Irwin Marples M444/S4 4-Piece Blue Chip Bevel Edge Woodworking Chisel Set

Sharp right out of the box

More for the handy everyman than the fine furniture maker, these chisels nonetheless merit recommendation because of their utility and very reasonable pricing. The blades cut through red oak for a door jamb installation with no noticeable wear. The range of sizes only adds to the overall valueEven if you have a top flight set of chisels, the Irwins would be worthwhile for use in more mundane jobs.

I'm a new woodworker and I needed a set of chisels to get things rolling. After reading some reviews, I decided on this set. At the price, they're a great deal and they've been very useful around the shop. I've also been practicing dovetails with them without any problem. I just need to learn how to sharpen them! Some have complained that they weren't very sharp out of the box. That might be true but I haven't noticed.

This item is good value, good quality, was purchased at "set", by "Australian Customer" The cost of this set of chisels in Australia is double this price. Excellent product for both handyman and professional carpenter/builder.

I like these chisels, but I prefer the old yellow and red hard handles that Marples once used. The red portion had an inward curve you could support the chisel laterally with one finger for paring and such, and the handle seemed more solid for whaking with a hammer. That being said, these are still quite nice, Sheffield steel so great, well manufactured blades. They do need to be polished when you receive them, they are kinda presharpened, but it is just machined into the blade. Mine were shipped with a 3/8" cover on the 1/2" blade, so that was worthless since you had to use pliers to remove it (idiots). But my biggest problem is Amazon's price games. At one point they had a 5 piece set for $18, and at other times a 4 piece set for $44, so be patient when buying these because you can always find a good price somewhere. I would say at $6 per chisel you are getting a great deal regardless though because they really are still good chisels.

Good basic chisels. All new chisels come with the edge needing to be sharpened and once that's done, they work well for general light woodwork.

Used them to carve out a bunch of hinge and lock mortises on a poplar door frame. They're still sharp, even after using them with the edge flipped the wrong way. My brother even cut himself on one that we had used for a while.I haven't even done the Scary Sharp tricks to tune them yet. I can only imagine how good Japanese chisels are if these are "just good".

The chisels that you receive after purchasing may be fine for your application. However, if you are like myself and are/were looking for genuine Marples chisels made in England, you might find yourself looking at these chisels and the pictures included with this item and say, "Hey, these were made in Sheffield, England! It says so right on the blade." Then when you receive your MADE IN CHINA chisels, you can ask for a refund and only be partially refunded because the seller doesn't understand what return shipping costs are.Overall, waste of time, waste of money, false advertisement. Buy elsewhere.