Veritas vs. Lie-Nielsen vs. Kirschen vs. Rider Chisels | Tool Duel #8

Stuck on whether to invest in high qualiy premium chisels, or stick with the more affordable ones? This video walks you through all the things to consider when buying a new set of chisels and find the best solution for you!
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PRODUCTS RECOMMENDED IN THIS VIDEO:
🔸 Lie-Nielsen Chisels
🔸 Kirschen Bench Chisels
🔸 Veritas PM-V11 Bench Chisels
🔸 RIDER BEVEL EDGE CHISELS

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WOODWORKING BOOKS I RECOMMEND:
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🕵️‍♂️ WHO AM I?:
My name is Matt Estlea and I’m a Woodworker from Basingstoke, England. My aim is to make your woodworking less s***.

I come from 5 years of TRAINING at Rycotewood Furniture Centre in Oxford, 5 years of experience WORKING at Axminster Tools and Machinery in Basingstoke, and 3 years TEACHING both day classes and evening classes at Rycotewood Furniture Centre. All while trying to get this YouTube thing off the ground.

By September 2021, I packed it all in to focus on YouTube and my business full-time.

Want to know more about how I crammed all this experience into such a short period of time? See my experience and qualifications here:

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[jakobsors]

i love your quick, to-the-point way of explainig, no nonsense and tons of useful info !

[MattEstlea]

I couldn't demonstrate the flatness of the backs as I was borrowing these chisels. But a brief overview:
Veritas: Flat as f***
Lie-Nielsen: Very flat, may have a small hollow which is good!
Kirschen: Hit and miss, usually ok. You loose the shininess though!
Rider: Usually ok after a bit of work. Hollow in most cases. Send it back if you get a dodgy one.

ALSO: Another advantage of Lie-Nielsen is that you can remove the handles and effectively give yourself a butt chisel (heh) I've done it a few times to chop out hinge recesses in small carcasses.

[amdenis]

Some really great options now-a-days. I have some old Stanleys that I’ve had for several, decades. About 20 some odd years ago, I got some great Daitei Japanese chisels that I had someone pick-up while they were over there. They were not nearly as expensive then, but the hardness and edge retention was a lot better than anything I gad used. I actually had to change my sharpening and honing process to fully exploit what they are capable of. I typically just do a 30 second tune-up 95% of the time on them. About 8 years ago I got some Narex chisels. What a amazing deal they are for a great chisel. I have used Lie’s and Veritas and found them to both be excellent, although on hard wood and extensive cross-grain, the Veritas and Japanese steel hold edges and degrade much better and more predictably. I currently only have a couple Lie and Veritas, but I don’t use them often. However, if I had to go out and buy any chisel, using my own money I’d get Narex, and put the difference saved into a good Work Sharp or other good system.

[paulround]

I use a set of Narex bevel edge chisels, they are very good and were relatively inexpensive, use a chrome manganese steel which keeps a good edge and have very fine edges perfect for dove tails, and have hornbeam handles.

[dasstackenblochen]

To be fair, the Kirschen chisels aren't advertised as side bevel chisels. The slight bevel is just to make mortising easier. They don't useO1 steel, their standard steel is a proprietary blend. I don't have any chisels, but some carving tools and I'm happy with those. At a 17° bevel angle carving tools are of course sharper than a chisel or plane blade, but even then these Kirschen carving tools are *ridiculously* sharp.

Kirschen isn't the only manufacturer that offers mostly-polished tools, I think both Narex and MHG offer that as well. Something to consider: machine polishing *always* results in a surface that's not super-flat, and corners will be broken/rounded.

If you want super-flat chisels, then you want to buy ground ones. You can polish them by hand on a flat polishing stone (Naniwa Sharpening Stone 8000, 10000 or 12000), which results in a surface that is both polished and flat.

However, I don't think flatness of the chisel back matters all that much. I actually think a slightly concave back is beneficial, because it should offer less resistance when driving them in. The Japanese chisels are an extreme example of this.

[chrisd]

Everyone of your took duels are the exact match ups I have been looking for on YouTube forever. Thanks!

[abeedhal]

Kirschen provides a great variety of chisels. They also sell some that have side edges.

[davidthompson]

What a great channel this is and love your presentation style. That workbench is a

[STARRating]

I really like this compilation but it is missing ( GREBSTK 1/4 inch Wood Chisel Sturdy) in my compilation the number is included. Nr1 Note that these products were ranked “best seller” at the time this article was written. Amazon’s Best Seller list is updated hourly, so for the most current list.

[ArbyCreations]

Value for money the Narex chisels you mentioned are great. I dont really use chisels enough to warrant a premium set and I have been very impressed with the quality of the Narex ones I bought.

[kwakkers]

Suggestion: if you do another one of these, try some MHG - Fine Tools, Germany.
(Not the short versions, but the typical length jobbies)

[mickleblade]

my fav chisel is a 2nd hand marples job that I picked up at the Westonbirt wood festival for a tenner, loverly carbon steel blade.

[ducyboy]

Hi Matt, I need a budget but reasonably good chisel for cutting some hinges in softwood door frame to hang an under-stairs cupboard door. I have never really used chisels before. I'm good at DIY but no nothing about woodworking. What type, make etc can you recommend?

[gl]

What's your take on Stanley Sweetheart and or Stanley Bailey chisels?

[daveallen]

Matt,

I wish you had included Ashley Iles Chisels in your comparison, even though you did mention them. These are the chisels I am thinking of getting a set of. Might you be carrying out a review on their tools in the future?

[MarekKorkusinski]

So you fasten the handles of your Lie-Nielsens with hair spray? Now you realize what tool duel you should do next, don't you?

[Thom]

Another awesome and informative video. Last year I bought the 750 Stanley Sweetheart chisels. I have to use the hairspray trick with these also. They are a descent chisels however in hindsight I wish I waited and bought the Ashleisle ( wrong spelling) the only reason I didn’t was they were out of stock for the set I wanted. Live and learn.
Awesome video love the way you start tool duel.

[MichaelKocher]

Your "My Chisels" link is broken. :(

[cronkthecrunk]

I'd also like to see your thoughts on Japanese chisels when you get around to trying them out.

[alecw]

If you can find the marples set before irwin brought them. Very good all round chisel, I've had mine 20 years. New ones are no good