Reviews
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Fine chisels
These are fine chisels. LN comes at a higher price and less set up is needed. I own LN, Pfeil, Sorby and some mortise chisels made in the Czech Republic. I have given away a set of Marples. After set up, these are as good as Pfeil, LN and Sorby. Much better than Marples. Yes you need to flatten the back and remove machine marks. Take off the coating with some mineral spirits before you do this. I sharpen them on waterstones. My oilstones abraded this metal too slowly. I use a diamond plate to set the bevel using a honing guide then hone on 4000 and 8000 grit Norton waterstones. Followed up with stropping and some green honing compound from LV. Flattening the back takes about 10 minutes per chisel on diamond stones. 10 more minutes to sharp (pairs pine end grain and shaves) for each chisel (a little less on the smallest one). I have used them for every operation a chisel is intended. Paring, light hinge mortising, dovetailing, groove smoothing and so forth. I have had no problem with the leather tool roll.
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Don't listen to the last guy's comments
It's a great chisel and will work for whatever you need. Don't listen to the last guys comments, he must be so good that he needs a thousand dollar chisel to work all his exspensive material.
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I think you'll like 'em
If you don't mind spending a little time sharpening tools, then you won't be disappointed with these chisels. For the set I bought, the backs had to be flattened on most of them. Since I use a honing guide to sharpen, I found that some of the bevels were not parallel to the back. All the chisels had a pretty good edge to start with except one. Its edge was not sharp at all. Had to spend most of my time on that chisel. Once I got them all nice and sharp, I must say that I really like these chisels. They feel great in my hands. They are light weight and feel well balanced. I've been using them for about a month now for light handwork and have yet to resharpen. The blades are nice and thin allowing you to get into tight spaces. So far, they seem to be holding an edge pretty well. I haven't tried pounding out dovetails with these yet, so I can't speak to how well they'll hold up under those conditions. I think for the money these are a great value and I don't think you'll be disappointed. I don't know how they compare to a Lie Nielsen or a Sorby or one of the more reputable chisels, but for my money they get the job done just as well.
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Worth the Money
I bought these chisels to test their quality and effectivness verses my primary set of LN chisels. Out of the box, only one of the chisels (1/4") had a flat back. Six of them required about 30 mins each of flattening, and one (1") was horribly bellied and I spent over an hour grinding and flattening it. The chisels all took a fine edge but did not hold it very long. The chisel roll was of poor quality and got thrown away. These are a decent set of chisels for the cost as long as you have a few hours to tune them up. I use them when I have to rough chopping and occasionaly for paring. They are not my primary set and dont see use very often.
