Stanley 750 Sweetheart chisels declining in quality

[Slacker]

 

So I bought a set of Stanley’s Sweetheart chisels when they first came out about 7 years ago and really liked them for the price.

One of the things I appreciated about them was that they ground the sides very small so that they can get into corners without bruising the wood, much like (although not as good as) Lie Nielsen’s bench chisels.

For various reasons I was forced to sell the set I had and figured I’d get another set down the road.

Well I finally did get a new set and to my surprise they are not equal to the originals. There are a couple differences: 
1. The sides are now very large.
2. They front edge is not ground 90 to the sides. There is a slight skew on a few of them.
3. They moved the SW logo on the leather tool roll to the opposite corner so that it’s not visible when they are rolled up. (Granted this is a very minor complaint, however I just can’t understand why the change would be made)

I can fix the skew on my slow grinder so it’s not a huge issue, but it’s disheartening to see such poor manufacturing.

The sides being as large as they are is such a huge disappointment. This was one of the key features that Stanley boasted about when they were first released. Now 7ish years later, they just don’t care anymore. Makes me wonder if they switched to an inferior steel as well.

Here’s a pic of what they look like now:

 

[Jfitz]

That stinks.  Looks like a very large side (and they do still advertise a narrow side bevel).  Return them...maybe an off/bad run of them.  

[Minnesota Steve]

Where did you buy those from?

I can't believe they changed the side bevel to be the same as the carpenter chisels.   I wonder if this isn't a chinese knockoff?

[Slacker]

I wondered about that myself, but I got them from Zoro Tools. They seem pretty legitimate.

[Minnesota Steve]

On 7/24/2018 at 11:54 AM, Slacker said:

I wondered about that myself, but I got them from Zoro Tools. They seem pretty legitimate.

Yeah I think Zoro is owned by Grainger...  Unless they do the third party reseller thing like amazon, where you can end up with chinese knockoffs in some cases should be legit.

I would try contacting them about returning them.   Maybe inquire of Stanley if they changed the tooling.

https://www.stanleytools.com/en-us/support/contact-us

I just have a hard time believing they'd make that big of a change.

[JohnG]

I'll put in another vote to contact Stanley and/or the seller. I'd guess that they either a bad batch or are something other than legitimate 750 Sweetheart chisels. Do all of the chisels you received have the same profile?

A review on Stanley's website from 8 months ago states that "The side bevels are beautifully thin..." I'd be surprised if they changed their tooling since then, and I don't see a reason that they would ever change the 750s to have such a chunky profile. Also, if you look on Stanley's site, it shows the side bevels being very thin as you would expect.

[Tpt life]

Do they make mortise chisels?

[Slacker]

Ok thanks guys, I’ll contact Stanley and see what they say. 

[Tom King]

tel:+1-800-262-2161

https://www.stanleytools.com/support

[Slightlyoutofsquare]

Hey Guys:

I had purchased these from Zoro same month but am just getting around to sharpening because I’m new to wood working and needed to read up. This is the side profile of the ones I received. I looks thinner than yours. Maybe you got a bad batch? Do your handles fall off? Mine do. But not sure if they are supposed too. Like I said... newbie. Never owned a chisel.

[pkinneb]

1 hour ago, Slightlyoutofsquare said:

Hey Guys:

I had purchased these from Zoro same month but am just getting around to sharpening because I’m new to wood working and needed to read up. This is the side profile of the ones I received. I looks thinner than yours. Maybe you got a bad batch? Do your handles fall off? Mine do. But not sure if they are supposed too. Like I said... newbie. Never owned a chisel.

 

The factory grind on the end is pretty pathetic though 

[Chestnut]

1 hour ago, Slightlyoutofsquare said:

 Do your handles fall off? Mine do. But not sure if they are supposed too. Like I said... newbie. Never owned a chisel.

 

Yes they are socket chisels. There are  many tricks to keep them on some on this site i can't remember where but the search function should find them.

[Slacker]

So I contacted Stanley and they replaced the chisels but the replacement set was just as bad. Looks like they aren’t grinding the edges like they were originally anymore. When they first came out about 8 years ago, they had small thin edges. (Not like a Lie-Nielsen chisel, but closer) Apparently they don’t care anymore...

As far as the handles are concerned, yes mine fell out but a good whack upside down on my bench seated them nicely and they don’t fall out anymore. But this is normal for socket chisels. If yours keep falling out of the socket, just spray a little hairspray on the ends before reattaching. 

[Brendon_t]

There have been a few threads a year over the past few years about the SW Chisels quality dropping. I'm starting to see a trend. 

[Tommy Hall]

I gave the few odds and ends of my red handled Stanley 750's to young guy at work, it filled in the ones he inherited from his late Father.

I use a set of chisels I bought in the 70's and they do not hold an edge well, I actually think my blue handled beaters are better.   I would like to pick up some replacements that have better steel and wonder what the opinion of new versa old and what are the brands of new have been tried by members of this forum.  I would probably lean towards pre war but am not sure which brands are the best for their steel.

 

[Slacker]

I’ve never used the old (red handled) 750s but I’m not impressed with these re-issue 750s. The edge retention is about the same as my Irwin/Marples.

[Chestnut]

Maybe there is a decline I have some from 2015 and love them. Edge retention in cheery is good and i LOVE how delicate and light they feel to use. I was surprised at how the LN clones felt like beefcakes by comparison.