Chisels, new or old

UKworkshop.co.uk

Help Support UKworkshop.co.uk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Mark65

Established Member
Joined
21 Sep 2022
Messages
25
Reaction score
17
Location
England
Hi all,
I'm looking for some chisels and am wondering would you go for the Ashley iles 4 set at £113 or a set of vintage Marples lolipop type X5 with light surface rust from damp, look hardly used, apart from one with a chip in £65.
Thanks
Mark
 
Last edited:
The potential show-stopper is how deep the rust has penetrated on the flat side of the blade. If it has caused significant pits it is impossible to achieve a truly sharp edge because the pits will always leave tiny notches. The only option then is to grind the flat side flat until the pits are gone, and that is beyond the capability of most of us and seldom worth the effort. The chip can be sharpened out by sacrificing a little of the blade length, and I wouldn't consider that to be a problem. Ultimately, the choice has to yours.
Les
 
Rust and pits would have to be really bad to be a problem. This is woodwork not brain surgery!
The Marples sound much better value.
Chisels are very simple devices and you can't really go far wrong whatever you buy.
 
I don't know what lollipop marples are, but if they're site chisels, they're probably bulky. For work at the bench, I'd take iles over almost anything other than older english cabinetmaking chisels.
 
Both seem overly pricey to me.
I'd be more interested in the shape of them for the job.
I use some run of the mill modern Stanley's for paring, I find the steel decent for that,
but the translucent plastic handles can become loose on them, which might be of annoyance to some, doesn't seem like the easiest thing to fix.
These are cranked and more comfortable for a parer, being flat is nice for that one.

My Tesco ones wouldn't be flattenable being so concave/hollow along the length,
so even more tendency to dive into the cut behind the line,
i.e a lot more so than a flattened chisel does this, so I use the parers afterwards.
These Tesco cheapies have a handle in-line with the chisel, so better for whacking.

I reckon I'd sooner a bellied chisel for this use, as it's more steerable out of the cut, but I don't see a great need really.

My 2 cents, I wouldn't do without having both types, and I'd look for some options say in homebase bargain bucket, or discount pound shop for say 3 quid a chisel.

Might be easier to get a parer which has flat faces/back than a bellied set of chisels,
but I doubt you could buy premium tools with such a profile.
Regarding this last part, the steerability aspect is obviously favourable for a lesser steel, as most damage occurs from sinking a chisel too deeply,
or without having somewhere for the waste to go.

I suppose the only time where these Tesco ones really shine is really heavy paring on an angle,
they would be quick for cutting the 45 deg bed of a wooden plane, an odd task in the general scheme of things, and obviously still would need cleaning after with something a bit more refined afterwards.

Tom





.
 
Last edited:
Both seem overly pricey to me.
I'd be more interested in the shape of them for the job.
I use some run of the mill modern Stanley's for paring, I find the steel decent for that,
but the translucent plastic handles can become loose on them, which might be of annoyance to some, doesn't seem like the easiest thing to fix.
These are cranked and more comfortable for a parer, being flat is nice for that one.

My Tesco ones wouldn't be flattenable being so concave/hollow along the length,
so even more tendency to dive into the cut behind the line,
i.e a lot more so than a flattened chisel does this, so I use the parers afterwards.
These Tesco cheapies have a handle in-line with the chisel, so better for whacking.

I reckon I'd sooner a bellied chisel for this use, as it's more steerable out of the cut, but I don't see a great need really.

My 2 cents, I wouldn't do without having both types, and I'd look for some options say in homebase bargain bucket, or discount pound shop for say 3 quid a chisel.

Might be easier to get a parer which has flat faces/back than a bellied set of chisels,
but I doubt you could buy premium tools with such a profile.
Regarding this last part, the steerability aspect is obviously favourable for a lesser steel, as most damage occurs from sinking a chisel too deeply,
or without having somewhere for the waste to go.

I suppose the only time where these Tesco ones really shine is really heavy paring on an angle,
they would be quick for cutting the 45 deg bed of a wooden plane, an odd task in the general scheme of things, and obviously still would need cleaning after with something a bit more refined afterwards.

Tom





.
Also I like a set or two for site work where I don't mind them getting bashed.

I think Wickes ones are simalar and are 5 for £15 or £20 Inc a stone atm....
 
Also I like a set or two for site work where I don't mind them getting bashed.

I think Wickes ones are simalar and are 5 for £15 or £20 Inc a stone atm....
+1 and converting to a scraper from time to time.
I've got some stubby ones for this purpose, which never seemed to take a decent edge,
the only modern chisels I've seen which is so.
And for when metal is involved, a converted screwdriver is a must have have also.
 
Both seem overly pricey to me.

It'd be pretty hard to make the iles chisels cheaper and in England. they're made with a process similar to carving tools, and O1.

the recipe for cheap chisels is chrome vanadium drill rod (0.6% carbon for the cheapest, 0.8% for other cheap types, though 0.8% is capable of making a very nice chisel), drop forging, induction heating for hardening and tempering and an automated grinding setup.

it wouldn't be out of line for someone from china to make good chisels for $5 per if they actually wanted to. it'd be hard to make chisels partially by hand with O1 steel in the UK for less than 30 quid per at retail.

The question is whether or not the hand work matters to a buyer. I think a lot of people make claims about wanting quality and care and then buy on price.
 
Last edited:
+1 and converting to a scraper from time to time.
I've got some stubby ones for this purpose, which never seemed to take a decent edge,
the only modern chisels I've seen which is so.
And for when metal is involved, a converted screwdriver is a must have have also.
Don't forget the paint tin opener too!🤣
 
In my experience there is a threshold for the size of company where manufacturing in the UK is cheaper than China. Small company’s arnt usually able to have either the talent in management or the investment appetite to setup efficient manufacturing systems. This leads to products being sourced off shore. However, once a company reaches a certain size in the vast majority of cases manufacturing in the West is far cheaper. Artisan manufacturing has a certain appeal, but for consistency, product quality assurance you need automated systems that are fully in control. The cost of setting this up is roughly the same everywhere in the world, so what you’re left with is the labour ‘touch’ time and the cost of shipping, inventory and reactiveness. As soon as your shipping half way around the world these costs spiral WRT to manufacturing locally. Governments offer incentives to setup plants in various countries, so often you can get tax relief on profits, funding of part or for the total of capital invested, free land, free dedicated buildings built, you signed up to employing X people for a certain period.
At one stage in my life I used to plan manufacturing cycles in around 7 to 10 year cycles, that was when moving manufacturing to another control became advantageous. The majority of the UK in its previous life wasn’t designated for regional development grants or what ever they were called. These were available in say former Eastern European countries. It’s one of the reasons JLR Jaguar LandRiver I understand setup a plant in Hungary.
 
I would look at old chisels such as Palm Tree and the like which used to be plentiful and cheap. If they prove to be a bit soft (some where due to the hand manufacturing), a couple of pounds each isn’t a big loss.
 
30 pounds per chisel is not a bad deal. The AI chisel are good attractive fine work chisels, they need minimal to no prep work, just sharpen and use.

You may eventually find good quality vintage chisels for very little money, but for that you need to know what to look for.
 
30 pounds per chisel is not a bad deal. The AI chisel are good attractive fine work chisels, they need minimal to no prep work, just sharpen and use.

You may eventually find good quality vintage chisels for very little money, but for that you need to know what to look for.
No new chisels should need prep work. If they do then send them back.
They always arrive ground at 25º with backs flat to slightly hollow. One minute hone at 30º and you are off!
 
No new chisels should need prep work. If they do then send them back.
They always arrive ground at 25º with backs flat to slightly hollow. One minute hone at 30º and you are off!

i see you've never made any tools or really had exposure to many new ones.

it is also true that some people will send chisels that will be flat within a dozen regular sharpenings back because they're "not flat", but to get something made of steel that's actually flat is not generally an industrial thing at a $25 per price level.

the chisels made in the golden era of England were not flat, either. They were flat enough at the tip and hand finished, and excellent. Dead flat out of the box is a modern boutique thing.
 
Hi, thanks for the opinions, I first looked at the Irwin Marples at Screwfix then I saw the AI wasn't a huge amount more so I thought better quality, I don't have sharpening stones and would need to either get a guide or watch some you tube video's. There are some Stanley 5001 chisels but a huge amount of the older stuff on eBay looks like people have took a heavy grit sandpaper to them to clean up and sell, I did miss out on some red handled Marples last night, new old stock in box but the price went to £170 I think it was. Will keep watching, maybe buy some sharpening bits and buy a cheap tool to practice on, any recommendations on guides and stones?
Mark
 
Hi, thanks for the opinions, I first looked at the Irwin Marples at Screwfix then I saw the AI wasn't a huge amount more so I thought better quality, I don't have sharpening stones and would need to either get a guide or watch some you tube video's. There are some Stanley 5001 chisels but a huge amount of the older stuff on eBay looks like people have took a heavy grit sandpaper to them to clean up and sell, I did miss out on some red handled Marples last night, new old stock in box but the price went to £170 I think it was. Will keep watching, maybe buy some sharpening bits and buy a cheap tool to practice on, any recommendations on guides and stones?
Mark

Iles chisels should sharpen on any decent stone of any type, and they won't leave you with a burr that's persistent (so getting them to feel "sharp" will be easier than cheaper chisels).

NOS marples sets on ebay are pointless - in the last 15 years, $45 chisel sets are being driven to $200+, but the heat treatment has been inconsistent on marples and 500# stanley sets I've had. The Iles chisels are better than both by a wide margin.

Personally, starting with a guide, I would not buy more than the inexpensive eclipse style honing guide. It'll give you enough control to hold the angle, but enough flexibility to have control to hone harder on one side than the other if needing to correct uneven bevels. Getting that feel will be useful for later if you go freehand.

but get a guide if you're new - feeling true sharp is important. You can find ways to get it faster later.
 
I would look to buy individual older chisels which are generally in the range £5 to £15 on e bay. A bit of work may be to clean up. Light surface pitting is only an issue at the cutting edge and many of the ones further up the blade will slowly grind out as you hone the back of teh blade to remove the edge burr. You may get a few that arent quite as good but at that sort of price it doesnyt matter and you can keep them for work on rougher jobs
 

Latest posts

Back
Top