20 Best Chisels For Woodworking (2022 Updated)

A fine chisel, except that it is ground but not honed as delivered and therefore must be honed before use. The Rockler honing guide (Item # 92651) does not clamp this chisel securely as the sides are too thick for the tiny angled grooves.

I’m talking about the 1/4 inch chisel (actual width 0. 243 inches / 6. 18 mm). I would have to go back to the store and look at the others.

As a beginner Luthier, I wanted something that would not break the bank and still be of great quality. Well Erwin Blue Chip chisels is just that. They serve my purpose well and with the right care, I should be able to a life’s time use from them.

I highly recommend the Erwin Blue Chip Chisel for anyone that has stay within a certain budget but still needs a great quality tool.

I have not had a chance to use the chisels much since I bought them, but the edges did hold up trimming the small amount of wood I have worked on. I would have liked to have seen a 1 1/4 inch chisel offered to complete the set.

I found the initial honing of the chisels to be fairly easy. The backs were flat with shallow machining marks that came out with a small effort. This was far less than some other chisels I have had. Each edge was square, and had no gouges in the edges.

The sides of the chisels appear to be 90 degrees to the back, and the sides are parallel the length of the blade.

I did a lot of research on chisels before I decided to choose these. I really liked the value for money that you get with these, especially at Home Essentials Direct prices, but I kept getting put off by ‘experts’ that claimed they were no good.

A lot of people recommended Narex instead, but a lot of those same people complained that the QC done by Narex was inconsistent at best. It didn’t really look like you could pick a winner at this price range.

I decided to pull the trigger on a set despite the negative remarks from some of the experts, and overall I’m really happy that I did. I’ll preface this with the fact that I’m using these for fine joinery and that I have high expectations for end results.

Initial impressions: Out of the box these are good looking chisels. There are plenty of machine marks on the steel, but overall everything looks clean and flat. The cutting edges out of the box leave something to be desired.

Do not expect these to be honed when you get them. Don’t even expect them to make good cuts out of the box. They are mediocre at best, and about as sharp as I can get them with 220 grit sandpaper. Honing impressions: these were dead-flat out of the box, which is seriously impressive for the price.

Honing the back 3/4″ or so on each to flat and smooth took no longer than about 15 minutes total. Sharpening impressions: These sharpen well, far better than I expected given the overall bad reputation that these have in the online woodworking communities.

Using 400, 600, 1500, and finally 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper brings these up to ‘pretty sharp’. I can pare end grain cleanly with them at this point. Adding 2 final polishing stages with green then red polishing compound impregnated on a piece of balsa gets them to ‘absurdly sharp’ to the point that I’m afraid of leaving them out on the benchtop.

A mirror polish finish is definitely possible with these and a bit of effort. Edge retention: These chisels do their job really well through each project for me. I usually sharpen everything up at the end of a project so that they’re ready for the next use.

I haven’t found a need to sharpen these mid-project just yet. Maybe a quick run on some polishing compound here and there for touch-up, but definitely no need to go back to the beginning. Handles: This is my biggest con for these chisels.

The handles are fairly small in diameter and not very long. What this means is that my large hands have a hard time holding these for paring or body-weight chopping for an extended period. They’re not socket chisels, so you’re stuck with what they come with.

The material of the handles is a durable plastic. I have no doubt they’ll hold up to being driven by a wooden joiners mallet or a rubber hammer. Using these with a steel hammer is asking too much in my opinion, and you really shouldn’t be doing that to your chisels anyways.

Overall: I’m happy with them for a good set to get started in hand-cut joinery. For the price I don’t think that you could find much better. My intention is now to slowly upgrade the most-used chisels from this set to some socket chisels, but those are running around $30/each.

I don’t imagine that I’ll need to upgrade inside a year. I would suggest these for anyone interested in fine woodworking, but are working on a budget. I wouldn’t suggest them for carpentry though, I’ve seen what those guys do to tools, they should stick to the through-tang Stanely’s.

The one key note that I would take impress is that no matter the brand you will need to hone and sharpen your chisels out of the box, these are no exception, but if you’re willing to spend a bit of time and effort on them these can be fantastic chisels.

I have more much expensive wood chisels made in Switzerland that do a great job – but I use these chisels a whole lot more often. They hold an edge well and do not have to be treated as delicate precision objects.

Rather than patting the end of the handle with your hand you can hit these with a hammer and they will come back for more. I am a professional woodworker. My son recently decided to become a woodworker, as well! In setting up his shop one of the first tool sets I recommended to him was this one.

Highly recommended!.

I wanted a chisel set with a box. at least 6 sizes up to 1 inch, from a brand I recognize, but nothing crazy expensive. Well. I got all that BUT. The edges were quite literally no better than butter knives.

I spent 2 hours grinding, honing and polishing by hand. Durability is an unknown as these are definitely not full tang, and using a magnet they appear to have tangs about 1/3 the length of the handles.

Oh well. so many options, so few in brick n mortar shops, you take risks.

The tools arrived quickly and are as advertised. I wish i could have chosen the combination of gouges, skews and scrapers i want (for bowl turning – have no need for some of these) and i wish the blades and handles were longer.

But for the price?! Couldn’t be beat. Thank you.

I have had these tools now for 3 months and have loved every second of having them and turning large bowls to custom beer tap handles on my Laguna 1216. The ease of turning with these traditional tools makes these tools something I would buy another set of.

The product is well made and priced right for the tools. Even get a wooden case along with them. The steel is easy to get a sharp bevel on so I would recommend these tools.

I bought this tools a couple of weeks ago and have not used them as of this review. I am sure they will need sharpening once I get the anti rust coating removed from the cutting edges. I find it interesting that the only indication that these tools where made in China was a stamp “made in China” on the shipping box.

The jury is still out on the quality of the tools.

I would usually buy directly from Vonhaus, but currently these chisels are out of stock. Knowing the great quality products from Vonhaus, this product is no different. Chisels of similar quality and number of pieces are usually double the RRP of this item.

I am yet to use them hence the 4 stars, but have high expectations for their use.

Not the best of chisels but v good for the price. Stone is included and again not the best quality, but good enough for sharpening knives, chisels Ect. Very good value for money.

Great chisel set , Comes in a sturdy case and is complimented with a sharpening stone and chisel guide , its also great value. The guide has been very useful in restoring my 25 year old chisels to full working order.

Bought this as my first set of chisels knowing that i’d need to spend some time sharpening them. What i wasn’t expecting was it was going to take 8hrs+. On one chisel i just couldn’t, and still haven’t, get rid of all of the striation marks near the tip.

Out of the box they were unusable and couldn’t even cut paper. The stone seemed to wear quite easily and is only really useful for the first honing passes to make backs flat, flatten the bevel and add the microbevel.

you then need finer grits to get them sharp and polish them. Now the good points: i’ve not had the problems others have with the chisels falling out of the box, not often enough to worry about anyway, and the honing guide seems okay, if a little fiddly to make sure the blade is flat.

They’ve sharpened up to a decent but not great edge (finishing off with 1200grit wet and dry) which is enough for the limited use I’ll give them. Would i buy them again?? For a newbie woodworker they are good value for a set of this size and the box is a nice touch.

but you do have to spend quite a bit of time on them before first use.

Great set. Every size most people will ever need. They sharpen easily and hold an edge much better than I expected. Delivery is brilliant and a bargain if you want next day delivery. You’ll probably want to flatten the backs when you get them to get the best out of them but it doesn’t take long on the stone provided.

Go easy on any subsequent sharpening because the stone is fairly aggressive so a minute or two will bring the edge back. Previously only had a set of three blue handled, marples chisels bought from a diy store ( which were considerably more expensive than this 10 piece set ) but the Vonhaus are MUCH better.

These are SO impressive ( and I’ve never done this before ) I stopped a fella in b and q, the other day, from putting a £45 (smaller) set of chisels in his trolley and suggested he buy these. Best tool bargain I’ve ever had.

This is a fantastic set of premium quality steel machined well. The only reason for the 4 stars is that the back is rough enough to need many hours of work to sand down and there is some sharpish corner that needed a file taken to them on the end of the chisel blade.

But for the money this is an amazing deal and I would HIGHLY recommend them. If you are willing to put a bit of effort to tidy them up before first use then you will have a set equivalent to chisels sold at 4-5 times the price.

I suspect this will be my go to workhorses from now on.

I used this one inch chisel to hang a closet door. It worked pretty good to clear wood for the hinge recess. I just held the door up to the existing hinges on the frame. drew around them on the new door and used the chisel to remove my Mark’s.

5 min or less per hinge. The chisel worked like a charm. I will definitely return to get other size Dewalt chisels. I am sold on the yellow and black. The packaging also says it’s a carbon steel blade so it should be easy to sharpen, however after three hinges it is still sharp as new.

My only gripe is the steel cap on the end for the hammer to hit. Most people would love this feature, but myself am very sound adverse and could do without the strike cap. The handle however, provides a superior grip.

I am sold enough I will buy the complete set.

I have used this chisel for several projects and am very pleased. I mortised a door for hinges and lockset. The edge is sharp and durable. The handle easy to hold with gloves or bare hands. Very easy to position while hitting with a hammer.

The handle shows no sign of damage or mushrooming. I also put the chisel to good use removing some interior door trim which had been painted on and required cutting through the paint and prying off the trim.

The trim came off without and damage to the wall saving me the work of patching and repainting.

The quality is average. The steel holds an edge about the same as other brands I own. The molding of the handle and overmolding is good quality and the handle shape fits well. The lacquer on the blade comes off quickly and offers little corrosion protection.

sadly most other brands use the same finish. the big downfall of this product is the warranty. I cant walk into a big box store and get a free replacement.

The chisels required little work to lap – they were machined well from the factory. It is easy to get a very sharp edge, and they maintain an edge. The display case is perfect for storage; I like it much better than trying to fit them into a one-size-fits-all pouch.

The reasonable price make this a great selection for the typical woodworker.

Beautiful chisel set, good for the price. The wooden box they came in is a joke. Hinges were broken and there was a split in the box lid, however the chisels were undamaged. They do need to be sharpened and honed after cleaning up the layer of oil that the steel is coated in for shipping.

I.

I didn’t know what a good chisel was till these showed up. They’re like jewelry compared to my old Marples. Would not hesitate to buy again but, hopefully, will never need to. Decided to purchase a full set of Narex mortise chisels (the Pro set) and they are just as impressive.

Great value on both accounts.

GREAT SET USED MANY TIMES KEEP THEM SHARP WHEN WORKING WITH THEM. THEY ARE NOT EVEN 2£ EACH GREAT VALUE.

TranslateShow in original languageSchnelle Lieferung, sehr scharfe und handliche Stechbeitel. Kann nur weiterempfehlen! Preis Leistung sehr gut!

TranslateShow in original languagePour le prix, suis content de disposer de ces outils. Tous les affûtage sont pour moi à reprendre mais, pas grave, j’aime ça…

Received product quickly, very good case and I was able to use them right out of box. I will sharpen them later but good quality and they feel good in my hands. There is a great selection of tools to do what I want.

my purchase was about thirty dollars less than I found listed in other listings. Came with a nice storage box.

If you’re looking for good chisels and don’t want to break the bank, look no further. These chisels as very well made, comfortable to use, and won’t break the bank. I did, however, have to hone a few to get that razor sharpness, but it didn’t take long for them to be carving away.

Three years ago I inherited my father’s woodshop equipment. Making some things the family ordered, I needed some chisels. Using my chisels, I fell in love with hand tools. I’ve progressed to needing a solid workbench to replace my rickety plywood bench.

Tackleing through mortises in my 4 1/4″ top was time consuming but I made it! I now have a solid, indestructable, solid oak and walnut Bench. Nobody has has a better bench or set of chisels.

This set of Chisels is of the type I was looking for and at a price I was comfortable with. They are well made and the pouch helps to keep them protected and the sharp edges away from being bumped accidentally.

The challenge is they need sharpened right out of the box. They haven’t been very well protected in the mfg. process. The edges have been bumped and dinged. I knew this prior to purchase and have the ability to put the edge on them I desire.

Similar styles with good edges cost a hundred to three hundred more. The pouch doesn’t roll up well, but it hangs nicely on a wall. Made in England.

I received these as a gift for Christmas and have really enjoyed using them. I don’t use them all the time, so I don’t have experience yet with sharpening, however, they holding edge very well so far.

These chisels are so sharp, they easily cut through wood without tearing or splintering. I can barely tap on the end and it seems to glide through the channel. Love all of them!

Nice chisels. Great for construction, not equal to Marples. Sides are too thick to fit into a honing guide

I am a “fine woodworker” and needed a set of chisels to complement my style- unfortunately, I am not within the range of Lie Nielsen, and I’ve heard mixed reviews of the Veritas. I wanted to put together a set of original 750s, but couldn’t get lucky on eBay.

so I settled with the “classic” 750 remakes. Honestly, I was very disappointed out of the box- the presentation was nice as each had its own blade guard and wrapping, but upon inspecting the blade’s edge, I noticed that it looked more like a Gibson headstock (not straight AT ALL).

I was anticipating doing my own sharpening, so I wasn’t too disappointed but it did take a lot of work. I began with the 1 1/4” chisel and worked down. I flattened the back (some worse than others) and honed the primary bevel (kept it at 30 degrees) and then added a 32(ish) degree micro bevel.

Sharpening took me 2-3 hours a night over the course of 4 nights. After spending my time to make them right, I now have a very fine set of chisels with which I am happy. If you are looking for an “out of the box chisel”, it may be worth your time/money to check out IBC or LieNielsen; however, if you can put in the elbow grease to sharpen these just right, you’ll be satisfied as I am.

I needed a better quality set of chisels for fine furniture making. I picked up this 8 piece set for $158 on Amazon. The set continues to impress. The chisels arrived packaged in separate plastic bags, each in its assigned pocket in what can only be described as a fine heavy duty leather tool roll.

Far better than I expected. The chisels were all square and relatively flat, ground to 30 degrees. The backs had some minimal machine marks and a few minutes on each back and bevel fully prepared each chisel for work.

The handles were loose in the package, as expected from a socket chisel, but seated well with a good whack from my mallet and a little hairspray on the shaft for insurance. The side bevels are beautifully thin and the chisels are well balanced and very light, making for comfortable paring by hand.

The Sweethearts allegedly use British 52100 bearing steel. If so, these chisels are indeed an improvement over O1 steel and far easier to sharpen than O2 or PM-V11. Plus chisels that are too hard hold edge longer UNTIL chipping occurs.

Too soft results in rollover. I think this particular steel is perfect for the joiner or cabinetmaker. As an added plus, these chisels are far more comfortable to hold than the more expensive Veritas or Lie-Nielsen, as beautiful as they may be.

This is proven out the first time you hold the chisel by the blade and attempt to pare by hand. The 30 degree bevel actually aids in chopping, so I’ve yet to regrind as this angle stregthens the edge a bit.

These chisels hold an edge for a ling time without chipping or rollover. Finally, the sockete allow easy handle modification or replacement as needed, though with hornbeam for the handle material this will never be required by most users.

Add Stanley’s lifetime warranty and these British made chisels are an excellent value. I would definitely buy them again if needed.

Stanley have made a great product in this sweetheart reissue. The chrome steel is excellent and will get really sharp (when properly sharpened/stropped). The tolerances are great and the back of each chisel could be quickly and easily flattened and polished.

As many have written before me, if you are looking for ‘the best’ on market, there are other (significantly more expensive) alternatives, but these are more than enough for what I need, and I do not ever expect these to limit my work (i.

e. I will have to blame my skills well before I can blame these tools for any sloppy results). There is only one drawback/one thing I would request Stanley to adjust: the handles as well as the chisels are covered in laquer.

I managed to remove the laquer from the steel (main reason for me was to be able to polish the backs and so as to not mess up the stones when sharpening, as well as for looks and feel) by soaking in 99% acetone for several hours, followed by scraping with a razor.

It required some work but the result turned out great. I understand the reason for Stanley to treat the metal (to avoid rusting in storage/transportation), but for these purposes the coat could be thinner and/or a laquer possible to completely dissolve in acetone or thinner could be used (without the need for scraping or experimenting with nastier solvents than acetone/thinner), as most buyers of this series could be expected to want to remove the coating in favor of clean steel or other less nasty rust protection.

All in all – very much recommended.

My set is a gift for my son who has just started his own business. His first effort was a dining table and benches and he kept talking about doing another project using chisels. Except he didn’t have a nice set.

I know when he opens the set Christmas morning he’s going to love them as much as I did when I bought them. Thank you for an amazing experience.

A quality chisel set at an excellent price. I have other chisel sets that can be tapped at the end of the handle, but this set is much better. The diameter of the handle makes them easy to handle, yet solid to tap.

The W. G. Four (small) Hammer Set works perfectly! The length and consistent width of the chisel fits very nicely into the honing guide, for a range of chisel tip angles. The quality of the metal maintains a sharp edge, even in harder woods.

I may have re-sharpened my older tap chisels for the last time, to be replaced by this set from G. W.

I purchased the set for my boyfriend’s birthday and was disappointed with the quality of the tools. 😖 I would not recommend this set for advanced leveled craftsmen.

This is one solid piece of metal, just one, from the point of the chisel to the tip where you hit it with your hammer. The handle is very, very comfortable. This is a chisel for truly heavy work. Will never break.

I bought a full set of #60 chisels 50 years ago for my Dad, he still uses them today. I bought a full set of The Fat Max chisels because of the thru-tang construction. This is a very durable chisel, will out last me.

Maybe something my grandson will inherit.

I bought this three piece set for two reasons: I wanted some butt style chisels and I was curious as to what quality could Stanley produce for such a low price. It took only a few minutes on diamond stones and then oil stores followed by stropping on chromium oxide green to produce outstanding sharpness (tested by shaving my forearm and paring endvgrain pine, poplar and mahogany).

They performed as well as chisels costing 15 times as much and in use chopping mortise stood up well, requiring minimal stopping to stay so sharp. The handles are genuinely ergonomic. Definitely recommend adding this set to your tool chest.

It would be nice if the set included a 1/4 inch size too.

As an old-time Locksmith as well as a Do-It-Yourselfer, I prefer to make all the finishing touches by hand. I have been doing this since my Father first took me to a Lumber Yard when I was 3. Its funny how you remember little things for so many years.

My Father needed some wood for his store, but requested that the Yard Man make the necessary cuts. As a 3-year old with wide eyes and curiosity, the tool the Yard Man used to measure the lumber was a Stanley Tape measure.

This stuck with me as I grew up and saw more and more professionals using Stanley products. And of course my Father and Grandfather had Stanley tools in their toolboxes and workshops. I tried to help my Father and Grandfather whenever I could, and was thrilled when given a Stanley Screwdriver, Chisel, Hammer or any Stanley tool.

As I grew I started my own tool collection, Stanley of course. My grandparents knew that I would prefer some tool made by Stanley over any toy, and they indulged my wishes. In focusing on Stanley Chisels, as I entered my teenage years I learned how to sharpen Stanley Chisels and Stanley Plane Blades to a “hollow ground” ensuring the tool would remain sharp well through the project and through additional projects.

Recently we had to replace the front door to our house. We ordered the new door which the factory mortised to accept the lock. But since we were using the existing door frame, we had to hand cut and align the strike plate with the newly hung door.

It was literally a thrill to take my Stanley Chisel and gently cut out the necessary recesses for the plate. The factory sharpness was unsurpassed and the Stanley Chisels cut through the trim as if were simply moving through air.

The grip on the Stanley Chisels was very comfortable (which was a blessing in disguise as I recently had hand surgery to repair prior nerve damage). I have not used a finer Chisel then these made by Stanley.

I highly recommend them to all my fellow DIYer’s and to all professionals. The only downside is that Stanley has made these Chisels of such high quality, replacements will be needed in the very distant future as they are designed to be passed down from generation to generation.

I use chisels often replacing doors, locks other wood project around the house and shop. I have gone through many different brands of chisels, but these may be around for a while. They are made of good-quality metal and hold a sharp edge really well.

I like that the set has the three common sizes too. Virginia.

Very sharp and clearly marked tools. Used to chisel in a better fit when replacing a deadbolt lock on the back door. Worked great and took the light taps needed by a hammer well. Really like the visible size markings and the tip covers.

I liked the variety of sizes. They were sharp enough to use on different wood types. I also liked having the tips covered so that no one would get scratched by one of the tips. The metal tops worked very well when a hammer was used to move down the wood I was using.

I was using a flat Dasco to carve out rock steps as that was all I had. I switched to the G480 and it was much more productive and easier to get a start compared to using the corner of a flat chisel.

The guards on these tools are very well made to deflect a blow that could normally ruin your day. Durable as well, not some squishy guard that breaks up easy. RK also had the best price on this chisel at the time.

It was my first time to the new Rural King in our area, its a well furnished store, from big toy dozers to rifles.

Great to use for a geology club to avoid potential injuries and associated liability

Chisel works well, but I thought by the description it would be a 3/4″ wide cutting edge like a cold chisel. This chisel is a sharp point.

The face of the chisel has very fine striations, so it is fairly easy to hone to a sharp edge, compared to Stanley 150 series and generics. Some people say the current production made in China does not have the quality of previous models made in Sheffield, England.

This one is chrome vanadium steel, which is also high carbon tool steel. I have two of the older chisels made in England, and I can’t tell any difference in use. The handle is a little larger.

I was very impressed with the quality of this 6 pc. wood carving set. The tools were sharp enough to use right out of the package. With a little honing the edge is great. The handles were comfortable in my hands and I was certainly impressed that they were real wood instead of the usual plastic.

This would be a great starter set for someone thinking about getting into wood carving. The variety of tools is a great place to start. As a former Industrial Arts teacher I would certainly consider using these with my students as I think that they would hold up well to woodshop classroom use.

I starting using this set of carving tools about a week ago. I am not a great carver but do use carving tools from time to time. The first thing I noticed about this carving set is the blades were all very sharp.

I have had other carving tools that need to be sharpened right out of the box. These tool were sharp right from the start. I also liked the size and shape of these tools. The handle just feel right. I can safely say I would recommend these carving tools to any one who needs or wants to carve.

Great carving set.

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at wood carving and this set of carving tools from Stanley were an inexpensive way to get started. In terms of fit and finish, these tools are only fair, the edge grind is a little rough as is the shaping.

I found the edges unusable out of the box but after some shaping and honing the tools performed adequately. The handles are nicely turned but a little on the small side for my average sized hand. All in all, I feel these tools represent a reasonable value for the hobbyist wanting to give wood carving a try.

Just be advised that the edges will need some work before they can be used.