Blue Marples are no long the same

[tiredofspam]

Just went to Woodcraft today.. They opened a new franchise in Allentown PA... Still the same old expensive place... But hey looked everything over.... good deal on purple heart 4.83 bd ft Terrible deal on cherry $8.xx / bd ft 4/4... what are they insane... I pay anywhere from 3.40 to 5 for 4/4... I could understand the thicker stock, but .... these guys and gals...

Anyway I saw the blue chips... they aren't like my blue chips... Irwin took them over and destroyed what was a decent chisel. The tooling marks on this will require many hours to remove. There are tooling marks on the bevels the back and the front.... I didn't have to spend much time when I got mine, the backs required a little work,the edge bevel normal amount. But good luck with these. I am taking them off my recommended list. So the costco stuff might have been indicitave of what is to come. Lower quality... Irwin is just like Stanley... or Black and Decker (never owned one) The bottom line and screw the consumer.

[Dave in Fairfax]

tiredofspam wrote: snip

It really isn't Irwin anymore than it's Marples. It's Rubbermaid. They bought American Tool, Record both of the others and a pile of other companies and then destroyed them. Hell, Buck used to be a good company name.

Dave in Fairfax

[David Hall]

Well I picked up the Marples from Costco the other day. I know nothing about older Marples or whether the quality has declined. However, I did do some sharpening this evening. I laid out the marble sill and glued down a strip of

220 and a strip of 320 for the initial lapping of the backs. The 1" took a minute or so on the 220 to get a little dip out at the tip. All 5 of the others were flat out of the pack and only took a few strokes on the 220 to remove all machining marks on the last inch or two of the backs. A few more on the 320 and they were ready for the waterstones. A few strokes on the backs on the 1500 stone and I put the first on in the sharpening jig. A little work on the 1500 then on to the 6000 and the hair is gone from the back of my left hand. I have no idea if the edges will last or if the steel is good, but I do know that the initial machining of these six chisels was better than my expectations.

Dave Hall

[Dave Jackson]

I noticed the same thing several weeks ago. The Irwin/Marples are definately cheaper looking and feeling. I have a set of "fat max" stanley chisels i have for use at work, and they are great for that purpose, but i wanted a "good" set to keep in the shop for finer woodworking tasks. The new Marples, unfortunately, didn't make the cut . I decided on the somewhat more pricey Crown chisels. The sensation i got after lapping and honing them was like my first time with a woman. Albeit, the lapping and honing took a little longer than the latter, both were equally satisfying. The feel of the rosewood handles and silky smooth polished steel, sharp enough to dismember, and still delicate enough to pare the thinnest shaving. ...AAAAAAHHHHH. Baby, that was wonderful. Anyone got a cigarette? --dave

[Silvan]

Cigarette hell, at that age it was like "Baby, that was wonderful. Wanna do it again?"

[CW]

If Crowns are better than the Blue Chips, I wouldn't have anything to do with them. I have never seen a crown anything that was worth having. Nice looking, lousy steel.

[Dave Jackson]

Out of curiosity, what makes you think this? So far, I thought they've taken and held an edge very well. --dave