chisels....lesson learned.

[Erwan]

i had the worst time convincing the ***** working on a 300.00 piece of wood (me) that a 50-60 dollar chisel was a good investment.
until the cheap chisel the *****(me) was using hogged out a big chip on the lock inlet.
then the ***** listened.

My grandfather always told me : '' I am not rich enough to buy cheaply ''. I've realized, now that I'm old man, that he was absolutely right, and I got the most out of it all my own life....

​

 

[Pete G]

One thing I learnt quite early on from a friend who restores sash windows and wood mouldings (mostly in the local Oxford Universities) was we all have too many chisels, I'm sure I could get away with a lot less than I currently have but if I see an old chisel in an Antique Centre I feel compelled to buy it! Generally, whether I need it or not! Same goes for virtually any tool that's over 25 years old!

You can NEVER have too many chisels/gouges.

 

[JOHN ZUREKI]

This old "saying " holds true; "Buy the best and you will only cry once".

 

[Joemolf]

What are the chisels to buy? I bought a set from TOW I figured they be typically what we would require. Are palm chisels a good idea? What do you all recommend for finish work?

Anybody or is this top secret . There’s got to be a select few everyone should have but certainly not all afterall they have chisels for the chisels

 

[Joemolf]

You can NEVER have too many chisels/gouges.

Okay!

 

[billraby]

What are the chisels to buy? I bought a set from TOW I figured they be typically what we would require. Are palm chisels a good idea? What do you all recommend for finish work?

The chisels from Track of the Wolf are good. Pfeil are better, but they are double the price. I prefer the full size chisels. You can use them with two hands or with a mallet. Much more control that way.

 

[Joemolf]

The chisels from Track of the Wolf are good. Pfeil are better, but they are double the price. I prefer the full size chisels. You can use them with two hands or with a mallet. Much more control that way.

Thanks for your input!

 

[oldwood]

I'm still scrounging for old chisels at flea mkts. . No matter if you have old or new , learn to sharpen ,Get a Hard Arkansas stone and use it. Use an old leather belt to strop after stoning. My favorite chisels under 1'4 " are made from high quality screwdrivers. They ain't pretty , but work like a bandit and , the company I used to work for bought them.

 

[tallpine]

This thread reminds me of a story I once read about Hershel House. He was visiting a friend who had just finished building a rifle. The man was a good craftsman but could not engrave so he asked Hershel if he would engrave his name on the barrel for him. Hershel agreed and after looking around the mans shop found an old rusty piece of broken file. He quickly ground a proper cutting edge on it and masterfully, signed the mans name on the barrel.
Expensive, high quality tools are nice to have but the hand that holds the chisel is the most important part of the equation.

I have a butt load of chisels but I have found that 90 percent of the inletting required to stock a rifle is done with the same three or four chisels, best to buy the ones you need instead of a set. Another thing, expensive high end chisels are useless if you do not know how to maintain and sharpen them. Clean, precision inletting requires razor sharp tools.

I was going to stay out of this thread but I can't help myself, This subject has come up before and my thoughts on buying expensive chisel sets was not very well received. If you are a part time builder and you are going to build one or two rifles buy you some affordable chisels. Do your homework, learn how to sharpen them and regrind and temper them if necessary. Learn how to use them. I have nine rifles and pistols under my belt. i have found that experience has served me better than the the price I payed for my chisels. Just my thoughts, YMMV

 

[rocullen]

Well, I was gonna stay away from "re-temper them" comments, but......
How do you know how to re-termper them if you don't know what kind of metal you are working with?
Different metals require different temps.


Joemolf....What kind of chisels you need depends kinda on your technique. All of this is hearsay, so take it with some salt; Some people use veiners to outline their work, some use gouges. Those that use gouges will probably need a larger selection of sweeps to cover all of the possible curvatures. Seems to me, the shallower sweeps could tend to be a bit wider than the deeper sweeps with the exception of a narrow #3 to get in to tighter spots of relief.

Maybe if I give you some 'misinformation", an experienced carver will correct. So, in that vein, I hear that a shallow sweep, #3, is good for removing background wood. I would assume both narrow(4mm or so) and some wider.
At least a couple of good straight chisels, I think they are referred to as #1. A skew chisel or two could be handy I would think.

Again, I AM NOT EXPERIENCED AT GUN STOCK CARVING, so please don't go buy chisels on my word/thoughts.
Hopefully someone more experienced, as in doing it for profit, can chime in and correct my mistakes.

 

[tallpine]

Well, I was gonna stay away from "re-temper them" comments, but......
How do you know how to re-termper them if you don't know what kind of metal you are working with?
Different metals require different temps.

All chisels are made from 10 series high carbon steel, a very forgiving and easy to harden steel to heat treat. Plenty of information available out there if you are inclined to look for it

 

[Tazman1602]

i had the worst time convincing the ***** working on a 300.00 piece of wood (me) that a 50-60 dollar chisel was a good investment.
until the cheap chisel the *****(me) was using hogged out a big chip on the lock inlet.
then the ***** listened.

I think we’ve all been there at one time or another……..

Art

 

[GREENSWLDE]

How are chisels correctly sharpened?

With Great Difficulty!! O.D.

 

[Joemolf]

Well, I was gonna stay away from "re-temper them" comments, but......
How do you know how to re-termper them if you don't know what kind of metal you are working with?
Different metals require different temps.


Joemolf....What kind of chisels you need depends kinda on your technique. All of this is hearsay, so take it with some salt; Some people use veiners to outline their work, some use gouges. Those that use gouges will probably need a larger selection of sweeps to cover all of the possible curvatures. Seems to me, the shallower sweeps could tend to be a bit wider than the deeper sweeps with the exception of a narrow #3 to get in to tighter spots of relief.

Maybe if I give you some 'misinformation", an experienced carver will correct. So, in that vein, I hear that a shallow sweep, #3, is good for removing background wood. I would assume both narrow(4mm or so) and some wider.
At least a couple of good straight chisels, I think they are referred to as #1. A skew chisel or two could be handy I would think.

Again, I AM NOT EXPERIENCED AT GUN STOCK CARVING, so please don't go buy chisels on my word/thoughts.
Hopefully someone more experienced, as in doing it for profit, can chime in and correct my mistakes.

Thanks well said!

 

[Billy Boy]

This thread reminds me of a story I once read about Hershel House. He was visiting a friend who had just finished building a rifle. The man was a good craftsman but could not engrave so he asked Hershel if he would engrave his name on the barrel for him. Hershel agreed and after looking around the mans shop found an old rusty piece of broken file. He quickly ground a proper cutting edge on it and masterfully, signed the mans name on the barrel.
Expensive, high quality tools are nice to have but the hand that holds the chisel is the most important part of the equation.

I have a butt load of chisels but I have found that 90 percent of the inletting required to stock a rifle is done with the same three or four chisels, best to buy the ones you need instead of a set. Another thing, expensive high end chisels are useless if you do not know how to maintain and sharpen them. Clean, precision inletting requires razor sharp tools.

I was going to stay out of this thread but I can't help myself, This subject has come up before and my thoughts on buying expensive chisel sets was not very well received. If you are a part time builder and you are going to build one or two rifles buy you some affordable chisels. Do your homework, learn how to sharpen them and regrind and temper them if necessary. Learn how to use them. I have nine rifles and pistols under my belt. i have found that experience has served me better than the the price I payed for my chisels. Just my thoughts, YMMV

My mentor in the gunsmith trade told me to never buy ‘sets’ of anything. Buy a tool when you need it and can’t make it, chisels, guages, reamers, taps, etc, etc. and buy the very best you can. My years in the trade proved him right. Almost always used only a few individuals within the sets of anything I did buy because they were the most critical and most often used for the procedure at hand.

 

[sheriff john]

Brownell's "Gunsmith Kinks" has an excellent section on chisels - selection/sharpening/etc. if a person prefers print over internet. Brownell's has always carried excellent tools and supplies for gun work. Some specialty tools I have a hard time finding elsewhere. Nice folks.

 

[rocullen]

I'd sure like to see a list of all of the chisels metal contents; 1084,1095 etc.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I was gifted a set of high quality German made chisels about twenty years ago by a friend who inherited them from his father. They made my craftsman chisels look like junk, I have never regreted buying quality tools, but often regretted buying tools that were not up to the job.

 

[waksupi]

I've built over 200 guns with cheapy Harbor Freight chisels. Replaced the handles, and was good to go. I've had this set for years, but if the steel quality is still as good as it was then, they take a sharp edge and hold it very well. Some seem to think they need to spend a lot of money to get anything done.

 

[oldwood]

Fly.........Do you want cut angle data , or the kinds of stones , grit , how to strop???? etc