Palm hand tools

[dickyhb]

I'd like to buy a small set (3)of palm gouges, maybe 3mm small u 3mm small v and a 6mm half u . But the cheapest I can find are about £16 a tool, not cheap Narex, nice but?

Does anyone know of cheaper palm tools please? If not I'll just bite the bullet.

Thanks.

Dicky.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

These might be worth a look - http://www.ashleyilestoolstore.co.uk/ca ... ockcutters

Not much cheaper, but they're British made, and generally Ashley Iles tools are very highly regarded. They also offer a regrinding service free (except for postage) for the life of the tool, which is something you won't find elsewhere (you'll have to deal with routine sharpening yourself, though). The downside is that they make many of the tools they offer to order, so there may be a wait between order and delivery.

Edit to add - there are a few cheap 'conventional' carving chisels about. Some purchasers have reported very badly formed bevels and poor heat-treatment, which gives tools that need grinding to shape before they will work well, and won't hold an edge. Sometimes, it's better to bite the bullet and buy three or four good quality tools rather than a boxful of cheap, indifferent ones. The old saying that cheap tools cost you twice - once when you buy them, and again when you buy the quality you should have invested in in the first place - holds very true with carving tools.

 

[ED65]

And as I was reminded of recently, buying high-end doesn't absolutely guarantee you'll get tools with consistent heat treatment, with Pfeil chisels as one example occasionally turning up where the heat treatment failed or wasn't done.

Cheaper tools presumably stand a higher chance of being too soft but if you roll the dice on a set of cheaper tools and some or all are too soft it is possible to re-harden the tips of the majority of chisels and gouges yourself with a very inexpensive setup. See thread from a while ago: So your chisel is too soft or too hard, now what?

I got a cheapie set of carving tools using a gift token last year and honestly wasn't expecting much from them. And while the steel is fairly average on most of them one gouge has some of the hardest steel I've encountered in a modern tool. So the irregularity of the heat treatment on cheaper tools can sometimes work in your favour!

 

[marcros]

do you know that palm chisels are what you need, or are you guessing? I only ask, because when you are new to something, you have to make some assumptions because you know no better! I have seen more sets for sale on here than I have heard mentions of people using them!

I am sure that lidl/aldi do a set once in a while. Not sure if they are any good.

 

[dickyhb]

Well I don't own any other tools apart from the knife I've just brought.I just need a couple to make like a little easier.

 

[Argus]

Pardon my ignorance, being a bit of an old timer in the carving department, I'm accustomed to the Sheffield List of curves.
How do the 'BC' curves in Asley Iles website compare?