My Bench Tools

That is beautiful, Jim. I plan something similar when I move in a few years time. I hope mine approaches yours. 

Tell us about the chisels. This is a particular weakness of mine. Also, a peak into the cabinets?

Regards from Perth

Derek

I always admire a tidy tool arrangement like that. I don't emulate it, but I do admire it!

Jim......great tool arrangement.......I've also always been impressed with the bench you built and showed many years ago......how is it holding up?.......and has it's design been serving you well?.......I guess I'm suggesting a little bench review when you find the time.

The chisels...

From left to right

• The Japanese slicks were made for me by Master Swordsmith Chutaro Imai. They are side beveled and allow for insanely clean cuts when making dove tails. I blame Wiley Horne and Konrad Sauer for giving me the passion for these chisels.

• The next set of bench chisels with dark handles again were  made for me by Chutaro 

• The light coloured handled chisels are Japanese chisels from Lee Valley

• The next set of chisels are Lie Nielsen Toolworks version of the Stanley 750. I have other tools with African Blackwood bodies and handles and wanted the same for these chisels.  I like Dave Jeske's handles at Blue Spruce and asked him to turn these for me, they are amazing to hold and use.

• The remaining chisels are from Dave at Blue Spruce, his dovetail chisels, paring chisels and making knife, the handles are African Blackwood

• Not seen are my blue handled Marples

I'll Open the doors and post in a few days..

Take care, Jim

Added later 08 min 24 s:

@roger lance,

The bench has been great, I'll try and post a picture of it when I get some things clean up....you know how those surfaces collect things... 

I have moved it three times since I built it.  Life happens and now remarried to a lady who supports my passion to create it's now alive again with projects... and in a new shop now 5 years, With Heat!  My first heated shop!

Take care, Jim

Added later 1 d 12 h 11 min 33 s:

The top shelf of my cabinet is for my special planes made specifically for me. The 4 planes to the left are made by Konrad Sauer, I like them with African Blackwood.  The wooden coffin smoother was made for me by Phil Edwards of Philly Planes in the UK. The small mitre plane on the right was made for me by Bill carter of Leicester UK.



This plane is a panel plane made for me by Konrad Sauer, with African Blackwood



A few other planes including a Shepherd smoother I built from a kit






And last but not least a Clarke and Williams foreplane


In the last 15 years I have gone from occasionally using a plane in a project to always using several in a project...

Take care, Jim

All stunning and I imagine a pleasure to use.

Jim, I recall your BS handled LN chisels from many years ago ... 15? I used these as inspiration to make a set of Stanley 750s, but in SheOak (also ground the sides).



African Blackwood is a favourite of mine, and I have a set of BS chisels in this ...



Regards from Perth

Derek

Although not made for me specifically, Norm had a full set......so, I thought they were a good start.......believe I purchased them at the local Ace Hardware and Plumbing (blade guards acquired separately at WoodCraft).......

Roger
I have a full set of those that I put together over the years of shopping at flea markets and tail gate gatherings.  While not directly  comparable to BS chisels, they do a job and I find them in my hands often, especially on home improvement projects.
  Ron

Ron......they are carpenter chisels (Norm was a carpenter)......made to be used on the job site......they are not the equal of the fine furniture making chisels that Jim and Derek showed......I'm not sure they are still being sold in sets anymore??

To a certain extent they are the equal.  They will chop out dovetails as well as any others, in softer woods like pine, and were designed in earlier days to be sharpenable with files.  Today they are more commonly made hard enough to handle woods that most cabinetmakers have preferred over the years, such as mahogany, cherry, or walnut.  I haven't come across many that will be at home in maple and up.  But then friend of the site Jim Cummins, RIP, did a video for FWW that included a segment on how one could easily up the hardness.  Not that it is really necessary as compared to other options.

When I did dovetail demos in the late 90s etc...  I did a segment with the Klausz process, where I used the jobsite chisels that LV now sells at prices higher than Japanese laminated chisels.  Basically they have two parts, a plastic handle, that if we were fair, we would admit is often better than the handles on wooden handled chisels.  It is tougher, requires no hoops, can have features that are impractical in the round (Bahco Ergo), etc...  The other part is the steel, over which we love to mythologize.  But the main point is steel is mainly relevant when thought of as an integration of the steel/heat treating, sharpening, and use.  There is no one right answer.  Particularly in shops where there are no metrics that are being measures, such as productivity.

The problem with the cheap chisels today is pricing.  At 16.50 for the smallest LV Butarate handled chisel, how do they compare to a set of 3 Japanese chisels for 45?  Though one could take a real winger on a set of three toolbox chisels from Amazon at 13 dollars.  If the steel for any of these chisels has sufficient carbon in them, they will probably do.

In my own case.  Around 1980, when I started seriously acquiring hand tools, I jumped in and bought many Japanese chisels from name smiths whose products individually cost as much as  or more than the anti static hoses from Festool.  They are nicer, and they are more informed that less sophisticated brands, but chisels are so fundamentally simple, and to a greater extent that any other tool I can think of, they are refined by the actual user.  The very first Japanese chisels I bought, from Masterpiece Tools, were covered with lacquer that looked a little cheap, so I tung oiled the handles, and blued the metals.  I lavished a lot of time flattening the backs, and sharpening the edges (and where is SawStop when you need them, sharpening the side bevels, ouch).  Plus setting the hoops, and carefully mushrooming the butts.  It half felt as though I had made them myself...

I have used older English chisels my dad had; had custom Barr chisels made; made several sets of my own; and tried one or two of many different sets from Blue chip to Tasai.  Let's not kid ourselves...

Added later 03 min 49 s:

Though to be fair...  Western tools are more often measured by the quality of the handles than excellence of the cutters, or more sophisticated design engineering of stuff other than the handles.  So on that basis, the handles are not necessarily the equal.

Kudos to Roger.  I have some of Roger's chisels in my tool box, with wrenches and speed square. They started life waling on 2x4s and were never suitable for fine dovetails, although I made the equal using them. I also cut fine dovetails using my hacksaw. 

I think we stumble over a penchant westerners have for division of labor. And in the case of woodworking, wrongly, in my opinion. It's fun to get specialized tools for a specific purpose, but a basic tool will serve the need.

Bruce McCrory wrote:

Kudos to Roger.  I have some of Roger's chisels in my tool box, with wrenches and speed square. They started life waling on 2x4s and were never suitable for fine dovetails, although I made the equal using them. I also cut fine dovetails using my hacksaw. 

I think we stumble over a penchant westerners have for division of labor. And in the case of woodworking, wrongly, in my opinion. It's fun to get specialized tools for a specific purpose, but a basic tool will serve the need.

I think this is a relatively recent gentleman's thing, vs. a reasonable number of chisels, planes and carving gouges and a whole lot of purpose made tools like set mortise gauges made by a craftsman. 

I got a set of older English chisels early on and could never figure out why they were so long when I was watching videos and pinching the tip of the chisels. It becomes instantly apparent once you grab them by the handle that they can do almost everything and relieve the user from constant fetching or organizing of specialty tools. 

the continental chisels are even more sort of long and thin, and seemingly ungainly at first. Beginners and gentlemen dominate the purchasing market, though, and you can appeal to a perceived need a lot more easily than you can a practical one. 

I always wished to find an ideal set of little used late 1800s ward bench chisels (bevel edge firmers), but never did. I hope not to find a set like that at this point.