Looking for quality woodworking bevel-edge bench chisels on a tight budget is no easy task. Cheap chisels are tough and time consuming to sharpen and hone up, and don’t hold an edge well. On the other hand, top-quality chisels are usually too expensive for casual enthusiasts.
I checked all my usual woodworking tool sources – Rockler, Woodcraft, Amazon, and Lee Valley, and still couldn’t settle on a set. With a limited budget, I couldn’t afford to do my usual “try ’em all” routine. So, I scoured various woodworking forums and magazines, and saw the consensus was that Narex makes a great set of beginner chisels.
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There are several options available. Lee Valley offers a 4 piece set (~1/4″, 1/2″, 3/4″, 1″) for $35 and an 8 piece set (~1/4″, thru 1-1/2″) for $76. Highland Woodworking offers a 6 piece boxed set (~1/4″ thru 1″) for $60, sometimes on sale for $50. These chisels are metric sizes, so their inch equivalents are nominal.
After searching around and checking out Narex’s website, it looks like the only difference between sets is that the Highland set features beech handles, and the Lee Valley set features stained beech handles.
Ultimately I went with the Highland Woodworking set since I don’t think I’ll need the 2 largest sizes anytime soon and because it offered reasonable value.
Narex 6-pc Chisel Set with Box via Highland Woodworking
Update: You can now find Narex chisels on Amazon.
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Buy Now: Narex Chisels via Amazon
Here’s a Great Review by Tony at Lumberjocks
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