What size chisels do you use the most?

[SteveMP]

If you had to get a MINIMUM set of chisels, which 3-4 would you get and why?

 

[AndyT]

If you had to get a MINIMUM set of chisels, which 3-4 would you get and why?

12mm, 19mm, 6mm, in that order.
It's a while back, but I think that's what I did. I think the first one was about 50p, new, from a tool shop, naturally.

The logic was that the 12mm was small enough for ordinary through dovetails in common softwood and I didn't get on to finer work until later.

 

[Woodbloke]

Agree with wot @AndyT said above but I quite often reach for wider ones (25mm and up) when cleaning out a corner(s) for say glass or a panel as the wider blade gives a bearing surface and enables a straighter line to be pared - Rob

 

[AndyT]

Agree with wot @AndyT said above but I quite often reach for wider ones (25mm and up) when cleaning out a corner(s) for say glass or a panel as the wider blade gives a bearing surface and enables a straighter line to be pared - Rob

Yes, I think a 25mm chisel would have been my fourth one.

 

[PAC1]

The last few years the 25mm has been the most used even on fairly small work like the chairs, it is great for fine tuning shoulders etc. So it would definitely be on my list.

 

[Mike G]

1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and 1". The French hadn't invented the metric system when I bought my first chisels. When I sold my first piece of furniture, I treated myself to a 1-1/2" , and it's still an absolutely joy to pick it up. I've since added a 10mm and a 15mm to that collection, and unless you really are into some speciality work, that's all you'll ever need.

 

[Woodbloke]

1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and 1". The French hadn't invented the metric system when I bought my first chisels. When I sold my first piece of furniture, I treated myself to a 1-1/2" , and it's still an absolutely joy to pick it up. I've since added a 10mm and a 15mm to that collection, and unless you really are into some speciality work, that's all you'll ever need.

'France first passed a law adopting the metric system on April 7, 1795, and later officially established the finalized platinum standards as legal measures on December 10, 1799'.

Are you sure you've got your dates right Mike? - Rob

 

[SteveMP]

12mm, 19mm, 6mm, in that order.
It's a while back, but I think that's what I did. I think the first one was about 50p, new, from a tool shop, naturally.

The logic was that the 12mm was small enough for ordinary through dovetails in common softwood and I didn't get on to finer work until later.

Funny that you say in that order. The past month or two I have been using a 12mm Japanese chisel for probably 85% of the stuff i have been doing,

 

[Blackswanwood]

I agree with all of the above. An 1/8” (or metric equivalent) is extremely useful when fitting jewellery box locks though.

 

[Cabinetman]

The one I pick up for most work is a 3/4” followed by 1” maybe it’s as Rob says about it’s wider surface.

 

[Dr.Al]

I think it depends on what I'm expecting to do. Boxes would want narrower chisels (3 mm or even 2 mm), furniture would likely need wider ones (25 mm plus).

My 18 mm (just under 3/4") is probably my most used one, followed by the 12 mm and then the 3 mm. My skewed end chisels come out quite a lot too.

Ignoring the skewed ones for a moment, after those three widths it would be a toss-up between 6 mm and 25 mm - the former is better for cleaning up pins/tails that are wide enough that the chisel would fit (but not wide enough for the 12 mm one) and the latter is good for long shoulders etc.

Thinking more, I'd probably be most happy with 18 mm (for most work), 3 mm (for narrow pin sockets), something somewhere in between (8, 10 or 12) & a skewed end one for getting into half-lap dovetail corners. However, I'd be missing lots of the other ones!

All that indecision is probably why I ended up with space for 9 chisels in my tool chest!

 

[Dr.Al]

'France first passed a law adopting the metric system on April 7, 1795, and later officially established the finalized platinum standards as legal measures on December 10, 1799'.

Are you sure you've got your dates right Mike? - Rob

He's older than he looks & remarkably productive for a 250 year old

 

[Mike G]

Are you sure you've got your dates right Mike? - Rob

Exaggeration-for-effect, Rob.

 

[Doug]

1 1/2”, 1” & 3/4” on site for sure as they are the ones that get sharpened the most, my 2” chisel gets used a lot in the workshop not just for chiselling but also marking out.

 

[Dr.Al]

I had another look at my tool chest chisel drawer when I got home.

I designed it so that it has 8 slots that will take almost any of my chisels, although only 2 will take the longest ones & the slots get a bit shorter as you go up.

Finally, it has a dedicated slot for the 3 mm one as I was certain that I'd always take that one, regardless of the other choices.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if this is for your tool chest, then designing in some flexibility is a good idea. Then you can always change your mind later about your favourite options.

 

[SteveMP]

I had another look at my tool chest chisel drawer when I got home.

I designed it so that it has 8 slots that will take almost any of my chisels, although only 2 will take the longest ones & the slots get a bit shorter as you go up.

Finally, it has a dedicated slot for the 3 mm one as I was certain that I'd always take that one, regardless of the other choices.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if this is for your tool chest, then designing in some flexibility is a good idea. Then you can always change your mind later about your favourite options.

Thanks for the photo. Its interesting to see what people use most. I do have a 3mm chisel that i mainly use to fine tune japanese plane bodies as the sides that hold the blade are very narrow. Also for kumiko work which I rarely do.

While this is for the travel chest, I am hoping to buy say 3 or 4 chisels to just leave in there for the normal stuff. And if i know i need some others for a specific project i can grab a couple from the big wall chest. So the flexibility will be nice. No fancy 3d printer in my budget so about the highest tech i’ll get on this is kaizen foam.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

To state the obvious, it rather depends on what you plan to make. I think the first chisel I bought was a 1/4" mortice chisel, but I wanted to make a stool with M&T joints.

Rather than spend on expensive chisels, I would buy a means of grinding them first - then buy old chisels for small money in the knowledge that you can restore and maintain them.

 

[Lons]

I'd agree with the sizes stated though my Richter 1/2" and 1" are the most used.

Like my planes I do however insist to my wife that every single chisel is used regularly and therefore indispensable.

 

[Andy Kev.]

I bought mine as I needed them. As I mostly make small bits of furniture, those that I use most are 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4". Then I added a 1 1/2" and 2" for cleaning the sides of mortices.

It is of course impossible to resist adding other sizes when you see what you think is a bargain.

FWIW I chose imperial sizes (from Veritas) because there is a physical relationship between the sizes, e.g. 3/8 is a half of 3/4 and so on. I don't care if I use imperial or metric on e.g. a square because I'm usually only measuring e.g. a distance from an edge and that's usually an absolute as opposed to a relative measure.