[Lol999]

I'm looking to start getting some chisels for wood carving, and whilst I have thought I should like Pfeil the fact is Ican't always raise Pfeil money!

Narex seem to be all over and I wondered if anyone on the board had experience of them, and if not, what do you use yourselves?

 

[cobalt]

i bought some maple chisels of ebay at a good price which are good also have aset of chisels from axminster there okay the rest are odds and sods from boot sales rougth for a start but spent some time cleaning them up and sharpening them.

But you can get good chisels from a car boot sale if i go to one ialways keep a look out for them a couple of gouges and v tool but don't get large ones for carving toppers there to big and clumsy

its the quality of the steel you want old tools generally are pretty good .you don't need many and I would buy them now as I need them .but I would certainly get a rotary tools with a flexi cable

 

[Gloops]

Good tools don't come cheap, and cheap tools don't come good, second hand older tools are a better investment than new cheap tools, as Cobalt says, car boot sales are a good source just takes a lot of hunting round. when buying from car boots check the level op surface pitting especially on the inside curve of gouges as heavy pitting will leave a nick at the cutting edge when sharpened. I generally look for a good area that I can cut back to and then regrind and resharpen. Another good place is the Northern Woodworking Exhibition at Harrogate (November), plenty of offers on and second hand tool stalls.

hope this was helpful.

 

[Lol999]

@ Cobalt - I have my mum's old Black and Decker Wizard - their version of the Dremel, and whilst it has no flexishaft it's still quite useful for shaping some of my stuff.

@ Gloops - I was planning to go to our local car boot today, huge thing with its fair share of old tools - however monsoon mary has blown in and it won't be on, or if it is it will be a mud bath so I think I'll give it a week

 

[gdenby]

I have 2 of their mortise chisels. The steel seems quite hard. Altho not meant for hand carving, I've used them a few time in lieu of a flat edge palm chisel, and they cut very cleanly.

 

[CV3]

You can spend a lot of money Chisels. First thing is to look at what you are going to carve. You can do a of work with a few tools. I would by the best tool you can afford. Tools like Pfeil, Two cheery, Auriou, Maple. Lamp are a few names for good bench tools. If you are going to do mostly stick toppers or small objects Palm tools may meet you needs. I recommenced to those wanting to start carving to start 5 basic tools and a carving knife. I recommend Pfeil Intermediate size carving tool. They'er life time quality will do detail on small and bigger carvings. they can be used with a mallet when palm tools can not. They will be usable whether you go to lager or smaller tools. Now this is just my thoughts, by no means the a rule. Others may very well have a different opinion . What ever brand tools you may go with theses sizes will let you do many projects. IF you can start with 3 I would use the #12 the #7 and the #9.

Pfeil Tools:

#12 6mm V tool

#1 8mm Skew

#7 10mm gouge

#9 5mm gouge

#11 3mm veiner

1 in to a 1/12 in detail carving knife.

You may want to look at Chris Pye's site https://www.woodcarvingworkshops.tv/. You can sign up for a month and view a lot of informaion on tool and their use.

 

[cobalt]

I have to admit one of the best putchases i made is the band saw makes life a lot easyer. I started cutting by hand its slower but it works .

Also i rate the saw rasp use it a lot it allows quick shaping on the rough cut and a good finish on the finer cut.

 

[Lol999]

I would love a band saw but just don't have the money or the space. Rasps I am curious about, might have to get one of those. Are they the same as Surform by Stanley?

 

[gdenby]

Surforms are not quite rasps. Stanley started making them after the success of the Microplane company. I've only used a surform a few times, wasn't very impressed. I have 2 Microplanes, which seem to be made of harder metal, and the teeth start out very sharp. One is almost worn out. Unfortunately, that one was not made to have a replacement blade. So expect to buy replacement parts if you go w. that type of tool.

True rasps are more like files, but generally have coarser ridges and teeth, being used on wood, not metal. They last for a very long time. I still have a Nicholson 4-in-hand that I bought 40 years ago. It has finally dulled enough that its not very useful. They still sell for less than $10, so are a very good buy as a base level tool. I see Stanley also makes a similar rasp.

Auriou rasps are exceptional, but also very expensive, being all hand made. I have a few that were Christmas and birthday gifts to myself. Wonderful tools. Because they are handmade, they do not produce regular ridges in the wood, as machine formed rasps do. They are getting lots of use, and I hope they last. I believe Gramercy tools also has hand made rasps that are somewhat less expensive.

I also have a few Iwasaki carving rasps. Quite sharp and aggressive. Cost a fraction of what the Auriou do, but they don't have any as large as what Auriou makes. Do leave regular tool marks, which must then be sanded or scraped away.

 

[cobalt]

have a look at shinto saw rasps there double sided one coarse one fine one of the best purchases I made. Most Japanese tools I found to be very good

 

[Lol999]

Found them on Amazon, good price at less than £20 delivered. Looks like a birthday present from the kids when I'm 21 (again) in August!