Stanley Bailey Chisels

[JimB1]

I was at the woodworking show in NJ over the weekend and Stanley had a little setup at the AW Meyer booth (heck, half the show was AW Meyer) but they were showing the sweetheart planes and the Bailey chisels. No Sweetheart chisels though

I haven't seen many Lie-Neilsen planes and none of their chisels yet but I have seen Veritas and Lee Valley. I liked comfort and weight of the Bailey chisels more then the Lee Valley Japanese made bevel edge set with the plastic handles or the Hirsch wood handle set that Lee Valley had on display at the show. Talking to the Stanley rep there, he said that they were made in the same Sheffield England plant as the Sweetheart chisels but with more chrome in the alloy to make them more resistant to rust since they were figuring on the Bailey chisels being tool box chisels and the Sweetheart chisels being bench chisels so the Bailey's were made to take more of a beating in day-to-day use. They only had pine setup for testing the tools (of course ) but it gave me a decent idea of how the chisels handle in use and they were quite controllable. I tried them again on Sunday after lots of folks were playing with them all weekend and was still able to pare of nice slivers of pine like slicing cheese so they seem to hold their edge pretty well...

The milling on the back of the blade showed tooling marks which would need to be taken care of and the handles were a nice shape but a little rough, nothing a little steel wool can't fix from what I can tell. Overall, a few nit picks but way better then what I am using now.

I ended up ordering the set of 5 (1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1", 1 1/4") with the leather roll for $72 + tax with free shipping.

It'll probably take a few weeks to get here they said...

Here's a pic of the set...

I'll let you know how they are once they arrive...

[nateswoodworks]

I got to see and hold them last week at and they looked pretty decent, somewhere in the mid quality range. I recently got my new Narex chisels and so far really like them (more than my Crown or old stanleys)-must be chisel season

Nate

[Jonathryn]

I've been curious about those as well as the Sweetheart chisels. Having used socket chisels and tanged chisels, for general all-around purposes the tanged are easier to keep and maintain, IMHO. Socket chisels are good if you're going to really whale on them, like a mortise chisel. But otherwise, and maybe I'm alone in this, but the socket chisels can and do separate from their handles with sometimes not so great results. I'd be surprised if these Bailey chisels aren't actually pretty good--they're made in the UK where they still know how to make good edge tools. The handles also look comfortable. Take pictures and let us know what you think after you use them.

[wilburpan]

Although separation is a long term issue for socket chisels, it's not too hard to either tweak the cone-shaped part of the handle or make a new one for a socket chisel. Here's one way to do it.

[Jonathryn]

Although separation is a long term issue for socket chisels, it's not too hard to either tweak the cone-shaped part of the handle or make a new one for a socket chisel. Here's one way to do it.

Which of your troublesome socket chisels have given you the most problems?

[wilburpan]

Which of your troublesome socket chisels have given you the most problems?

Actually, none. Way back when, I picked up a couple of socket chisels at a flea market, and got the handles back into shape using a method more or less like the one I linked to. They worked fine after that. I wound up selling them after getting the edges into shape.

I can see how over time, you'll probably have to retweak the handle if wood movement gets it to the point where it loosens up. But that is a very long term issue, from what I can see.

[JimB1]

I would think the biggest advantage to a socket type would be the ability to make different handles for it anyway. That way you can use the same blade and have custom handles (long, short, fatter, thinner, etc) for either different uses or just to get the comfort level you want. I've never had a socket type chisel though so never really thought much about it.

Usually I've had the cheap craftsman or stanley contractor grade stuff and those are usually shorter bladed tang types going though either wood or plastic. Of course I was never using them to make dovetails or mortises either so I have no idea what to expect.

I'm figuring on using these for a bit, deciding what I like and don't like about them and if the "don't like" list outweighs the "do like" list, I'll start shopping again but at least at that point I'll have a better idea of what I'm looking for.

I just hate having to wait, it gives me more time to second guess myself and wonder if I made a good choice or not. The price was decent though so worse case, I'll have a nice set of chisels for working on dubious wood (possible metal, tar, sap, etc) and around the house. Then I'll get a better set for fine work as money permits.

-Jim

[Jonathryn]

I wouldn't worry. Although there's no substitute for real, actual, hands-on and prolonged experience with the tools at hand (which is why I encourage you to take pictures and let us know what your impressions are so we can all benefit) of all the new and vintage chisels I've bought, sharpened, and used, hardly any have been bad.

Bad chisels can and do happen, but they're rare. Sometimes there's just a bad batch, or someone bungles the tempering and makes them too soft or, more likely, too hard. I've sharpened and used dozens of chisels and have only really come across one bad set. Oddly, it was one of the most trusted names in chisels--Witherby. But it was a postwar cost-cutting inexpensive import brand "Witherby Woodchuck" from Italy. The steel was soft as chewing gum: over-tempered. Sometimes you come across chisels that are too hard and the edge chips too easily. A lot of brand new chisels have this sort of case-hardening, but you need to grind a bit past this outside layer of over-hard skin to the good stuff. Sometimes it takes a few sharpenings to get there.

The ones you bought have handles that resemble the MHGs available at Hartville tool. I have a couple of those and if they're similar, you'll probably find that they're ergonomic and comfortable in use. I have a set of yellow Stanley beaters--my first set!--and I'll offer this advice: If they have a weird plastic-like film on the metal parts, dip the blades only in lacquer thinner and using gloves, get that plasticy stuff off the steel parts you're going to sharpen. You don't want that junk crapping up your sandpaper/grinder/water stone/sharpening medium of choice.

[wilburpan]

Coincidentally, today the Schwarz posted an article about a way to get socket chisel handles to stick if they are loose.

[nateswoodworks]

Coincidentally, today the Schwarz posted an article about a way to get socket chisel handles to stick if they are loose.

I saw that too, who would have thought hairspray!! A little dab of epoxy works too, just make sure to not use much so it is easier if you want to get it back out.

Nate

[JimB1]

Chisels just got here yesterday. I'll try to get some pictures for you later.

First impressions:

• The handles on these aren't as rough as the ones on display. They are much smoother. I don't think I need to do any smoothing work on them at all.
  
• The stain on the beech handles is inconsistent. Not really blotchy but lighter on some handles then others.
  
• There are a couple of loose ferrels, might just be because of humidity changes in shipping. If they don't tighten up in the next day or two, I'll give them a little tap or two with a center punch to give them some grab on the handle.
  
• The backs get progressively rougher milling marks as the blades get smaller (smooth on the 1 1/4" to pretty rough on the 1/4") going to take some work to get the 1/4" smooth and flat.
  
• The 1 1/4" doesn't quite fit the leather roll. It sticks up a little too far for the flap to cover it completely. Not a big deal, just awkward in the roll.
  
• Very light. Surprisingly so. They look like they should be heavier then they are.
  
• Comfortable grip. I could see these being a little wide for someone with small hands but they feel pretty comfortable to me (6'3" tall with pretty big hands)
  
• 1/4" seems to have a uneven edge. It looks a little jagged visually. The others look much better.
  

Overall I think the 1/4" for whatever reason is the problem child of the bunch. It's going to take some work to get that flat, square and sharp but the others don't look bad at all. I'll let you know how flat the backs are and how things look once I start tuning them up. I'd say it wasn't a bad spend so far though. We'll see after the tune up and I start using them though...

-Jim