Chisel advice needed

[GoingMyWay]

I'm a bit late to this thread.  Have you looked into IBC chisels?  I bought 2 from Rob Cosman so I could cut dovetails.  He's got a couple of videos explaining why he thinks they're the best (he of course sells them so there is a slight conflict of interest).

They seem great to me, but I don't have much experience with chisels.  I've only ever used cheap chisels for just general woodworking.  This is the only really "high end" chisels I've ever owned.

 

[RustE]

I like my LN’s (probably applies to any socket chisel) because they can accept short handles for chopping or long handles for paring. In the case of the LN’s I find both
To clarify, you would have one set of chisels and then a separate set of the longer handles that you would add or remove to the chisel as needed?

Probably only need one or two paring handles though.

The design a light press fit between the socket on the chisel and the handle. The positive is you can change handles without damaging anything. The negative is that sometimes you have to re-seat the handle before use because of temperature / humidity changes.

 

[Alanbach]

[member=53578]travisj[/member] - So yes, the handles are interchangable so you could have one set of chisels with the short handles and then have a few long handles around for when you are doing paring. I would just start with one or two and buy more if you feel you need more. You really only need as many as you think you would use different sizes at one time on a given project. Initially I would just buy one extra so you can see how both handles feel to you. I would recommend waiting until you try your first LN in your chisel comparison and decide if that is the direction that you are going to go.

I do know that a lot of people get annoyed by the fact that socket chisel’s handles do get loose occasionally or even fall off from time to time. That did bother me for the first month I owned them and that was like 15 years ago. I just developed the habit of handling the chisel by the socket and the very first thing that I do when I grab one is pound it 2-3 times against my bench to reseat the handle. When you want to remove the handle to switch handles you just grab the chisel by the socket again and tap the end of the handle against the edge of your bench and it falls right off (into your other hand, hopefully).

 

[DrDrey]

A caveat: This is my opinion, this is not based on quantitative measurement.

I have 2 Narex Richter chisels (1" and 3/8"). The Richter series as the ones that receive cryogenic treatment. They arrived sharp (I did not feel they needed any sharpening or honing). I do not subject them to hard core use, but so far I am impressed with how they keep the edge. Each chisel came with its own black plastic cover that fits the edge very well and protects it in storage.

I also have 1 Narex Paring chisel (1/2" wide). I bought it because I needed a long chisel to reach into difficult-to-reach corners of a project I was working in. The blade length of this chisel is 245mm (9-1/2) In my subjective judgment, when arrived, this chisel was slightly sharper than the Narex Richter chisels. This chisel, too, was sold with a plastic edge cover. So far it has demonstrated an excellent ability to keep the edge sharp.