Best chisels for lutherie?

[Mark McLean]

I have been carving braces with a set of Irwin general woodworking chisels that I got from Bunning's. They get the job done, but they are not ideal. So now I have been looking around E-Bay for vintage chisels that might be good for the job - as well as having good workshop mojo. What should I look out for? What is your favourite chisel(s) for lutherie purposes?
Mark

[Clancy]

I've got a bunch of titans gleaned from ebay.
They tend to be the ratiest ones as they're the cheapest, but I don't mind spending the time to flatten the backs and re-create the cutting edges (I don't mind the pitting & such on the fronts so I tend to just give them a light clean)
It's a cheaper way to get reasonable chisels, just make sure there's still plenty of length in them.

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To be honest though, the chisel I use the most (apart from the 1/8 Titan) is a 3/4" Union Hardware set up as per Kim's brace shaving chisel in this thread (don't drool on your screen as you scroll past Michael's chisels )
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2518&p=30832&hilit= ... orn#p30832

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I use it on everything, not just for shaving braces, and get's my "Two Thumbs Up"

[woodrat]

Hi Mark, my Go To chisel is an 18mm wide, long handle Japanese paring chisel. I have had it for 14 years so it is only about 1/2 its original blade length now. The balance of them is exceptional especially for brace carving. Beautiful steel too.

[Dominic]

I am not sure there are chisels that are only good for lutherie. Any good chisel will be good for making guitars. The only issues is getting the sizes you need.

I have stuffed around with 3 LMI chisels for ages and have always had trouble with the blades bending over even with soft spruce after very little use. This is with a 25/28 bevel combo.

I recently bought a 25mm LN bevel edged socket chisel and it is fantastic. Holds a beautiful edge and has enough mass to assist control. I love it and I'll get a few more to replace my narrower LMI ones.

Cheers
Dom

[Mark McLean]

Craig, thanks for the reminder about the "chisel porn" thread. I now remember seeing it before but it had slipped my mind. You have both given me a few good pointers about what to look out for in used chisels and I have put a few speculative bids out on E-Bay. I'll see how that works out. Compulsive TAS is starting to set in - but I can justify it as I have a "zero birthday" looming, just like our esteemed PM.
cheers
Mark

[Nick Payne]

Last time I visited my brother in Switzerland I bought myself a set of Pfeil short butt chisels. Being so short in both the handle and blade I find them very good for small delicate jobs. They're only about 150mm long including the handle. These are the chisels: http://www.pfeiltools.com/en/products/c ... h-4er.html.

I'm pretty sure that Carbatec sells them, but I don't know what they charge.