectic style. That's cool! My Ocd likes things to be in sets. You could easily collect and put together sets and clean them up and sell them. As if you don't have enough ideas and things to do with all that free time. Lol. Another great video thanks Rex!
Hola! 🖐Another really good and really informative video. I learned a lot. Thanks and please keep sharing. Take care and have a good one, Adios!👊
What you call a 'corner chisel' is a 'bruz' - originally a wheelwright's chisel for making the spoke sockets in wheel hubs but later 'adopted' by some carpenters - they are reputedly a right b@#%^& to sharpen with that 90 degree inside corner, must you will find have the corner over or under the line of the rest of the edge. You also missed 'fish tail' chisels which go back at least to Pompeii and the Romans if not Pharoh and Egypt. Ones that survive (dug up) often have cauliflowered ends which suggests no wooden handle - Lie-Neilsen make them with socket handles in a few sizes and they are excellent for getting into small corners like dovetails. Something to watch out for when buying second hand chisels (specially really old ones) is that sometimes the 'short' chisels aren't butt chisels but have been used and sharpened so much that the hardened steel back has been ground entirely away and all that is left is the wrought iron - dodgy vendors will use a belt sander to disguise this (and maybe wreck the temper). One reason I find to have a second small set of chisels containing only the common sizes (1/2 & 3/4, maybe 1/4 or 1 inch) is that you don't have to stop work to sharpen your one 1/2" chisel and loose your focus - you just get out the 'spare' 1/2" chisel and keep going, then do your sharpening at the end of the work session.
The skinny little chisel may well be for plane making or similar, there’s a need to get in the mouth at the bottom of a moulding plane escapement for example, to pare the “blind side” of the escapement. Or many other wooden toolmaking uses.
BTW great videos Rex, keep them coming.
Most interesting, quite useful for a noob like myself, thanks for sharing it
I also have a bunch of chisels that I have never used.
I'd rather have tools I don't need than need tools I don't have.
The little 1/8” chisel is nice because it sharpens so quickly and works well to get splinters out of your fingers.
Great video. I got the Narex chisels and they are great.
Another great video, thanks. As a musical instrumentmaker, I end up having to make a lot of my own chisels, to get into particular spaces. Most of them are pretty small, and I usually make them of old drill bits, heated up and pounded flat, and then ground to shape. Works great and is very satisfying work.
cheers from sunny Vienna, Scott
That's not a surprise. Organ builders tend to fabricate their own tuning knives as well.
Another great video Rex. 👍
I think I need more chisels now....thanks a lot Rex!
this Vid got me looking into my old (neglected) chisels I have a lot of plastic/ resin handles stanley and marples, they seem to have both tang and a slight socket, hitting ends have a metal cap if meant too, I have a crack one of the handles should I make a wood handle or is it best to glue back with epoxy?
Because (as you said) the necks of the socket chisels are unhardened steel, you should be able to bring them up to heat and reshape with a blowtorch and a hard wood anvil point (if you don't have an anvil).
I have a narrow mortice chisel from Narex.
A set of bevel edged from Axminster, and a couple of firmer chisels from Ashley Iles.
All tang chisels, and I wouldn't be without any of them.
I do have a bunch of vintage ones inherited from grandparents, I've just never found a use for them
So many useful things you can do with extra chisels.
Google blunt edge chisel for doing things like forming the grooves on saw handles.
Grinding one a very steep bevel for paring pine.
I bought some years ago new narex chisels in a kind of Home Depot ( Hornbach ) in Czech Republic, price was a lot less there. When you take a holiday , you know what to buy for a souvenir.
I just bought a set of Grebstks a couple years ago, and they've done everything I need.
I have 3 sets of chisels, for 3 different "grades" of work:
An expensive Record set, for fine carpentry, a cheaper set for rough grade work, and a set of what I call "demolishing" chisels, where one could encounter nails embedded in the timber, for very rough work, where damage to the cutting edge is expected, and large impacts are required.
I bought a small set of the Narex Richter chisels (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1 inch) and I am amazed by them. The previous chisels i had before were Husky brand (same dimensions as narex) from Home Depot. One of the Narex was the same price as the entire Husky set...so it was big difference. Now the Husky are used just to bash the majority of the wood away and the Narex are used just for the finer finishing. I know i don't have to do that since they are built much much better. Both sets are sharpened the same way as well. I use the lapping film method. In a couple of days i'm going to an antique shop to check out a couple of chisels there and also buy a Stanley #5 Plane for $40...needs some serious work to make functional again.
Personally, I'd love to have a set of good PARING chisels with bent handles for cleaning out longer grooves and a couple of pig stickers for mortising. The 3/16 is for making the walls (grooves/beds) in wooden planes for chisels or blades to ride in for adjustment. Common in Japanese planes (Kanas)
I also use what you call a framing chisel, 1inch and a quarter wide, it's lovely to use, however it was made no later than 1909 very long super quality, as good today as It was when made, hi from Wales 🏴 so glad I've subscribed to you, excellent stuff, very interesting and useful.
That last chisel is a scribe, its used for carving patterns.
Love your channel. Been watching for a while. I like how you go into the history of tools and woodworking. The new sound setup sounds great btw!
It really is all about personal preference. I read through some of the comments and saw that many have had a similar experience as I’ve had: a while ago I bought a few chisels by MHG and I just really like them, haven’t thought about chisels since. (Later I found out that they also made the ALDI chisels that Paul Sellers raved about and still uses, just fyi).
Edge retention? Couldn’t tell you - I think it’s really good, but what do I know? I don’t use chisels often enough to worry about that; I hate sharpening, but it doesn’t make one lick of a difference whether I have to sharpen them after X amount of time or X + Y amount of time. They feel great in my hand and that’s all there is to it.
I bought a set of Sorby bench chisels over 20 years ago that have beautiful octagon beech handles. The only others I bought was a set of mortise chisels after making mortises with the bench chisels and struggling to keep the chisel from twisting. I agree though that there are so many custom old woodworking tools out there that if your a tool junkie like I am I have to avoid the tool temptations of tools I think are cool but I can never use! Lol
Sorbys are great!!!
A narrow mortise chisel would be nice for cutting narrow slots when making breadboard style ends to tables, or whenever you wanna cut narrow mortises into the sides of 3/4 inch boards.
Have a shufty at bill carter #26 & #37 blunt chisel for very good uses for all of those. I take the point you make, but an old sheffield deliberately blunted is extraordinary for hdwood paring
I'm always envious of countries with such a variety of tools from all eras. Over here it's only chinese brands like ingco. Works well but would def love owning some heritage tools.
I love a butt chisel for pairing dovetails and chamfering en grain. I would really recommend a 30 ish mm Japanese style chisel for the same kind of work. Doesn't have to be very fancy or expensive but being able to get your fingers really close the cutting edge makes a world of difference.
Your videos are great and I have been following for a long while, love the new toolmaking company, but man you need to upgrade your mic setup. It sounds and weird mix of sharp and very muffled.
I'd have to disagree that any of those beaten socket chisels were too far gone. I've refurbished much worse, but I enjoy the challenge. If you're only coming from a users point of view, then yes, it may not seem worth the extra effort to you. I feel that I'm restoring the dignity to the old beat up tools that are usually very cheep. I do value your opinion as an experienced tool user. Thanks for sharing.
I get where you're coming from and I do the same myself but I can relate to what Rex is saying. He has enough chisels to work with now so he really doesn't have to spend any time on those basket cases he has.
I use chisels like that for gasket scrapers after a quick sharpening. They're rigid and work well.
Rex, at 11:40 you showed a socket chisel. This is usually refered to as a "Slick." Try putting a 24" to 30" handle on it and then use it to frame a log cabin, or to shape timber preparing the joinery area for a particular joint.
"Big timber framing chisel" chuckles. Still looking for a good used chain mortiser. Thing with estates is often buying a crate for $20. Worth $10 as short steel scrap but one good item makes it a win.
Thanks
1/8 mortise chisels are fun, I have a couple and they’re nice for making the mouths for planes, particularly the square looking section at the bottom end of the wedge slots. I have no idea if that’s the correct way to make the mouth (or planes in general, there’s not a lot of making double iron videos, though David Weaver’s video series is great on it), but it worked alright for me on the two I’ve stumbled through lol
Haha! The chisel box at the fleamarket is totally me!
I bought a set of old nooitgedacht chisels and restored them. Use them every single day.
I have expensive and inexpensive chisels. I'm not as much a minimalist like you, Rex. One caution about vintage chisels is that you really don't know if the temper is still good. So many of those chisels were used by farmers and other folks who used a grinder to sharpen them, and eventually they'd overheat them. The temper can restored, but sometimes if you don't know what you're doing, you can ruin the steel. There are probably a dozen brands of vintage chisels which have excellent steel. You don't have to spend a fortune on finding a Stanley 750 to get a good vintage chisel. One other note is it's a lot easier to create a new handle for a tanged chisel than a socket chisel.
One chisel I have that comes in very handy is a 2 inch butt chisel. It's very handy for paring large surfaces like tenon shoulders.
Also, in your illustration of using a paring chisel for cleaning out the sides of a dado, I'd prefer to either use a router plane or turn the chisel upside down to avoid the bevel digging into the bottom of the groove. Maybe not so much an issue if the chisel is held flat to the bottom of the dado.
I ground the tip of a cheap 3/4" chisel to a 90 degree bevel, useful as a scraper. I find the smaller mortise chisels useful for lots of weird jobs, like modifying a biscuit joiner slot. Since you can find every possible opinion on firmers vs bevel, socket vs. tang, long vs. short, just buying all types lets you decide yourself. Making your own handles is a little work but rewarding.
here in the UK finding old chisels "made in Sheffield" are well worth buying, no matter what shape they are. Sheffield steel has a reputation of high quality and once sharpened they retain an edge for ages. I'm sure the US has similar excellent brands to look out for. Comments welcomed.
My favourite old Sheffield chisels are Brades, Marples , Sorby ,Tyzack , Hildick . They are like the Royal Family of Sheffield tools. The old Wood plane irons can be converted to metal planes by filing open the mouths . Learn how to make new handles that are more comfortable .
Sheffield-made steel -- knives, tools, cutlery -- was legendary.
Those are small timber chisels. Mine are much larger.
I do use a separate set of paring chisels in addition to the bench set. The paring chisels have a lower bevel, which make them cut easier when pushed. They are also a different tool steel which sharpens faster, because you need to touch them up after almost every project. But when it comes to perfecting a dovetail, they make the work fast, easy, and high quality. I not only like Lie-Nielson, but also Blue Spruce Toolworks. I tend to use the LN planes and bench chisels, but the Blue paring chisels in the shop.
I have a set of Stanley socket chisels I keep in my toolbox. I get them out if I am mid project and don’t want to take the time to stop and reshapen the bench one. Although the Stanleys are vintage and cost me one tenth the LNs, it always feels like I went to the cellar and pulled out a bottle of fine Port wine when I get one out.
I dropped on a collection of woodworking tools, which included around 25 various chisels.
I polished off the the surface rust, and give them all a Polish with linseed oil till I could around to sharpening them. That was two years ago.
I literally caught a new home owner throwing them into a skip (dumpster?) So I offered to buy them, and they said I could have them for free, but if I wanted the rest, I’d have to retrieve the rest from the skip.
I’m not a woodworker, though I did do a little many years ago, but what I am is an engineer, and have a passion for tools regardless of their discipline, so for me, those woodworking tools were very much worth saving, including the 1960’s Black and Decker drill I also acquired.
I have a cheap set of draper chisels had them for years plastic handles hit with mallets hammers and on the rarest of occasions the back of a hatchet no issues at all my go to is 25mm (1”) I also have a rough neck epoxy handle full tang with strike button newer then the others and the handle is starting to crack. Don’t be anxious of cheap chisels there mostly all made of good hard steel that will hold an edge fine.
All I have are a few chisels from Harbor Freight, and they're very cheap. They've worked pretty well, but I've also not done very much with them.
The Harbor Freight chisels with the yellow handles are really good for the price. I use them for paring because it’s easy to get them super sharp. They don’t like to be hit very hard, though.
@@jerrybrown1446 Unless they have steel caps you shouldn't be beating bench chisels too hard. You shouldn't be striking them with steel hammers really. I use a plastic faced hammer myself. Some like those round wooden carving mallets. That just looks like a disaster to me.
thanks
Socket chisels are easier to make handles for, unlike tang ones. Important if you don’t have a power drill or the metal rings to stop the wood from splitting
That 3/16 inch chisel I know that type of chisel as a key hole chisel in the UK from past times Victorian Edwardian era. some doors had just a lock fitted to the rear of the door with just a slide key hole cover at the front of the door. In some cases the door may be 2 to 21/2 thick so requiring a long thin key hole slot
You didn't mention this about lands, but I got some fancy Japanese dovetail chisels a while back. They do not have lands, and using them to pair (pear?) Away material... The edges will slice up my hands.
Loved this video as soon as it started i had to laugh at myself. Yesterday i was looking at all the vintage tools I have picked up over the years and said to myself “ WHY” I started going through them, never used that or that or that but they look cool and what the hell is that thing? 20 minutes later i still couldn’t figure the THING out or what id did. How many hand saws of the same type do I need. Lots apparently 😂. So on and so on. But they are so shiny and cool.
So now back to the work shop to see if i can figure that THING out. Thanks for another great fun video as iv said before you rock.
The handiest tool to own is an old chisel. One you don't care about. You can use it to remove nails, jemmy stuck things and scrape any surface. You can beat on them with a claw hammer or drop them on the floor. Best of all they never need sharpening, you just hit them harder.
I keep my beater chisels pretty sharp. If I need something dull then I use a cold chisel or a pry bar.
I used two of my vintage chisels this week.
I have mixed views on this. The thin paring chisel can be really light and fun to use though all the ones I have found often have a slight bend. I got a large timber chisel that I love to use for mortising and paring but the old steel is brittle. Cheap new tools seem to chip/dent easily, while some older chisels have brittle steel that can make it easy to get big chips in the corners of the chisel.
Thanks Rex for the informative video - I really didn't know anything about chisels! Now dreaming about Lie Nelson😁
Nielsen
I still think vintage Marples and Sorby chisels is by far the best you can get for your money. I have a couple of Ashley Isles which are amazing but also really expensive. I would definitely get some really narrow chisels as well, like 3mm, 6mm...
Well said about Sorby and Marples. One or two old Sheffield makers were a disappointment . Colonel and also Toga always got a long messy bur when sharpening .The edge never lasted very long . A Mathiesen blade (excellent) would have a micro thin bur during sharpening . For me the best are Brades .