Narex Chisel evaluation
Bill Tindall, E.Tn.
Someone asked me to help them learn to make dovetailed drawers and boxes. While they stated with my tools they eventually need to buy everything. I was asked to suggest what they should buy. I think chisels and sharpening are the most difficult choices. Prices and quality vary greatly, and as important, ergonomics varies greatly.
Lured by the Lee Valley free shipping bait I gathered enough stuff to make the cut (and then some!) to include a couple of Narex chisels to be evaluated for chopping dovetails. Can a $15 chisel be any good? In a word, yes, very good.
Some years ago, with the aid of a metallurgical microscope, I evaluated steel for chisels, and factory made chisels, for durability in chopping dovetails. I found that at the cutting edge, dulling was a result of microchipping or deformation, with the later the less difficult to correct by sharpening. It was clear that the best steel for the task would be one that preserved toughness at high hardness, properties optimized in Lee Valley PMV11 chisels. The durability of other brands, and steel, varied widely. How would the Narex fare?
The Narex chisels are well fabricated. It was a trivial task to flatten the back and refine the bevel. I prepared the bevel at 27 degrees, similar to my other chisels.
A 3/8” chisel was used to prepare the dovetails on one large cherry and poplar drawer. Upon completion of the drawer, the chisel still pared end grain easily. Microscopic examination revealed some deformation at the tip. The chisel was still in good enough shape to do another drawer, but it would be best to touch up the edge to prevent edge damage from escalating.
This brief evaluation suggests that this chisel is as good as Two Cherries, which makes it as durable as most, if not all, the western high carbon steel chisels. It is not as durable as a PMV11 chisel, the gold standard of western chisel durability.
For chopping dovetails I hold the chisel at the bevel. Hence, I like a short light handled chisel like the ones I made. The chisel should have a beveled blade side to reach into dovetail corners. The Narex comes with a light weight conventional shaped beech handle. Most would find it acceptable. I chucked it in the lathe, turned it round with a slight barrel profile and mowed about an inch off the end. The result was perfect for my taste.
The bevel on the side of the blade was barely acceptable. It did not taper all the way to the blade side edge. One had to use care to avoid bruising the sides of dovetails. I reground the bevel to almost touch the blade side. The result was a chisel that closely matched what I have come to prefer for dovetailing, as illustrated in the top homemade chisel.
In summary, the Narex is an exceptionally well fabricated chisel with good durability. For dovetailing it could be improved by tapering the sides more. The handle is easy to modify, or replace, but most would find what comes on it acceptable. The fact that it came with a near perfectly flat back was a pleasant surprise and a huge time saver.