I wrote off those expensive chisels for years, finally tried a set last month

Always figured a $40 chisel set from the hardware store was good enough after a quick sharpening. Last month I bit the bullet on a set of Lie-Nielsens for $350 because a cabinetmaker I sub for swore by them. First day using them on some cherry, the difference in control was NIGHT and day. No chatter, held an edge way longer, and I cut my dovetail time by almost half. Makes me wonder what else I've been stubborn about. Anyone else have a tool they resisted that turned out to be worth the money?

3 comments

3 Comments

ruby_patel271mo ago

Man that cherry dovetail story hits close to home. I got a buddy who does trim work and he swore by his expensive chisels for years. He let me borrow his set one weekend to do some repair work on an old oak table. I was using a cheap hardware store chisel that bounced and chattered through the grain. His cut through that oak like butter, no fight at all. I finished the same job in about half the time and didn't have to go back and clean up ragged edges. Have you found any other tools since then that made you laugh at your old self for being cheap?

victor_adams1mo ago

Did you ever feel like you were just fighting your tools instead of working with them? Thats exactly how I was with marking gauges. I used a cheap $8 one for years, figured a line is a line, right? Then I borrowed a friend's Tite-Mark and my layout work got cleaner and faster. Now I have no idea why I fought it so long. Sometimes you dont realize how much a tool is holding you back until you try something better. Makes you rethink all those other "good enough" tools sitting in your drawer.

troyreed1mo ago

Well shoot, I honestly used to think the opposite. I figured spending more on a marking gauge was just paying for a fancy name. Then I got my hands on a vintage one, not even a Tite-Mark, just a solid old Stanley, and it was a night and day difference. The cutter actually cut instead of skidding, and the fence stayed put. I stopped having to scribble the same line three times. It made me go back and look at all the other cheap stuff I was using and wonder how much time I was wasting.