Preferred set of chisels

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by mirwa

You are correct, i set up a sharpening business within my repair business, so sharpen other peoples chisels, router bits, scissors, drill bits etc

Steve

Man, I would love be to be able to send out my sharpening. I’m just awful at it.

Steve, what does your sharpening service use for a sharpening system?

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by Quickstep192

Man, I would love be to be able to send out my sharpening. I’m just awful at it.

Steve, what does your sharpening service use for a sharpening system?

I have a dedicated room in my workshop just for grinding tools

For router bits, milling bits etc we have a universal tool and cutter grinder, cost me 5300, its also useful for lathe bits, circular saw bades pretty much anything that requires a complicated cut and profile

For scissors we use a machine called twice as sharp, it also does rotary blades etc

For chisels, axes, planer blades and so fortn we us a tormec wet wheel grinder

For knives i find wicked edge works extremely nicely (i make my own knives)

Also have a custom 48inch belt grinder i built myself for free hand grinding

We also have a 150mm wide belt standard platen grinder for walking flat items and getting them straight again

Also have a small 250mm twin belt grinder that has been customised with jigs for creating initial bevels on knives when they have just been made

Have another 250mm twin wheel grinder that is fitted with paper wheels, this is good for sharpening serrated blades etc

And we also have kiln oven for heat treatment

Lots of strops and cutting compounds and of course just good old fashioned files and grinding blocks

So yeh, i knw just a little bit about sharpening

[Quickstep192]

Originally Posted by mirwa

For chisels, axes, planer blades and so fortn we us a tormec wet wheel grinder

Steve,

I hope I'm not pushing the brain picking here, but wondering what stone you use on the Tormek and if you go straight from the stone to the strop. Do you leave the hollow grind?

I'm trying to talk myself into buying a Tormek and knowing how a pro uses it might push me over the fence.

[mirwa]

Tormek is a great unit, i use the grey wet wheels and the dressing stone to smooth it out, the dressing stone has two sides, the smooth side fills small voids in the wheel to get a smoother finish.

From the tormek straight to the strop or the supllied leather buff wheel, i prefer strops. My strops are nothing more complicated than leather pant belts.

As a all in one grinder, tormek IMO is great, for info, I actually have two, the karge and small version, the small version i keep mounted to my work bench and tickle the chisels or screwsrivers as the day goes by, the big tormek is in the grinding room

Steve

[charles Tauber]

I have had a Tormek for a decade or so and now only use it only for turning gouges with complex geometry. I used to use it for jointer blades, but don’t since I switched to a helical cutter head.

For chisels and plane blades, I don’t care for it much. I find it slow. I also have Lee Valley’s machine and a WorkSharp. The WorkSharp is my preference. It is much easier to use than either the Lee Valley or Tormek and MUCH faster than the Tormek. It also has a variety of clever attachments, in addition to its built-in chisel sharpening function that makes chisels nearly idiot proof to sharpen very sharp. (At one point WorkSharp sold an attachment that allowed one to use any of the Tormek attachments on the WorkSharp: they were served a cease and desist order, but one can find videos of the setup and make ones own.) the WorkSharp is the cheapest of the three.

A very cleaver attachment for the WorkSharp is a slotted grinding disk that allows one to see through the disk as one sharpens so that one can actually see the tool face as it is being sharpened. The spinning slotted disk becomes transparent.

The advantage of the Tormek is that there is (an expensive) attachment to sharpen just about any type of non-carbide edge tool - scissors, knives, chisels, plane blades, gouges, turning tools... The fact that it doesn't use throw-away abrasive sheets, like both the Lee Valley and WorkSharp do, is a plus, though the sharpening wheel does require periodic dressing with a diamond dressing tool - it's a water stone that wears, eventually needing to be replaced, though mine still has decades of use left in it. That the stone runs in a water bath is both a plus and a minus: it keeps tools cool, but gets them wet and requires the reservoir be kept filled. It's a good, but expensive, tool, but for standard chisels and plane blades, I prefer diamond stones or either of the Lee Valley or WorkSharp.

[Mdinterman]

I have taken many furniture making classes and one of them was taught by Franz Klausz. He is the Master Craftsman, of Master Craftsmen. He said I am often asked what the best chisel is and my response is a sharp one. Bottom line is the key to hand tools is learning how to sharpen. That takes a lot of practice to master.

If you can’t sharpen well even Lie-Nielsen chisels will not perform well. A good sharpener can make even a cheap Harbor Freight chisel perform well. It all comes down to getting a perfectly flat back, a good, square, polished hone on the bevel and a good honing jig. From what I have seen, the biggest cost driver in chisels is the type of metal the chisel is made of and, from what I have seen, really boils down to how long the edge will last.

I personally would rather invest my money on good sharpening stones and a good, very flat lapping plate to keep the stones flat. Then, with a lot of practice, you will be able to have sharp chisels, plane irons, spokeshave irons, etc.

There are lots of good YouTube information on sharpening woodworking hand tools. My favorites are Deneb Pulchaski when he was with Lie-Nielsen and Rob Cosman.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

I have had a tormek for a decade or so and now only use it only for turning gouges with complex geometry. I used to use it for jointer blades, but don’t since I switched to a helical cutter head.

For chisels and plane blades, I don’t care for it much. I find it slow. I also have lee Valley’s machine and a work smart. The work smart is my preference. It is much easier to use than either the Lee Valley or tormek and MUCH faster than the tormek. It also has a variety of cleaver attachments, in addition to its built in chisel sharpening function that makes chisels nearly idiot proof to sharpen very sharp. (At one point work smart sold an attachment that allowed one to use any of the tormek attachments on the work smart: they were served a cease and desist order, but one can find videos of the setup and make ones own.) the work smart is the cheapest of the three.

A very cleaver attachment for the work smart is a slotted grinding disk that allows one to see through the disk as one sharpens so that one can actually see the tool face as it is being sharpened. The spinning slotted disk becomes transparent.

What is a "Work Smart"? Never heard of it, but I do lead a sheltered life!

[charles Tauber]

Sorry, work sharp:https://www.worksharptools.com

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by charles Tauber

Sorry, work sharp:https://www.worksharptools.com

Thank you, Charles!

[Neil K Walk]

As others have said, it all depends on the quality of the steel and learning how to sharpen it. That being said, I feel like having a 3/4" and a 1/4" pair of blue Marples chisels has been a good start for me. YMMV.

[phavriluk]

I agree with Mr. Walk, above. Just what I did.

I suggest to OP that he buy a set of blue Marples chisels, they are seriously inexpensive compared to the Holy Grail chisels that have been pitched, learn to sharpen them, and see how they work. They will either be all that's needed, or illuminate what is needed as improvements, and they'll be good to have around in any case. Having the set will also identify which chisels stay unused and which are in constant use.

I suspect that ascending the price slope can bring nicer tools, but is value there at 5x the price? For someone gathering experience?

[charles Tauber]

My first set of chisels was 4 or 5 inexpensive Footprint chisels in common sizes. I still have them and they still work fine. Any inexpensive, good-steel set will be adequate: they don't need to be an expensive holy-grail set.

Just to be clear, however, the OP asked about "preferred set", rather than an ideal starter set. It's a different question and garners different responses.

[MC5C]

I have a set of these: http://www.leevalley.com/en/Wood/pag...504,43500&ap=1 and a great many antiques that were passed down from my grandparents, including a 4" wide slick.

[ruby50]

How do you like those LV chisels? are they comfortable to use?

Ed

[MC5C]

I like them a lot. All of the older chisels have the typical wood handles, but I prefer the indestructible plastic on the Lee Valley Japanese chisels for hand-feel.