What five chisels would you suggest?

[whittlin dixie]

Hello, My name is Kelley Collier and I am new to carving with chisels. I have been using a dremel to carve off and on for a few years but I am wanting to use chisels now.

I am considering the Flexcut SK108 set but I know only a handfull of the tools will be used when all is said and done.

So I would like advise as to what five to seven tools would be most beneficial. I am interested in maybe four or five Denny chisels and one or two Cape Forge but I don't want to limit myself to these brands if their is something that I am not aware of. Thanks to anyone who can help, Kelley I should add that I will be doing relief carving.

[susieq]

Hello Kelly and welcome.
I would recomend a good v tool (I always prefered a narrow V to the wide ones), a #5 sweep gouge, a deep U gouge, #10 or higher, a flat chisle, for sure. These are indispensible. The size of these tools depends on the size of the carvings you want to do. As for brand names, I hear good things about flexcuts but don't own any. Swiss made, Ashley Isles, German made tools, are all good. Don't buy cheap, you will be sorry. Tools don't come sharpened, you have to sharpen them. Of course, if you buy from a good dealer, like Rick Ferry, of Little Shavers carving supply, they might arrive sharp. He can also recomend a couple more tools for you. The ones I named above are the ones I would have to have.

I also like long handles on mine but this is personal preference. I carve with both hands on the tool and the wood firmly held by a carving vice of some kind. You have more control of your tool that way IMHO.
Good luck with your new chapter in carving.
susieq

[ElWoodTroll]

I have done very little relief carving but for what it's worth, I like to have a selection of gouges with a low sweep to clean up the background and some small bent skews (or detail knife) to get into tight corners. From there, the relief pattern that you choose will govern your choice of tools.
What type of relief did you have in mind?

[mark yundt]

Good question,,,with alot of possible answers.Not sure how familiar you are with chisels.But for any other "newbies" out there here is a basic primer.They are(for most brands) numbered from 1-15..1 being a straight chisel and a 15 forming a"V" , the higher the number the greater the "U" shape. The second number is how wide the chisel is .eg. 1/5 tells me it's a straight chisel,,5mm wide 11/8 is a "U" shape 8mm wide.For the most part, you can almost alternate pick chisels and have a shape close to others and yet make similar cuts. a 1 ,3 ,5, 7 ,9, 11 and a narrow "V" 15, all in a fairly narrow width, say 5 or so mm wide. I suggest narrower instead of wider 'cause two passes with a 3/5 can make a similar cut to a 3/8 .Or with a large # 9 you can't make a narrow groove, but with a narrow #9 you can make the groove wider using the other chisels to widen the groove.Starting out I would imagine your projects aren't getting too big,and a starter set like this I feel will allow you to manage smaller carvings ,and will serve you well as you progress and add more chisels.As the others said,,buy good quality chisels.Stay away from bargain basement tools even if you seem to get more for your $,Better to have just a few really good tools than a tray full of junkers.Hope this helped.See, as usual, a nice short answer!
OOPS,,,quick edit,,, you said 5,,,O.K. skip the straight,,generally (for me anyhow) not useful.and skip the 9, you can compensate with the others. What I was able to do (depends on the supplier) Since some Companies offer starter sets at a bit of $ savings, I'd order the starter set but substitute which chisels I wanted,Some companies starters , not all, have a poor selection I thought..cant hurt to ask.

[whittlin dixie]

Thank you for the responses. I had five to seven of the most useful tools in mind to buy at the same cost of the very broad set offered by Flexcut. I am a sucker for quality and the fit and finish is a big part of quality to me at least.

I intend to stay on a relatively small scale but I have a mantle planned that will be a little larger.

How versatile is a fish tail skew? Would it be a valuable addition to a set?

I can't say enough about the quality of information that can be gained from this message board. Thanks, K

[Kenny_S]

Easy question to answer without a lot of words. Contact Rick of Littleshavers. Quality tools at a very reasonable price. Rick will give you excellent help. Besides, his helper is really cool!Wink

[whittlin dixie]

Thanks for the help. I will be doing mostly small scale relief carving say under one foot. I have read so many good things about Little Shavers and Rick. Who makes the Denny chisels that he sells?
I will contact him and see what we can come up with. Thank you all again, K

[Mitchell]

If you want quality, I'd suggest Pfeil tools.

Flex cut are OK, but not quite in the same class to me.

Some "handy" sizes for me (you can convert to mm if necessary):

1/2" #7
1/4" #9
1/8" #11
1/4" V tool

However, I don't know if these would be best for your (relief) needs.

[mark yundt]

In as few words as possible in deference to Kenny ,, (wink) the fishtail skew at this point isn't necessary. Sure a left and right can come in handy,but not necessary,other tools will do more for you. Jeez, didn't think trying to help a newcomers with a reasonable explanation was VERBOTTEN!.

[Kenny_S]

Whittlin Dixie, Denny Nuebauer makes Denny knives and gouges.
Quality tools and good prices. Rather have them thean the high dollar ones.JMHO
Indifference to a lot of Mark's words(wink), newbies don't understand the carving world lingo. Most don't know the difference between a Veiner and a v gouge or a #9 1/4 or a #11 1/4, or a #5sweep and #7.
As they gain experience and confidence in themselves, then they will understand
what the different #,s mean on carving tools.
Sometimes less said is less confusing.
Again, JMHO