A place for me to display some of the varied projects that come out of my shop, as well as to "talk" about some of my experiences working with wood.

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Harold & Saxon Chisel order has arrived

Today was a good day for my shop, as I was lucky enough to receive my order of chisels from Trent Powrie from Harold and Saxon in Australia. These are simply stated the best chisels being made today, using only the top grade M2 steel fitted with some of the finest wood choices and finish details available.

The fun part of this was that I had asked Trent to make these from something unique that no one else has and the choice was a surprise until they arrived today - I was not disappointed - he done good!

I ordered these chisels when there was still snow on the ground last year and have been monitoring their progress closely as they came together. The chisel set is the full range of bench chisels executed in rippled Australian Blackwood acacia melanoxylon which is stunning in appearance, matched with the gold-plated ferrules these are going to be a pleasure to use.
Harold & Saxon Rippled Blackwood Chisel Set


Every review I have read about these chisels gushes with enthusiasm and my quick tryout in the shop tonight is 100% consistent with that view. These are substantially larger than my Blue Spruce set and will be reserved for those projects where the highest level of precision is demanded.


The second set I ordered from Trent is a set of mortise chisels. I do not own a set of mortise chisels and have been thinking of buying a set for quite a while - I'm glad I waited as these are something else.
Harold & Saxon Desert Rosewood Mortise Chisel Set


These mortise chisels are made from Desert Rosewood alectryon oleifolius which is another nice uniquely Australian hardwood, these are quite heavy and will take quite a bit of bashing from the mallet, I look forward to a project I am starting very soon which will put these to the test.

Back to the shop.

RDW

6 comments:

  1. Making us all drool. Those are beautiful. I have been thinking a bit about tool steel recently and I was thinking the M2 high speed steel would be good for chisels. They look sharp!

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  2. Hi Rich, those bench chisels look wonderful! All the best, David.

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  3. Cyrus,

    They were very sharp when they arrived and I have barely touched the edge since I got them. Some mortising of oak will be the real test for the mortise chisels coming up - we'll see.

    Richard

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  4. Beautiful looking chisels. Hope to receive mine shortly. How did you go with these on the Oak?

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    1. I have not found any wood these chisels did not own; even Bubinga. You can bash the heck out them on the hardest materials and almost never need sharpening - they are like nothing you have ever used before.

      Richard

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