Spent $80 on a fancy chisel set that chipped like crazy in a week

I bought a set of Japanese laminated chisels off Amazon thinking they'd be top tier. First project in my shop in Portland, I'm paring some oak and the edge chips on the third pass. Turns out they were probably fake or just badly heat treated. Anyone else get burned by cheap tool deals online?

2 comments

2 Comments

noahcampbell22d ago

That line about them chipping on the third pass hit home. I got burned the same way with a "vintage" chisel set off ebay, and it turned out the edge was way too hard and brittle. What worked for me was just buying two good chisels from a known brand like Narex, not a full set, and then sharpening them on a water stone myself (it's a pain but you get the hang of it fast). The steel on those Japanese cheapos is often over-hardened to feel sharp out of the box, but it crumbles under real work. Stick with a known brand and skip the mystery steel, your hands and wallet will thank you.

tylerw7221d ago

Narex is the way to go, I picked up two of their premium bevel-edge chisels for like $35 each and they've held up through a dozen projects without chipping. That over-hardened Japanese steel problem is real, they basically sharpen themselves to death trying to feel razor sharp out of the box.