# Thinking of buying a set of Narex chisels



## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

I tend to believe everything I read in Fine Woodworking magazine. In the Sept/Oct 2008 issue the reviewed chisels and rated the Narex brand as "best value". Highland Woodworking offers a set of 6 for $60.
http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/narexboxed6-piecebenchchiselset.aspx

I'm thinking of buying a set. Anyone have any thoughts they'd like to offer?

I don't do any big mortises so I don't be whacking them into oblivion.

I would be interested in knowing if they are suitable for cleaning out dovetails. Or should I think of getting a second set (or maybe just one specialty chisel) for that use?


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

Just FYI…according to Highland Woodworking, the set with the magnetic strip are the same chisels as the set you linked to…but $10 cheaper. I thought the box would be nice to have but I figured I'd end up either building a chest or cabinet at some point and a chisel holder to go along with it as one of my first projects or I'd make a new box for them (good reason to practice dovetails…lol) so for me…the box wasn't a selling point at $10 more.

http://www.highlandwoodworking.com/narex-chisels.aspx

As far as Narex….last week I spent literally hours on here and other sites including youtube and from what I found, for the price, the Narex are going to be extremely hard to beat. In fact, my set will be here on Tuesday. I opted for the 10 chisel classic set from Lee Valley. For some reason…they just spoke to me a little more than the set you are looking at.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=67707&cat=1,41504

If I didn't get the Narex it probably would have been a set of Ashley Iles.


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

Thanks! If you think of it, please come back on Tuesday after you've opened your box and let me know what you think.


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## HerbC (Jul 28, 2010)

Note that the Lee Valley Narex chisels are dimensioned in true Imperial sizes (1/4" for instance) while the ones sold at Highland are metric (6 mm which is approximately 1/4 inch). It's a small difference but significant in my opinion.

Herb


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

Thanks Herb, and I agree.


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## Josh122 (Jan 2, 2014)

the Narex chisels are pretty nice. I ordered one of the sets for my brother and was able to play with them a little before I sent them off for Christmas. Fit and finish overall were good. the weight was decent and the backs were pretty square. They didn't take much to get nice and sharp. I cant tell you how well they keep an edge, but after a week of use he mentioned they were holding up well. I don't think you can really go wrong with them. I've thought about getting a set for myself, or at least the mortise chisels, but my antiques are holding up well, so I don't actually have a need right now.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

I own a few Narex chisels  they are good quality tools at a very reasonable price.


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## Ripthorn (Mar 24, 2010)

Both my brother and myself have the narex chisels, his from highland mine from lee valley. His have worked really well, but mine have had edge issues. I sharpen a 25 primary and 30 microbevel, but for some reason whenever I do mortises the edges fail on the chisels. It looks a little like chipping, but it isn't chipping. I sent one set backmwhich they replaced, but the second set does the same thing. I'm not certain that it isn't me, but I've never had issues like this with any other edges that I sharpen the same way. I think I'm going to go all Paul Sellers on them with the convex bevel.


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

That's awesome. They look like they've found a forever home where they will loved and cherished.

Are the dark handled ones the same ones that Lee Valley sells? What are the five light handled ones?


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

I bought all mine from LV. The light handled ones are their new paring chisels, using a hornbeam handle.

I use the mortising chisels a lot, and have had good edge retention. 25 deg primary bevel is pretty shallow for heavy chopping IMO, even though that's the factory grind on the Narex mortise chisels. Might try increasing to 30 deg or a bit more with an additional micro-bevel and see if that helps.


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

Dark ones look like the classics like Lee Valley sells. The others maybe the ones that Highland has.

***Edit…I was posting same time as nwbusa so I was wrong on the light colored handles. Nice looking set though and love the cabinet setup.


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

nwbusa, can you tell me when and where you use the paring chisels vs the bench chisels?

Ripthorn, sounds concerning.


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

Paring chisels are for shaving thin amounts of wood and they are long to give you more reach without the handle getting in the way. It allows for the back of the blade to be used for reference so you get really nice straight cutting.


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)




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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

I'm waiting on my set to come in. I bought the 10 chisel set the other day while they still had free shipping.


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## Tim457 (Jan 11, 2013)

If you end up with the Highland Woodworking ones, go for the premium chisels since you want to do dovetails with them. They have the narrower lands (edges) like the Lee Valley Narex chisels so they can get into the corners better. Not quite like a dovetailing specific chisel of course. Or you could grind yours down. Looks like Highland doesn't have the sets of the premium ones anymore so Lee Valley is a better deal.

Oh and since you use paring chisels for a little lighter work they are often used with a lower bevel angle.


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## RodNGun (Feb 4, 2012)

I got mine from Lee Valley, Love them, good value


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## Arminius (Dec 27, 2007)

I have two sets of the bench chisels (the metric, then the inch measure), their mortise chisels, and the paring chisels.

Be prepared to spend some time flattening the backs. Each set has been better than the last, but some time is required.

My biggest beef with them is that I spent 2 years coveting the Veritas bench chisels, was given a pre-release 1/2" chisel (which is a great tool), but I somehow cannot justify pulling the trigger on buying a full set. It would be more of an indulgence than an upgrade.


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

Keep in mind that the Narex chisels are hollow back and supposed to be that way. Only the tip needs polished, not the whole back. That's how they were designed.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

Heh, I know what you mean Arminius regarding the Veritas chisels… and I've heard they are releasing their mortise chisels soon. As if LV doesn't get enough of my money!


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

nwbusa, Ive just realized there are two other kinds of chisels in that photo as well. Upper left. What are they, and how do you use them?


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

"Keep in mind that the Narex chisels are hollow back and supposed to be that way. Only the tip needs polished, not the whole back. That's how they were designed."

If you Google "Narex chisels" some of the first results you get are discussion boards posts from people who received their set and the first thing they did was flatten the back.

Can you fill me in on why some people think this needs to be done? Are there some brands that are supposed to be flattened?


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## Purrmaster (Sep 1, 2012)

I may be late to the party but I have some of the Narex mortise chisels. The metric kind. I like them. Nice and sturdy and they take a good edge. And they were quite a bargain.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

Harvey, those are skew chisels and to be honest, I don't use them much. I bought them when I was learning hand cut dovetails, but I never really found a steady use for them. Sometimes they come in handy for cleaning up an inside corner.

Technically, you want the back of your chisel flat so it accurately registers against the workpiece. You also need it flat near the edge for maximum sharpness. I never noticed a lot of concavity on the Narex chisels, but then again, I don't obsess about getting the backs flat to within 0.0001" either.


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

From what I've read and seen on youtube, you want to flatten or polish about an inch of the tip and that's it. In doing so, the blade will stay concave but it will be so slight that it will register just as a completely flat chisel would. One video showed the guy unable to slide I think it was a .002 feeler gauge under the blade when he was done with the tip.

Other chisels are made with a flat back but they often aren't as flat as they can/should be, so people will flatten the entire back. I believe it is Narex and perhaps Ashley Iles that come with a hollow ground requiring only the tip to be polished.


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## Purrmaster (Sep 1, 2012)

I had to flatten the back of my Narex mortise chisels (and every other chisel I've had). I've read that's generally required on all but the highest end chisels such as Lie Nielsen's. The good news is that you only have to do it once.

This applies to flat backed chisels. Just get some glass and some sandpaper and go to town.


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

I have had the LV 10 piece set on my list for some time now, but without a shop and bench i haven't had a need to pull the trigger on them yet. Someday!


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

Although I own some better chisels as well, I also own a set of Narex chisels and for the money they are very good chisels.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

As mentioned before, Google turns up lots of posts from woodworkers who received their Narex chisels and promptly started flattening the backs. I shot off an email to the company to ask if this is really necessary. Their response:

"Frankly speaking, back flattening is rather "English thing", e.g. here, in Czech Republic and eastern Europe in general, no one is aware that backs should be flattened before use and they use our chisels as they come/or re-sharpen the micro-bevel to suit their needs (harder wood - bigger angle, softer wood sharper angle). If you purchased your chisels from Lee Valley, you should not have any problems with blade's flatness, as Lee Valley has got strict requirements for it."

So that's that in my book!


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

And now here is the response I got from Lee Valley:

"We can definitely say no, it is not necessary to flatten the entire back of the Narex chisels. Though unlike the Veritas chisels, the Narex chisels are not lapped on the back. To lap the entire backside of each chisel in the set flat would be an enormous amount of work and will not make a difference with the effectiveness of the chisel. If you lap flat an approximate area of ½" on the back side of the sharp edge of each chisel, it should not need to be done again for several years and should be more than effective when using the chisels."


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## Arminius (Dec 27, 2007)

Lapping would probably have been more accurate on my part than flattening. I certainly don't lap the whole back, though I do more than 1/2" inch, probably closer to an inch. My first set had much more visible machining marks, it probably took 30 minutes to lap them off. The most recent paring set I purchased are the best yet, probably not more than 10 minutes and I did a larger area due to the balance of the chisel.

I don't consider that at all unreasonable as a one-time setup, considering the cost and quality of the tool. It was simply to point out that if you want a back that looks like a Veritas or Lie-Nielsen chisel, you will need to invest the time.


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

What is the difference between "lapping" and "flattening"?


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## jdh122 (Sep 8, 2010)

Thanks for the great information from Lee Valley and Narex, Harvey.


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

Lapping is the action that flattens the chisel.


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## Arminius (Dec 27, 2007)

I tend to think of some fairly serious work when I hear 'flattening', whereas lapping in a home workshop is more like polishing an already reasonably flat surface. Just did not want to leave a misleading impression.


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

How exactly do you lap these chisels in order to flatten them? Is it by stoning, similar to sharpening or do you actually use a file to flatten them? I've used both over the years on other items but don't know which way is best. I'm actually waiting on them to arrive now. The UPS Tracker says they'll be here tonight.

I also just started reading and looking at the Scary Sharp method of sharpening. Could that be used to flatten the backs?


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## nwbusa (Feb 21, 2012)

Yep, scary sharp will work. I use a DMT diamond plate, but same concept.


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

Well, no sooner did I hit Enter, the UPS man rang the doorbell. Looking int he box, they're nice. Have a good weight and balance to them. I don't have a straight edge or feeler gauges but they don't appear to have convexing at all and appear pretty flat just from eyeballing them. They definitely have to be sharpened before use. My 1 1/4" chisel has a very faint nick. The 2", you can feel the burr drag when I rub my finger off the back of it. For some reason, I thought the 10pc set came in a case. These were loosely laid in the box with the Mallet I bought also. Lots of paper packing and the plastic guards were on them all but still allowed to bounce around in the box during transit.

Oh well. First project. Case for new Chisels.


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

My chisels will be here tomorrow. I also ordered the sharpening guide and some Micro-Abrasive sheets so I'll be doing the scary sharp method. Can't wait. I'll throw up some pics and initial impressions when I get them.


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## Armandhammer (Dec 12, 2013)

Chisels are here…nothing to compare to but they seem very nice. They're sharp out of the box but probably not sharp enough to work with. Handles feel good in the hand and the overall fit and finish is decent. No roll or box but for $125 and 10 chisels, I'm not going to complain. I think these things will serve me for a very long time. Can't wait to get a polish on them…grabbed a few glamor shots of them right out of the box…


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## HarveyDunn (Aug 29, 2013)

Glamor indeed!


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## BentheViking (May 19, 2011)

"ain't she a beaut!"-steve irwin


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## JohnMcD348 (Jan 10, 2014)

I got mine the other day. Bought them from Lee Valley since they were the actual Imperial Sized set. Like in the photos above, I laid them on a board and they appeared to be pretty flat at the cutting surface. I also just happened to discover Paul Sellers over the weekend(Yes, I'm a complete New Guy to wood working and tools) and pretty much watched nearly every video from him I could find between his site and YouTube.

The one video he had on sharpening and polishing new chisels got me to thinking about them. He only really worked, or at least focused on the bottom 1/2-1 inch. Truly, when using these, isn't it only about that short area of the surface that doing all the work anyway and it really shouldn't make any difference what the remainder of the chisel surface is?

Again, I'm new and never really used these short of things before so I could be totally off on this. If I am, please do not hesitate to correct me on this.


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## Farkled (Jan 23, 2012)

For the most part, backs tend to be flattened (after the initial) just by working off the burr.


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