Lie Nielsen Bench Chisels Reviews?

[jmgalvin]

Looking to purchase a set but have not seen anything written up about them. Has anyone purchased them? How are they

Thanks

Jim

[Liam]

Have you ever seen anything Lie Nielsen made that wasn't top quality? $200 for a set of chisels is a lot of money but it is the last set of chisels you will ever buy.

[AAvK]

I suggest the Harris Chisel set on eBay, socket chrome manganese for a much better deal. Cocobola handles and fitted wooden box, 8 chisels. Seller is Tingosa.

[Jim Weisgram]

I did see something recently, perhaps in a recent FWW. Just a couple of paragraphs. But said they were worth the price.

[My Old Tools]

Head on over to Wood Central and pull up the posts on reconditioning old chisels. Then head to Ebay and build a set of Witherby, Swan, Buck, White, etc. for far less money and just as good a result.

[Duane Bozarth]

Plus, if you for some reason aren't satisfied, they'll be questions raised if they can't satisfy you...

[Scott Wilson]

Its true that you could recondition old chisels, and they would be at least as good as the LN, but if your time is short and you would rather spend it wood working instead of finding (not trivial) and restoring tools then the LN is probably the way to go...

[bridger]

I enjoy the process of cleaning up and putting fine old tools back into service. finding the time is a problem, but I like having lots of different names in my chisel drawer....

[johnny rotten]

For me they're far too expensive for what they are. I can put a razors edge on any chisel that may not last quite as long, but long enough. And too limited in sizes, I can only imagine what the 1" or bigger will cost. The first time I handled the LN chisels, my first thought was how cute and dainty - wouldn't want to find out the hard way they can't take a hit. Their new (unreleased when I saw them) mortice chisels have the same extremely light handle. Mentioned my concern to the LN Rep here in Canada - he said (with an arrogant tone) I obviously didn't know how to sharpen a chisel. He obviously doesn't know what's going on when someone drives even a sharp mortice chisel into hard wood. I like chisels that are more robust with handles that fit my hands better. If you want a specialized chisel for light hand work and have lots of money to spend go for it.

[Ba r r y]

How cool is that?

Barry

[Patriarch]

[e-mail] wrote in news:1103925214.818457.78120 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com:

Popular Woodworking called them the best chisels in the western world, wishing to avoid an argument over the Japanese selection.

I bought a set, and love them. They are spendy, but unless my grandkids lose them, they will get to figure out which of them gets the set when I'm not longer on this side of the river...

Can you get good results with a less expensive tool? Yes, but my Marples get used for rougher work these days, and had to be resharpened much more frequently than these LN beauties. I have set of hardware store name brand looks like Stanley carpenter's chisels for the rough work.

$50 per chisel seemed expensive, until I saw what the wood carvers had invested in their sets.

Can you do well as a rust hunter and restorer? Yes, IF you learn what you are seeking, and like the hunt. But while the saws from my grandfather's barn were a find, the chisels were junk. I don't do flea markets. Saturday mornings are for making things in the shop, not finding new projects. YMMV.

Patriarch, trending down the galootish path...

[Hank Gillette]

I looked at that. Current (starting) price is $76. Sounded great, until I checked the shipping and handling. $53.

It still could be a good deal, considering that the same set is $234 + shipping on the web site. But something strikes me as being a little hinkey about it. I could be passing up a gloat, but I'll risk it.

[AAvK]

Thanks for the note, I just saw he changed it to express mail. You could probably easily convince him to send at the cheapest. It used to be basic which was $20. The route is from Costa Rica to Miami (if you live in the US), then shipped from there.

Alex

[AAvK]

...just make sure you ask and whine bitch and gripe about that shipping cost BEFORE you bid! Remember the eBay contract!

Alex

[Never Enough Money]

I own them and love them. They are expensive, though. Would I do it again? Yes.

I also have some Lee Valley Chisels and have used (but not owned) severl others). The LN's feel good and work good. Excellent steel and they come fairly tuned out of the box -- I just did a tiny bit of honing/sharpening.

[Michael Burton]

wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I enjoy finding and using the old tools myself. I always think about who might have originally owned them and what those folks were like. I just stumbled across a really nice batch of 9 out of the twelve piece set of Stanley #750's that the Lie-Nielsens are based on for half what L-N gets for it's five piece set. They go from 1/4" to 1 1/2". I will gradually gather the remaining three, 1/8", 1 3/4" & 2" and I'll have the whole enchilada and preserve what I think is a little piece of history to boot.

[bw]

Stanley 750s on eBay all the time.