Is a $100 Chisel better than a $1 Chisel? | Hand Tool Shootout

Let's explore some chisels from popular modern brands of western chisels to compare them and see what's what. I put them through their paces, looking at their capabilities in joinery and anything woodworking related you might want to do with a nice set of chisels, short of opening a paint can. All of the chisels were sharpened to a 27-degree bevel to understand what they are like to live with and sharpen. I cut dovetails, mortise and tenons, and even hand-cut dados with them to test their fit for purpose for each task. Now we've got ourselves a shootout!

Featured in this comparison were everything from #Aldi chisels, #HarborFreight Chisels, #IrwinMarples, #Narex, #StanleySweetheart, #LieNielsen, and #Veritas for Lee Valley Tools. Full disclosure some of these chisels were given to me for the review, but I wasn't paid by any manufacturer or distributor or asked to say anything about any of these tools. I tried to keep the marketing jargon to a minimum and really just represent the tools for how they were in real-world use.
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Stanley Sweetheart

Irwin Marples

Narex Chisels

DMT Dia Sharp Stones

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#chisels #handtoolshootout #budgettools #toolreview #sharpeningtools

[stevecomeau]

the Stanley sweethearts are not based off of the Lie-Nielsen. The Lie-Nielsens are based off the vintage Stanley 750s. I assume the sweethearts are their current day cheap version of the companies original (and very desirable) 750s. Keep up the good videos.

[apistosig]

Chisels, planes and handsaws are among my favourite tools. Hi end quality tools will always suit the artisan, craftsman & professionals while the entry level chisels will always suit the handyman and weekend warrior. Big difference is steel quality and the mileage between sharpenings. Personally I use both - cheap chisels for rough & crude work where the chisel may be subject to damage and the quality tools for more precision cabinetry type of work. They both have their place.

[RickMcQuay]

4:47 I've made that mistake a few times and seen my bones. As they say, cut toward your chum, not toward your thumb.

[makerblend]

Excellent video, I liked that you took the time to carefully test each of the chisels in a variety of tasks.
Personally, I'm a fan Japanese chisels but the cost can be quite prohibitive to the novice woodworker so I completely understand why you didn't include them.

[Kikilang]

Thanks. Very helpful. Yes, cleaning up dove tails.

[TimRoyalPastortim]

Thanks! Good comparison... Pfeil has a great chisel too. $40 each... my personal choice for a lifetime chisel. Buying one at a time. My 1/2" (12mm) was dead flat and required only a quick hone right out of the gate.

[watermain]

Great video, even the second time around. I'm still using the set of Aldi chisels I won in your GAW a while back and still enjoying how well they work.

[DNHandcrafted]

This overview was very helpful for me! Very thorough and interesting to watch!

[jimbo]

Great video. It's all about personal preference. I use a worksharp to flatten and sharp, so it's much quicker than freehand. I have a set of Sorby chisels . The boxwood handles are very comfortable and don't need a metal dowel sticking out. I also have a few "junk" chisels for rough jobs. Most of the cheapos don't take an edge. If I was buying again I would buy blades with hard A2 steel and turn boxwood handles. I don't see what is magic about 27 degrees. I sharpen mine to the 20 degree mark on my worksharp. The more acute the angle, the less wedging and resistance in the cut. I have never had a blade break. I bought a very old Sorby recently for £5. The steel was perfect for me, and seemed harder than my newer ones.

[antmallett]

If I was you, I'd buy or make a vice before worrying about 'lifetime' chisels. IMHO, expensive chisels are mainly used by the boys with all the kit, and no clue.

[raysmith]

I am confused why have you used a 27 degree angle when the primary bevel is usually 25 degrees and the secondary bevel is 35 degrees

[livewiya]

I commend you for buying all the chisels and trying to make it objective. I realize this was quite a while ago but I thought I'd share my two cents with regards to your choice of criterion:
-Flattening the back: You essentially only do this once. While it's a proxy for quality, I would have only evaluated this in units of time until flat.
-Initial Sharpening: I think this was an erroneous metric. Different manufacturer's have had different initial bevel angles, and different users will seek out different angles than your 27*.
-Edge retention: I believe this is arguably the most important metric, once you determined that all of the are at least usable. I would have operationalized this (made it quantifiable) by numbers of dovetails chopped until it became dull/started compressing rather than shearing fibers. THEN, it may have been worthwhile to directly compare if any were more quickly to returned to sharp.
-Torture Test: I'm not sure what, if any, information this provided.



I do agree, the terminating side bevels (and perhaps its extra length) set the Veritas PMV-11 in a league of their own. I'm skeptical on how superior their powdered metal is vs. Lie-Nielsen's cryo-A2 (I know Lee-Valley claims it to be superior to A2 but there's no mention of their comparitor being cryo-treated, and we know cryo-treated A2 to perform much better than untreated A2).



I rock my Aldi chisels but I'm likely to get LV's or LN's on a long enough timeline. The truth of the matter is it's ultimately subjective in terms how much you dislike sharpening and/or how valuable your shop time is. If you're pro, obviously having to sharpen doesn't add value to your customer, so paying for better edge retention/ease of sharpening is worth investing in. Similarly, if you have little shop time and/or hate sharpening, you may want to pay to be able to sharpen less often.

[phillipyeager]

Enjoy the video immensely. I have professional grade japanese bench chisels which hold an edge very well. I'm retentive about honing before, and, after use. I have 2 Narex long paring chisels which I'm very happy with, and a set of Pfeil short butt chisels which have immaculate steel. I have both LN and Veritas hand planes which is where I spent my money. Also wild about vintage Bedrocks and wooden planes. Just a tool junkie. Thanks for the video.

[just-dl]

Great comparison, thank you. I've got a set of narex I really like. The handles I find more comfortable than my other sets...Stanley and an unnamed set from my Dad's toolbox. From the things you said, I'd like to try some veritas tools.

[grahambull]

I bought a chisel from Woolworth's [ yes it was long time ago ] for a couple of quid to do a specific job and had no worry about it being damaged as I did not want to use one of my best . OK so the cutting edge was but welded onto the rest and was only an inch long . IT was fantastic and held its edge even when being roughly treated .

[Shopwolfe]

Great review! Always wondered about this myself

[daveweber]

Appreciate you sharing these results!

I wish you would have snuck in Rob Cossman's IBC chisels into that lineup. :-)

This is the second time, in as many days, that I've heard the Narex bench chisels don't come flat. So, I'll steer away from them. I did purchase a set of the Narex paring chisels - those honking long things, from Lee Valley. I just got done hand sharpening them all to 13, 000 grit. I didn't really have a huge problem getting the backs flat - but they are so long, I just focused on getting the cutting edge flat.
Haven't had a chance to really put them to work, but from the wee bit I fooled around with them on a 2x4 that had the misfortune of being too handy, I think I will really enjoy them. The long layout makes them feel good in the hand(s) when paring a surface flat.

[rwe]

Good presentation! I have several, of those chisels and agree with your assessment with the exception I thought the Stanley was too light, the handle was too small and the edge retention was worse than either Marples or Narex.

I’ve been looking at the curved bevel Ashley Iles seems they would be the ticket for dt’s.

[dsyakima]

I really like the way you explain techniques. I'm self taught and make no claim of being an exceptional woodworker but I keep learning every project. Thanks for being there

[mmgross]

The Irwin Marples Chisel set that I own are an older socket type with a larger handle...i love them. Another chisel to try are the Wood River socket set sold by Woodcraft. I used to sell them and had good reports from customers.