# Good design, inconsistent quality



## terryR

Sorry to hear of your quality issues, JayT.
Thanks for taking the time for a review to share the knowledge!


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## jak77

Thanks for the warning. I recently purchased the same set.

While my sharpening seemed to go better than yours. About 15 minutes for the set with sandpaper. I have yet to use them for mortising.

Before purchasing this set I compared them to a set of Marples.The Marples had actual chunks missing from the cutting edge.

These seemed to look better and didn't take much to make useable.


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## JayT

jak77, hope you have better luck. If all five chisels were the quality of the 1/4 & 1-1/4, this would be a 5 star set, even with the flattening time. Hopefully you got some good ones and don't have any issues. Let us know after you have used them for a while.


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## JustJoe

Thanks for the honest review. They look a little thin to be pounding out mortises with - how well did they hold up when used as a paring chisel?


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## JayT

JustJoe, they work OK for paring. Pretty much the same story, the 1/4 & 1-1/4 have been great, but I haven't been happy with the 3/4 and haven't used the other two as much for that purpose. If I have sharpened past the softer section, I expect it will do better going forward. Since the handles are so comfortable, this may be the best use for them.

They are light for chopping mortises (though Paul Sellers does it with bevel edge chisels), but that is why I hog out most of the material with the drill press and then chop out the corners and points between the overlapping holes. Any decent chisel should stand up to that.


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## kdc68

Thanks for the well written and thorough review…


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## Tedstor

I've looked at and considered purchasing these chisels in the past. But I came to the conclusion that the Stanley Sweetheart chisels are only marginally more expensive and are typically considered to be better tools. I have a SW 1/8" which I like a lot. Of course, the Sweetheart set only includes 4 chisels vs the Bailey which includes 5. In any case, I didn't feel the Baily set offered enough value. 
FWIW, Amazon currently has the 4pc SW set avaialable for $79.99 shipped (after $10 off). the discount also appears to apply to the Bailey set as well, making it $59.99. Either set would probably make a beginner/casual user pretty happy. 
Thanks for the review.


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## Loren

Sometimes it's said the best steel is about 1/4" back from
the factory edge, so some chisels improve with grinding.

Japan chisels are often too hard (will chip) and can be 
tempered by leaving them out on a hot roof or pounding
repeatedly into something like oak to build up heat
at the edge to temper. I've never done it but 
my Japan chisels are a bit brittle.


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## JayT

Good to know, Loren. I will hope that is the case with this set and as I regrind the performance will improve. The ergonomics are so good, I would love for them to be my main users-just will not put up with poor blade performance.


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## SamuelP

What type of stone did you use to flatten the backs?


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## JayT

Sam, I started with a coarse (325 grit) diamond stone until the last 1/2 inch or so of the back was showing a consistent scratch pattern, then moved on to a fine diamond and finished on a 6000 water stone. This is the same process I use for my other chisels and plane irons with good results.


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## BustedClock

I got a set of the Baileys this Christmas. I loved the look of them in the box, and the first one I took out felt really good in the hand. Then… I took out the 1/4" and it has substantial arc over the length of the blade. Here's a picture (I hope):










My poor mother, who is 84, is certain she ordered from Lie-Nielsen, but they don't carry them at all. I guess I'll just add the rest to my collection.


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## JayT

Ouch. That's bad, especially as it had to be that way when it was packaged up. I'd try contacting Stanley directly and have them replace it, since you don't know who the vendor was.


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## Actionman

I had a very similar experience with these.
I WAY *overpaid* for these here in Canada on top of it so this just sent my frustration over the top.
After way too many hours I ended up with some nice chisels but it's embarrassing to say how much time I spent.
Mind you I did go the distance and removed all tooling marks and polished them so look and work extremely good.


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