Essential chisels

[Cheshirechappie]

There have been a few questions and comments about chisels, and which to buy, recently. Most people find that they tend to accumulate, and anybody who has been working wood for any length of time ends up with rather more than they really need.

So - if you were forced to keep only the essential chisels, what would they be? Obviously, the answer would depend on the type of woodworking you did, so answers need to make that clear.

To kick things off, here's what I'd keep for general furniture work and a little domestic joinery by hand (no machines or power tools).

Good quality bevel-edged chisels 1/16", 1/8", 1/4", 3/8", 1/2", 3/4" and 1 1/2". Nice fine bevelled edges.
Rougher firmer-type chisels for heavy chopping 1/4", 1/2", 1".
Mortice chisels, heavy oval-handled type 3/16", 1/4", 3/8" and a big 1/2".
Pair of skew chisels, 1/4".
Out cannel gouges, 1/4", 5/8" and 1".
In cannel gouges 1/4", 5/8" and 1".
Drawer lock chisel.
Dog-leg chisel or crank-handled paring chisel, 1/2".
Paring chisels, bevelled edged 1/4" and 1 1/4".

I reckon you could do pretty much anything with those except heavy carpentry and woodcarving. That's still 26 chisels, though.

 

[AndyT]

That's quite an advanced list. My woodworking has gone through a sequence that is probably familiar to many others on here - bits of diy, gradually changing from screws and glue to proper joints and on to more decorative stuff.


For quite a long time I got by with one half inch bevel edge chisel - fine for defining a saw cut or making housings. For dovetails I added a quarter inch chisel. Then a quarter inch mortice chisel for use with bought ex-1 inch PAR.

The bevel edge chisels were blue handled Stanleys - chunky enough for general purpose use.


I now have a lot more but those three were enough to make an assortment of furniture - bookcases, a bed - and some boxes and instrument cases.

 

[G S Haydon]

As a modern day joiner making windows doors and the like, site work too a generic set of contractor type chisels have worked fine. When I started work I bought a set of Marples Splitproof and added a wide boy. With the daily grind and beating I needed to replace them and went for the irwin marples set of seven with strike caps. They seem just fine for the day job.
I bought a set of 6 faithfull blue handled chisels for my hobby and they also seem fine.