Craftsman Chisel set - my favorite daily users

.
.

Every time I visit Woodcraft, I always look at and admire the nice selection of Pheil carving chisels,

the Crown rosewood handled chisels, the Lee Nielsen and Robert Sorby lathe chisels and bench sets,

The sweet heart Stanley 9 pc. chisel set with leather roll case.

Even the Wood River chisel sets in a case looked nice and seemed like a good value.
.

.

I recently purchased Bailey’s wood handled chisel set online for 69.00.

They looked decent so I thought I’d give them a try. How can you go wrong for that price?

.

.

And then there’s my trusty set of craftsman chisels.

My daily users.
.

.

They have metal caps so you can hammer on them all you want. No need to search for a wood mallet.

They have rock hard plastic handles that won’t break in the winter time.

Not all that attractive, long and ergonomic. Less chance of hitting the old thumb’s ball sack….. God, that hurts.

Won’t roll off the bench either.

.

.

They’re American made with Sheffield steel and they hold a sharp edge as good as my expensive chisels.

Guaranteed for life, no mandated exploding safety devices,

and cheap enough you don’t mind lending them out.

.
.

The extra 1 1/4” chisel is perfect for remodeling and fits nicely in your nail bag.

The old Craftsman chisels had round handles that were clear and blue.

They switched to black handles in the 90s.

I like to put a little saw dust in the chisel pocket to protect the apron from the sharp edge.

.
.

.
.

They make a great Christmas gift for an apprentice woodworker too.

You can sharpen it with a belt sander on the job, use it as a pry bar, use it in the rain and mud.

This simple tool is an American work horse. You can’t destroy it.

If you do, they’ll give you another one. Hey, that works for me.

.

There are other affordable chisel sets out there. The new Stanley’s at Ace hardware look OK.

Everyone seems to like Narex which look just like the Baileys. The blue handled Irwin’s seem decent.

There’s another set I heard about, the name escapes me. It’s all about the steel.

.

I admit, I also have a well used set of German steel Mifer’s chisels for mortise work that you could shave with.

I haven’t used those pricey 750 Stanley’s yet…. Makes no sense. They do look cool in the fancy tool box.

.

But, these Craftsman chisels, you just can’t beat them, well, actually you can. I guess that’s my point.
.

Funny how after all these years, wishing I had better chisels and now finally able to buy some of them,

I never use them.

And, here I am talking about my old cheap craftsman chisels like we were long lost friends.
.

Come to think of it, we did our best work together.

.
.

-- mark - Grayslake IL.