Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Sorby
Jonathan Peck - N.Y.
>I didn't want to jump in and hijack Chris's chisel review thread, but it do have related some questions.
I have two complete sets of Sorby chisels, and have been happy with them. With all the rave reviews of the LN's, and the absolute silence on the Sorby's, is there any test or review data available for the Sorby's? The only other chisels I have are some modern borg bought Stanley butt chisels that I only use for wood butchering.
Consistently inconsistent
Christopher Schwarz
>Jonathan,
I've personally run several tests on Sorbys over the years. Some do really well; some fold like tinfoil on basswood. If you are happy with yours then I wouldn't change a thing.
Chris
Re: Consistently inconsistent
Jonathan Peck - N.Y.
>I had been practicing dovetails in pine and found that the edges did indeed fold over, but I'm not positive it isn't a lack of skill on my part or poor sharpening or just an overuse of aggression while pounding on those poor sucka's. I scored some1x6 mahogony from the firewood bin at the local true value that I'm going to use to practice on and see if there's a difference. I've been accumulating tools for a little over a year, but haven't done much actual woodworking.
I experimented with both a 25 and 30 deg bevel angle and was even going to try 20 degrees for pine. It sure would be alot less humbling if I could blame the tool, although my DT's are getting a bit tighter on the first try. I was thinking of getting just a couple short dovetail chisels, but I'm finding it hard to resist jumping on the LN bandwagon. I have enough of their planes that they know me on a first name basis and couldn't be more satisfied with those.
Re: Consistently inconsistent
Patrick Gibbons
>Christopher, your comments about inconsistent quality with Sorby rings true with my own experience. I have their registered mostise chisels and I've been using the 3/8" for
chopping 3/8" deep mortises in soft maple and have been very satisfied with the chisel's performance. No folding of the edge til after 8 to 12 mortises. Still sharp enough to go on. From the same set of chisels I used a different size on douglas fir and had folding over after only a few chops. Obviously doug fir is a tough and stringy wood. But I would have thought that soft maple would be difficult also. I love their handles. Very good fit for me.