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Corbin3388

Same thing that makes a good knife, the edge. It's all about keeping an edge

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Wrangler

There is always pride in making and using your own tools! That's what I'd do!

Or you could look around for used chisels.

Or you could buy some Irwins at HD; I hear they stay sharp pretty well.

Or you could spend big money on pretty ones.

Possumpoint

Take a look at the Narex Classic Bevel Chisels at say Lee Valley tools for example. A set of 7 very good chisels that hold their edge well is just under $70.00. The bevel edge is very good for cutting medium to large dovetails. A dovetail chisel with sharper bevel is better for cutting smaller dovetails.

My set of Narex hold their edge better then the Irwin's and Marples I gave away. Will say that my antique Stanley's hold an edge best.

MastersHand

The Edge but more Important the Mechanic behind it.

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Wrangler

Some of us buy our chisels because it is not cost effective for us to set up a forge and heat treating facilities.

If you check around enough, you will find that planes and saws are also expensive. There are folks that enjoy making their own.

We have lots of options to equiping our shops. Shop built, used, and an incredible range of prices for new stuff. We do what turns our crank and what is affordable for us.

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MastersHand

You should write a thread on how you Hand Forged that Bowie Knife when you were in the Jungle

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user27606

it wasn't a bowie knife sheesh... it was a machete.

Hammer1

As you may know, there are many different types of chisels as well as different styles. One thing that is important is knowing the correct bevel to sharpen the chisels. Most of the bench style chisels available are close to A2, R 60-62, such as Sheffield steel. These chisels often come with a 25 degree primary bevel. If you sharpen at this primary bevel, the edge will fold like tin and you will be convinced you bought junk. If you sharpen to a secondary angle, 30 for softwoods, 35 for hardwoods, you'll think you have a different chisel and will be quite happy. The Irwin/Marples that some folks throw out will perform as well as most other high end chisels if sharpened correctly.

When it comes to paring chisels, ones that you won't be hammering on or prying with, you may want a harder steel, like 01. You can sharpen to a 25 degree bevel with this harder steel but the compromise is that they will be more brittle and a little harder to sharpen. It's not that you can't do paring work with more blunt edges and softer steel but the lower angle does give a finer slice.

As far as I know, Lie Nielsen is the only manufacturer offering both A2 and O1 chisels. The info I stated above is on their web site. I think Blue Spruce chisels may be O1 but I don't know for sure and they are quite expensive and not available individually. For most folks, there are many mid priced chisels that if sharpened correctly will perform nicely on a variety of tasks. I have many vintage and antique chisels and the same thing holds for those, they won't hold an edge at 25 degrees. There are a couple of exceptions but I'm not telling the names, too much competition on Ebay already.

Side bevels have more to do with getting into tight spots, like dovetails. Mortice chisels usually don't have side bevels since you are looking for strength to hold up to heavy hammering and prying. If you are cutting European style dovetails with the very fine pins, you need a very narrow 1/8" - 3/16" chisel with steep side bevels slightly less than the ratio angle you use and I haven't seen any made by any manufacturer.

Lancer33

S-7, CPM-3V, 5160, and 1084 would also be good candidates. One thing to keep in mind is that with any steel heat treatment is possibly more important than the alloy. If I were making my own I think 5160 would be my choice with a high 50's RC.

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Phaedrus

You can build a small forge for next to nothing with mostly items that you should have around your shop. My brother spent some time trying to make his own throwing knives for a while and he built one that was similar to this website: http://www.paragoncode.com/shop/micro_forge/

The high-temp ceramic wool can be purchased in small amounts online. This aside, it is really just a coffee can, torch, and stand.


http://www.paragoncode.com/toolmaking/mortise_chisels/

truckjohn

Blue Spruce are A2...
What's this about them not being available individually? It's how I bought the ones I have....

Anyway... My own take on chisels...

The first key is to be brutally honest with yourself about WHAT you want to do with them.... It sounds simple enough - but if you don't know what you are going to do with them - you will always have the wrong ones.... There are 10-million different types...

For example... cleaning out dovetails takes really fine angles on the sides - so you can get down into those pointy corners... Making mortises takes very carefully squared sides - as the sides help you establish the straight mortise.... You will make terrible mortises with a fine dovetailing chisel... and you can't make dovetails with the fat, square mortising chisel...

Paring usually takes long chisels... where a lot of other work inside of furniture pieces takes very short chisels... There are "Carving" chisels and there are bench chisels... they are all made for different things....

So... This takes me to my first bit of advice....

Buy the 1 exactly right chisel specifically for the job you are doing... Don't bother with a whole set...

My 2nd piece of advice is to buy the best one you can... Don't fool yourself thinking you can reharden a set of Harbor Freight China jobbers or that.... $40 - $60 on 1 chisel sounds like a bunch... but it's worth it when it makes a job go 50x faster...

Along with this is... Don't underestimate the amount of work that can go into tuning up an old, used up, beater chisel... If you are into that sort of thing - great... but you can easily spend hours and hours and hours on old rust - only to find out that someone used it for a fireplace poker and it won't take an edge.... Other times you get lucky, though.... I have sworn off of old rust (Although I say this - I probably couldn't bring myself to pass on an old Sorby or Berg...)

On the question of Steel... It all comes down to your sharpening equipment... A2 and HSS are nearly impossible to sharpen well with conventional stones - although their edges last quite a bit longer... O1 and 1095 take a wicked edge pretty easily... Decide for yourself if you are ready for the expense of diamond plates and lapping films or if you just want to use normal stones...

Thanks

rrich

Home Depot carries the "Buck Brothers" brand of chisels. If you want good chisels without having to think about it, the Buck brand is a good choice. IMHO, the Bucks are better than my real original Marples. (i.e. Before Marples was acquired by Record and then Irwin.)

There is a secret about chisels. Look at the back of the chisel and check for a Rockwell hardness test. It's three dimples or dots in the back of the chisel. You won't find these three dots on every chisel of the brand but perhaps one in 30 or 40.

What the Rockwell hardness test means is that someone at the factory cared enough to check the hardness of the chisel. Key words "cared enough". The evidence of the test indicates that there is a decent quality control program at the factory and that the chisels are probably good quality.

__________________
Use the right tool for the job.

Rich (Tilting right)
Huntington Beach, California
Remember that when we have the "BIG ONE" everything east of the Rockies falls into the ocean.

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Lancer33

Keep in mind that there is much more to heat treating and "tempering" or drawing than just hitting it with a torch and trying to get it the right color. O-1 has to be oil quenched usually in a bath of peanut oil. A-2 has to be heat treated in a controlled atmosphere oven, or at the least it must be wrapped in stainless foil designed for the job. If it is brought to temp while exposed to atmosphere it will de-carburize displaying a carbon ash on the surface....this is not good. It is possible to heat treat a very small section with a torch if you have no other choice but the final quality of the tool (chisel) will reflect the quality of the heat treatment it has received.

A-2:
PREHEAT PRIOR TO HARDENING
Preheat slowly to 1350-1450°F and hold at this temperature until part is uniformly heated.
HARDENING
After thorough preheating, heat to 1750-1800°F. Hold the workpiece at the hardening temperature until it is completely and uniformly heated.
QUENCHING
A2 is an air hardening steel and will develop full hardness on cooling in still air. To avoid scaling of the workpiece surface, controlled atmosphere or vacuum furnaces are recommended. If these types of furnaces are not available, salt baths or wrapping the part in stainless steel foil will provide a degree of surface protection in the hardening process, Parts should be allowed to cool to 150°F, or to where they can be held in the bare hand, and then temper immediately.

This steel must be heat treated prior to tempering.

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