chisels, saws?

Narex are good chisels, you can find them on Lee Valley’s website, and others also sell them (Garrett Wade for example, also Amazon). you dont need swan-neck chisels, but there are cases where it makes things easier. you could just start with a regular set of bench chisels, and maybe some motrise chisels, and then as you progress and find a need for a certain chisels – get that one as the need arises.

-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.

well to get chisels u can try hartvilletool.com,highlandwoodworking.com, toolsforworkingwood.com,japanwoodworker,craftsmanstudio.com,grizzly.com they all carry pretty good priced tools (chisels) as for helping with mortises a basic set of bench chisels should do the trick as long as they are very sharp but i would try to get atleast one or two mortise chisels it wount hurt except your pockets a little out of all the sites i would get chisels from toolsforworkingwood.com they have a nice set for good money.

-- Ike, Big Daddies Woodshop, http://www.icombadaniels@yahoo.com

T-chisel said on his sharpening vidoe to get them at the big box store. Most modern chisels are made of high quality steel. A name brand like Stanely should get you started without breaking the bank.

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

Japanese handsaws are also worth considering. My marples chisels work fine for me. Big thing is to be able to sharpen them. Do you have the capability to sharpen tools?

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I have seen some plans and lots of info on sharpening so I assumed that would be part of the hand-tool-learning-curve. I thought since the tools will be new that one of the two sided sharpening stones would do the trick in the short term. To answer your question, I don’t have the capability right now, but hope to in the near future.

Tim
A set of Marples chisels cost less than one of the high end chisels and they will serve you well for a long time.
There are many ways to sharpen chisels but you might do a search under scary sharp , This method is fairly simple and works great.
Look at WayneC post.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I would look into sharpening with sandpaper (scary sharp) until you get going. The New chisels will still need to be sharpened. Worksharp is a good mechanical option, but it costs a couple of hundered dollars.

I have some links to sharpening resources in my blog if your interested.

http://lumberjocks.com/WayneC/blog/810

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I just bought a really nice used set of buck chisels on ebay. I just missed on a german made set out of the fifties that looked great. you gotta go slow and be patient. there are deals at times. if you can find a full set used, they can be worth it and alot less than a set of lee valley or hartsville. some of the older sets can be nicer than the new ones. try to buy a full matching set. nothing nicer than a nice set of matching chisel in the tool box. you’ll use them alot.

if you buy new, please buy American made.

russv

-- yknotwood.com: where to go because you don't want no stinking plastic!

I just went to the woodworking show in Sacramento CA. I tried the new Veritas hand saws, great tool at a good price. Their hand planes are really good too. Narex chisels received a really good rating at FWW they can be purchased at Highland Woodworking (set of 6 for $60). I would buy a regular set of chisels because you can use them for a lot of different applications as opposed to a one job only chisel. You would probably get the best results if you drill the mortises and clean and pare the sides with a regular chisel.
-Rabbet