which chisels?

[rsting]

Ok, I'm still in the beginner stage of wood carving, but want to start upgrading my tools. I have some good knives, Wells, Denny, and a couple I made myself, and love, but my gouges and v-tools are a different matter. I have a set of rammelson palm handles, that I've been dissappointed with so far, and an old set of craftsmans made by Buck Bros. that are excellent, but pretty small.
Here's my question. If you could pick the 3 tools you use the most, what would they be. Guees I should define the type of carving I TRY to do. Smaller stuff, like the shelf elfs, and woodspirits, for now.
Any particular brand? I'm thinking Pfeil or stubai, but looking for suggestions. Palm handle or full size?
Let me know what you think.
Russ

[Dave Richardson]

My two cents would be....you can do alot of small stuff with a knife, not to mention alot of big stuff..check out Don Mertz woodbecarver web site or Lynn's outwest carving blog. Pfeil are excellent tools, their full size line for me are better suited to use with a mallet, there palm tools are fantastic. If cost is an issue I would look at the flexcut line of palm tools, you can get a pretty good price on the sets, you may not use every tool in the set every time, but you have a choice. Buying tools sometimes is trial and error. If you can find a local club, you can try different tools hands on before you buy. For me, a knife, v-tool, and a couple gouges around the #8 5 mm size gets me by.
good luck
Dave

[Steve Reed]

Anytime you ask for opinions on tools, be prepared for LOTS of answers! LOL My advice is get the best ones you can afford. I have a number of Rammelsons that I've had for years. Once you learn to sharpen them, they work fine (my opinion only). My favorites would be a V-tool, a veiner (#11), a #9, #7, and a #3. Again, opinions will differ. Sizes will depend on the size carvings you're working on. If you never anticipate doing larger carvings, I would wait on the full-size tools. For what you describe I could get by with a small V-tool, a 3-6mm veinter, a 10 mm 9, 7 and 3. Most of the time when people "don't have good luck with brand XXX" it's a sharpening issue.
Enjoy and have fun!
Steve

[Dicky]

What Steve said, especially the sharpening. There is nothing as frustrating as trying to make a cut with a partially dulled tool.

[STAR]

Originally Posted by Steve Reed

Anytime you ask for opinions on tools, be prepared for LOTS of answers! LOL My advice is get the best ones you can afford. I have a number of Rammelsons that I've had for years. Once you learn to sharpen them, they work fine (my opinion )

Most of the time when people "don't have good luck with brand XXX" it's a sharpening issue.
Enjoy and have fun!
Steve

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I have a lot of respect for Steve, he has helped me immensely in this journey. As far as the Rammelsons go I have this to say. Before Christmas when I was starting to get interested in carving one of our timber suppliers put on a woodworking demonstration by eight leading woodworkers. As I had ordered a large 2 inch x 12 inch plank of jelutong I decided I should take advantage of it because one of my mentors and friends was included in the group of professionals.

The timber company had a range of carving chisels on display. I looked at the Rammelsons because I saw on here some kind words about them and I was unsure about the Pfiels only because I had no knowledge of them. Fortunately, their was a guy there doing some woodcarving and he had quite a few people interested in what he was doing. He said he was not really a wood carver but just dabbled.

He was using some basswood and some jelutong. The company allowed me to try the various chisels and gouges on the wood. I picked up the Rammelsons first because they were No 1 on my list. Well, when I looked at the edge they were machine sharpened and blunt. Strangely, lol, they worked no better on the timber either. The same with all the other brands, So I picked up the Pfiel 9/2 gouge , it appeared sharp and cut through like butter.

So the Pfiel was my selection, but why was it so. I can sharpen plane blades and woodworking chisels, even turning tools,. but because I was out of my comfort zone with this new carving thing I could not see the obvious. Maybe it was not theRammelsons that was the problem but my lack of knowledge that most carving tools do not come sharp. With woodworking tools the same applies but still they appear to be a lot sharper out of the box.

So, only by joining here, and picking up bits of information here and there plus several members sending me helpful information did the penny drop. This must make it hard for beginners, Those with no background in anything woodwork that unless they are selective in their first brand of tools they are going to be dissapointed with their efforts.

" What comes first, the chicken or the egg. " or to put it another way " The Stock standard carving tool or the sharpening skill required. "

Sure, you will need to improve on your sharpening, but for a beginner, he does not know that. I am coming to the conclusion that carving tools need to be a lot sharper then other woodworking tools and I can get other woodworking tools pretty good.

This has been my journey so far, probably common sense for you guys but not for me.

Thanks again Steve for posting, I can relate to your quotes.

Pete

[oldbearx2]

Don't know if you have a local Woodcraft store but the one near me will let you try a tool before you buy it. It's one reason I went with Pfiel, but on the other hand I have a mixture of tools, Rammelson, Diobsud, Flex Cut and Stubai. You may want ot checkout Flex Cuts small starter set with changeable blades.Not too expensive and has the basic tools for the carving type that interests you. I also agree With Steve that sharpening is one of the first things to learn. I have an old set of Buck Bros that I thought were junk til I learned how to sharpen.

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Pfeil, Stubi and Drake, palm size.

Drake Knives.com

Dave

[Steve Reed]

Kind words from Pete. He is correct in that many tools don't come "honed". There is a difference. Personally, I believe you can make just about any tool work if you sharpen and hone it correctly. Unfortunately this is the skill that gives most "newbies" the most trouble. Believe me I ruined a few tools before I figured it out! As stated above, find a club, or a carver that can help you. BTW my first set of tools was a Sears wood chisel set with clear/blue handles. Carved several decoys with them. As you progress, you will add more tools. Check out Little Shavers and some of the other retailers mentioned on this board. Order your tools "honed", then constantly strop them, they will stay sharp.
Have fun
Steve

[carver33]

I too have to agree with Steve - pretty good selection for starters. As for the Rammelson palm gouges, I've owned a set for over 20 years and they cut just as well as the Pfiel tools that I've tried. The important thing is proper sharpening, and I will say that the Rammelsons don't currently seem to come with a factory edge as good as I remember.

[Mitchell]

Common question....

It really depends on what you want to carve (size and subject).

Here's some links to previous discussions:

Palm Chisels Recommendations

What Tools?