RichardA Posted December 25, 2014 Report Share Posted December 25, 2014 The Narex are a great value for the money... I've got a full set of their bench chisels, a set of paring chisels and a couple mortising chisels, A quick honing and you're good to go... The sharpen up quickly and hold up well. If you want to spend more cash, you can, but for value, Narex is the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponderingturtle Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 As someone who's been through the whole "gear up" phase for the last four years, I'd recommend against a set. I do have a set of new Stanley sockets, but I use common sizes the most. Look at H.O. Studley.... even his 1/2" chisel was worn down the most out of all his chisels. My favorite chisels are the ones I picked up at M-WTCA meets. Old Buck Bros and Stanleys. I have a 2 1/2" Weatherby firmer chisel that is awesome. I think I paid 20 bucks for it. Most used vs what is necessary is an interesting debate. Is one high end chisel better than a set of less expensive ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Most used vs what is necessary is an interesting debate. Is one high end chisel better than a set of less expensive ones? I'd say it is, if you buy a set of say 4, and only use 1. I have multiple sets, ranging from 1/4" to 2". I use the 1/4" and 1/2" almost exclusively. Of course, that is just my personal experience, and may not apply to anyone else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan S Posted January 5, 2015 Report Share Posted January 5, 2015 Most used vs what is necessary is an interesting debate. Is one high end chisel better than a set of less expensive ones? I think it depends what you mean by a set. I'd recommend a small set over one really nice chisel. A small set of 3 to 5 chisels will cover most of the tasks you will run in into. something like 1/4", 1/2" and 1" will go a long way. add in a 3/8" & 3/4" and you might not ever need more. What you actually need always comes down to the diversity of your work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Schicho Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 I'll throw in another tip of the hat for the narex set they were my first chisels and they came deadly sharp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyinFish Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Just got a set and put them to use on a small project. They definitely were not very sharp, which I actually liked because it forced me to work on my sharpening. Got a pretty decent edge on the one I was using and it was a joy to use. Much better than my "tool bag chisels". Great feel, weight, and length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Gilbert Posted October 18, 2015 Report Share Posted October 18, 2015 going to have to pull the trigger on these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsCW Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 I bought a set of narex chisels through amazon and the come pretty sharp. The handles feel good and I like the weight of them too. I know my dad one day bought some chisels and they where feather like, he asked my grandfather to sharpen them and he told my dad they would get blunt just laying around. I got the set of 4 and I believe the current Lee Valley pricing is cheaper then amazon http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=67707&cat=1,41504 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlau Posted February 22, 2016 Report Share Posted February 22, 2016 another vote for the narex for dollar value, and like highlander said some are go to chisels and others collect more dust than shavings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheperd80 Posted February 23, 2016 Report Share Posted February 23, 2016 Another vote for Narex. I havent had them long but got them all sharpened up and used a few on a recent project and im really impressed. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk EDIT: whoooooa ancient thread :-/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
byegge Posted March 4, 2016 Report Share Posted March 4, 2016 I have the narex chisels and so far I love them. Granted they were my first real set, replacing Harbor freight set. Very little work to get them flat and have stayed sharp. I would recommend the mk 2 honing guide though. I used a 15 dollars guide for about 20 minutes then ordered on online. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gee-dub Posted March 29, 2016 Report Share Posted March 29, 2016 On 1/4/2015 at 9:12 AM, Dan S said: I think it depends what you mean by a set. I'd recommend a small set over one really nice chisel. A small set of 3 to 5 chisels will cover most of the tasks you will run in into. something like 1/4", 1/2" and 1" will go a long way. add in a 3/8" & 3/4" and you might not ever need more. What you actually need always comes down to the diversity of your work. This is true. I have many chisels that only come out to play for special events. If I did not have them I could make do with others. What I mean to say is that if I started over I would buy the chisels I needed as I needed them. I would still have a dozen or more but, I wouldn't have to store all the rest ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedCarpenter Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 I'm looking at buying some decent chisels soon. I'm currently using my dad's chisels, an older Marples set. They seem decent enough, but they aren't mine. I don't do a lot of in-shop fine woodworking, but I've start to do some and plan to learn and do more (vocationally I do framing, building, renovating). The discussion in this thread about sizes resonates with me. I find that I mainly use a few sizes, mainly 1/2". I'm considering buying either a set or a selection of Narex chisels from LV, AND one very good chisel, a Veritas PM-V11 1/2" bench chisel. The Narex will cover by basis on size variety, and the Veritas will give me one excellent tool in a size I already know I'll use often. Over time I can add more higher end chisels as I can/need. Anyone have thoughts on my plans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 18 minutes ago, BeardedCarpenter said: I'm looking at buying some decent chisels soon. I'm currently using my dad's chisels, an older Marples set. They seem decent enough, but they aren't mine. I don't do a lot of in-shop fine woodworking, but I've start to do some and plan to learn and do more (vocationally I do framing, building, renovating). The discussion in this thread about sizes resonates with me. I find that I mainly use a few sizes, mainly 1/2". I'm considering buying either a set or a selection of Narex chisels from LV, AND one very good chisel, a Veritas PM-V11 1/2" bench chisel. The Narex will cover by basis on size variety, and the Veritas will give me one excellent tool in a size I already know I'll use often. Over time I can add more higher end chisels as I can/need. Anyone have thoughts on my plans? If your OCD can tolerate incomplete sets, sounds like a great plan. My head would explode. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 I'd suggest skipping the extra 1/2" chisel until you decide if the Narex one isn't good enough. Mine works just fine for everything I throw at it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 My SIL has a set of cheap Irwin chisels, yellow plastic handles. Anyway, we beat them to death doing his kitchen demo & reno, so I offered to sharpen them. It took about an hour to flatten the backs & get a shaving edge on them. The next week I used them to pare some red oak baseboard we had to reinstall. I was quite impressed, considering they are such cheap chisels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumberninja Posted July 27, 2016 Report Share Posted July 27, 2016 15 hours ago, Eric. said: If your OCD can tolerate incomplete sets, sounds like a great plan. My head would explode. I took the advice of the Schwarz and decided to try one premium chisel in 1/2" size. I liked it enough that I added almost all the chisels in the set over time as needed. In my case, I bought a LN 1/2" and a LV 1/4" PMV-11. The LN one because I like the balance of the socket chisel but the LV's are nice and the steel is definitely more resilient and stay sharper longer. My most used chisels correspond to my most used joinery tasks, mortise and tenon. So I use the 1/4", 3/8", and 3/4" the most. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cancelleri Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 On 7/26/2016 at 8:00 PM, BeardedCarpenter said: I'm looking at buying some decent chisels soon. I'm currently using my dad's chisels, an older Marples set. They seem decent enough, but they aren't mine. I don't do a lot of in-shop fine woodworking, but I've start to do some and plan to learn and do more (vocationally I do framing, building, renovating). The discussion in this thread about sizes resonates with me. I find that I mainly use a few sizes, mainly 1/2". I'm considering buying either a set or a selection of Narex chisels from LV, AND one very good chisel, a Veritas PM-V11 1/2" bench chisel. The Narex will cover by basis on size variety, and the Veritas will give me one excellent tool in a size I already know I'll use often. Over time I can add more higher end chisels as I can/need. Anyone have thoughts on my plans? I find the Veritas PMV11 bench chisel handles to be entirely too small. They are also oblong, which isn't overly comfortable to hold if you're rotating your chisel at all when using it. I personally prefer socket chisels like the Lie Nielsen Bevel edge socket chisels. They also give you the flexibility to turn your own handles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeardedCarpenter Posted August 6, 2016 Report Share Posted August 6, 2016 I decided to go with Narex from LV. I got the set of 7 bench chisels, and the set of 6 mortise chisels. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordy9r Posted September 28, 2016 Report Share Posted September 28, 2016 Guess I'm pretty lucky I've got 3 sets of chisels. My first set, that I still have and use are the British made Marples (not the ones with the Marples name made by Irwin). Next I bought a very complete set of Narex - the only Narex ones I'd keep are the paring chisels. The one problem Narex has is they are too soft - I think they're Rockwell 58-59, pretty soft. Now my best chisels are by far, the Lie Nielsen. I also have large set of two cherries; they are good but a little clunky. Either way you go, you'll get just what you pay for. fordy9r Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pondhockey Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 Wow. Not even a common thread of agreement here. At least I know the makes to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 10 minutes ago, Pondhockey said: Wow. Not even a common thread of agreement here. At least I know the makes to consider. nope, you'll find that a lot when there is no right answer, also not a bad one. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4square Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 I too have a set of Narex Chisel's. No they are not extremely hard chisels. However if sharpened at 30 degrees they will keep an edge fairly well as long as you flatten the backs first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Meggison Posted November 10, 2016 Report Share Posted November 10, 2016 I have been buying my chisels at auctions and estate sales etc. for over 40 years and wouldn't know what to do with a matched set. My "Go To" chisels are all 70+ years old. My all time favorite is a 5/8 Buck Bros. Takes and holds a hell of an edge. Would like to try some of the newer high end chisels like Lee Nielsen (sp). Hard to justify when I have 2-4 of each size already. Just start using whatever you can get and you will develop a feel for quality. "Just Do It" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Faust Posted January 5, 2017 Report Share Posted January 5, 2017 Stanly sweat are the best on the market but if your up to looking on eBay old marples are probly the best steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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