English Chisels At Home Depot

[PatientZero]

Just thought you guys might like to know, I picked up a set of chisels at HD a few days ago that blew my mind. Marples Chisels, $30 for 4, ready to go right out of the box. Pre-sharpened and honed, very comfortable in the hand. Marples tools are all good quality. A little pricey for HD, but a steal compared to similar products elsewhere.Marples Chisels They're marketed under the Irwin Name, but they're marples.

[jer7440]

I've read some reviews of those. They are supposed to be really good for the money.

[Doc]

For the bucks these are really good durable chisels. They will take a good edge and hold it for a while. The handles are also comfortable and will take a fair amount of abuse.

You can do a lot better job sharpening them than the factory edge. I take them through a superfine diamond plate and then power strop them with polishing compund and they slice right through maple.

To get a better set you're going to have to shell out more than you pay for a set for 1 chisel.

[thedoctor]

If you like those chisels the way they came from HD wait till you put a REAL edge on them like doc said! They will take regular maintenence to keep them up to snuff but it beats paying $40.00 per tool. Plus, even a really good chisel needs care after being stored for a while. It's part of life.

[Marzocchi705]

We have a ton of marple's chisels at our school, like maby 200+. There good to work with, and very comfortable. Some of these chislels are over 10 years old too, and being a school have been very batterd, all they need is a good sharpening and your ready to go again.

[Gregory]

You think the deal there is good? Check Costco, there is a set of like 10? and a mallet for a ridiculously low price (can't remember at the moment)

Edited April 14, 2005 by Gregory

[Devon Headen]

Yeah, go to the dollar tree and you can get 'em really cheap.

[Doc]

Yeah the Costco chisels are really good for say opening paint cans and such. Chinese steel still doesn't hold much of an edge.

If you want to look at a great buy in really good chisels go to Hartvilletool.com. They sell a set of six unboxed HMG German steel chisels for about a C-note. Wooden hooped handles. Take and hold a razor edge. Close or equal to Heckels or Two Cherries.

[tdog]

Yeah the Costco chisels are really good for say opening paint cans and such. Chinese steel still doesn't hold much of an edge.

If you want to look at a great buy in really good chisels go to Hartvilletool.com. They sell a set of six unboxed HMG German steel chisels for about a C-note. Wooden hooped handles. Take and hold a razor edge. Close or equal to Heckels or Two Cherries.

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Doc...I'm glad that someone else appreciates fine tools......I have my full set of Marples (wooden hoop handles) 1/8in up to 1 1/4in of Sheffield Steel...You can shave with these chisels!.....The downside is that I paid several hundred dollars for them.

I wouldn't dream of shopping at Costco for fine tools....But Sam's Club does have a really nice rolling tool chest in stainless steel that looks interesting......It looks much sturdier than my 4 stacks of Craftsman tool chests.

[bigdguitars]

cheap tools are exactly that, cheap

may wander over to home depot and take a look, though more of an Ace Hardware guy for various reasons...

[Gregory]

No, they are Marples,

I remember because we have a set of a few of them

Before you all think costco is so bad you should check out their stuff, its all real brands, they have dremel, delta, dewalt etc...

Edited April 16, 2005 by Gregory

[tdog]

No, they are Marples,

I remember because we have a set of a few of them

Before you all think costco is so bad you should check out their stuff, its all real brands, they have dremel, delta, dewalt etc...

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I've been to Costco....The tools aren't great....But you have to remember that many tool manufacturers make several different lines of tools. The Marples blue handle chisels are not as high of a grade as the wooden hoop handles chisels. When you buy router bits, don't buy the cheapest, because there is a reason for the cost being so low....these bits usually are made of low grade carbide.

Inexpensive does not always mean a bargain.

[tirapop]

I bought a set of Marples blue handles, maybe ten years ago. Fine Woodworking had done a test of chisel and they'd sectioned the blades for some metallurgical microscopy. The Japanese chisels they'd tested came out on top, but, they said the steel in the Marples was pretty good.

Not all the edges were ground square to sides, and I had to flatten/polish the backs. They were a step up from the basic Stanley chisel I had. The Marples hold an edge well. They're comfortable to use.

No, they don't work as well as chisels costing 3 to 5 times as much. Are those expensive chisels 3 to 5 times better than those cheap Marples? Maybe. If you make your living with a chisel or have a lot of disposable income, make the investment. I wish I could justify that, but, with the job, house, and kids it doesn't calculate. If Lie-Nielsen made pin-up posters of their planes, I'd hang them in my workspace... tool-porn.

I'm glad you can afford better chisels and no, those blue handles don't have a place in your shop. The Marples blue handles are a reasonable value at that price. They work well enough. People make do with what they can afford, right? There are third world artisans/craftsman who do incredible work with hand wrought tools that require constant fettling and sharpening. Not to cast judgements, but, an example of contrasts: Myka has that cool router jig for contouring necks; Hyunsu in some of his build photos is seen whittling the neck contours with a knife. They both turn out impecible work.

[tdog]

I bought a set of Marples blue handles, maybe ten years ago.  Fine Woodworking had done a test of chisel and they'd sectioned the blades for some metallurgical microscopy.  The Japanese chisels they'd tested came out on top, but, they said the steel in the Marples was pretty good. 

Not all the edges were ground square to sides, and I had to flatten/polish the backs.  They were a step up from the basic Stanley chisel I had.  The Marples hold an edge well.  They're comfortable to use.

No, they don't work as well as chisels costing 3 to 5 times as much.  Are those expensive chisels 3 to 5 times better than those cheap Marples?  Maybe.  If you make your living with a chisel or have a lot of disposable income, make the investment.  I wish I could justify that, but, with the job, house, and kids it doesn't calculate.  If Lie-Nielsen made pin-up posters of their planes, I'd hang them in my workspace... tool-porn.

I'm glad you can afford better chisels and no, those blue handles don't have a place in your shop.  The Marples blue handles are a reasonable value at that price.  They work well enough.  People make do with what they can afford, right?  There are third world artisans/craftsman who do incredible work with hand wrought tools that require constant fettling and sharpening.  Not to cast judgements, but, an example of contrasts:  Myka has that cool router jig for contouring necks; Hyunsu in some of his build photos is seen whittling the neck contours with a knife.  They both turn out impecible work.

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Excellent post! The Blue handle Marples ARE a great value....and a pretty good set of chisels.....They put to shame a set of Stanley's.

Interesting point about the third world craftsmen.....Imagine what kind of work they could turn out if they had access to top shelf tooling. Better tools don't make you a better craftsman or artist, they make the work more efficient and precise.

Reminds me of amateur motocross riders who think that if given the factory bike of the top pro rider, they could actually beat pro, if the pro rider is riding a stock bike. The top pro is still going to smoke them riding a box stock machine. It is much the same as a guitar player thinking he could sound like Stevie Ray if he were playing SRV's Strat. Stevie Ray would still sould like Stevie Ray if he were playing an old Silvertone!

It ultimately comes down to the abilities of the rider or the guitarist......or in this case the craftsman using the chisel.