Best carving and woodworking chisel sets

1. Pick the right brand.

Quality chisels work with different wood types, like Acacia or Teak.

Certain brands of chisels have achieved excellent reputations among carpenters, DIYers, and hobbyists alike.

Known for their strength, durability, and ease of use, brands such as Two Cherries, Narex, and especially Irwin are popular choices among carpenters who need the best quality tools for the job.

2. Consider the shaft material. (Steel vs wood)

Most longtime woodworkers prefer chisels with wooden handles. Well-made wooden-handled chisels tend to be well-balanced, and easy to use.

The best simply feel good in your hands and are nice to look at too.

A beautiful set of wooden-handled chisels is impressive to look at and will give any woodworker an air of authenticity that you simply don’t get with plastic-handled chisels.

That said, a high-end steel striking plate will hold up to repeated hammer blows.

If you plan on doing a lot of work involving house building and demolition you must get a chisel with a built-in metal striking plate.

3. Have a tidy case.

Most of the best wood chisels come with some type of carrying case; usually a wooden or plastic box. This should tide you over for a while if you simply leave your chisels at home in your workshop.

But if you plan on carrying your chisels around with you, investing in a superior-quality chisel roll is a must.

You’ve probably seen dedicated woodworkers pack their best wood chisels up in a leather chisel roll. These are surprisingly handy and convenient, and help to protect your chisels from damage.

Likewise, a quality carry case keeps you from scratching or cutting anything unexpected when transporting your tools and makes a great way to be proud and show off your chisels.

4. Pay the right price

As with all tools, you pay for what you get. The best chisels are more than double the price compared to the cheaper sets.

A set of good-quality chisels can easily cost you a couple of hundred dollars or more.

You don’t want to cheap out and get the least expensive models you can find either, as aftermarket options will likely break or quickly become blunt and be unable to maintain their cutting edge for long.

Get your first chisel set even if you’re just starting.

If you think that you want to get into woodworking for yourself or with your kids eventually, getting a set of bevel-edge chisels is the first start.

You might want to start with a set of five or ten, which gives you an ideal number to work with without having to spend too much money right off the bat.

Start with a bevel chisel set.

Bench chisels are among the most common type of chisels, simply because the design is so versatile, and can be used for many woodworking tasks.

These chisels can be used for more complex work, due to the bevel edge that makes the blades fit into tight joints more easily.

Having a variety of different tips enable you to do a wider range of jobs.

When shopping for a set of carving chisels, look for one that includes a narrow straight chisel, a wide chisel, a deep gouge, a medium gouge, and a couple of angled chisels.

Then grow your collection…

If you want to round out your set, you could add a round-nose chisel, a parting tool, and a skew woodturning chisel. These hand tools will allow you to do pretty much any kind of wood carving art.

It is always a clever idea to purchase a set of chisels even if you are just starting. This will ensure that you always have the right-sized chisel for the job, ready to go in your workshop apron.

The chisels in the Two Cherries 6-piece set are no exception. Made from superior quality carbon steel, these retain their edge exceptionally well and will last for many years of woodworking.

Each chisel included is fitted with a hornbeam handle that is cut specifically to fit the size of each blade. This results in a balanced and easy-to-handle chisel that feels great and produces consistent results.

The Two Cherries chisels are still made to the same design as decades ago in the company’s factory in Remscheid Germany.

I like the superior quality steel that can be relied on to provide years of service packed inside a small easy-to-carry box.

The next best option is to go with the Narex 6-piece set.

The set offers premium high-end quality chisels at a slightly more affordable price and holds their cutting edge just as nicely.

I like how the box looks and feels, making a nice start to any new woodworking project.

The Two Cherries 11-piece set always offer a quality set of tools, along with a handy sharpening stone for quick maintenance.

Like the chisels in their 6-piece set, these are made from superior quality carbon steel, ensuring long life and excellent edge retention.

The set comes with everything you would need for a wide variety of woodworking tasks, including gouges, askew, a V-tool, and a selection of chip carvers.

I like that each chisel features a wooden octagon handle that ensures comfortable use and prevents the tool from rolling off a work area.

The Narex 10-piece set is another great option when carving requires picking a quality carving set.

This set we found comes with a handy sharpening stone as well and comfortable handles for maximum control, all packed inside a tidy wooden box ready to go.

If you want to round out your carving set with another addition a set of flexible chisels are excellent for lighter carving.

The flex-cut chisels like this have flexible blades for even smoother carving on wood.

Builders need chisels that can withstand regular heavy use. Like demolition and taking things apart.

Woodworking and carving chisels aren’t suitable for heavy-duty woodwork and carpentry and will fail within your first few attempts.

For joining work, mortise chisels are especially useful. It can be used for making mortise joints, and most are tough enough to handle a variety of other jobs.

You don’t necessarily have to buy a full set of mortise chisels. For most DIY home carpenters, one or two mortise chisels and a few bevel-edge chisels should be enough for most purposes. A phenomenal size to start with is a 3/8-inch chisel, which isn’t too big or too small.

You might likewise want to pick up a ¼-inch chisel, which works well with ¾-inch and 7/8-inch boards. For hand-trimming joints, you should pick up a paring chisel or two. These will help you create smoother joints than bevel-edge chisels.

Irwin chisels have long been a favorite and the best wood chisels for carpenters.

The company actually bought out William Marples and Sons, Ltd, which for a long time was the industry standard for superior quality chisels.

Although carpenters have many options available, the Irwin 8-piece chisel set offers the same traditional quality that made Marples the favorite for woodworkers and DIY’ers.

This set instead is intended for construction where durability is a high requirement and compatibility with a steel hammer.

The blades here are made of a single piece of superior-quality steel, which is subjected to a special hardening process. This ensures a long-lasting blade that retains a steel edge for longer.

The chisels feature the company’s exclusive ProTouch handles that are comfortable to use even for long periods.

I like that the chisels are fitted with metal striking caps so that the end can be struck with a metal hammer instead of a wooden mallet without worrying about the chisels splitting or warping.

1. Cabinet makers.

Chisels can be used to cut out rough holes in wood for shelves and doors. These holes can later be enlarged with a saw, and later refined and smoothed out with a plane.

Chisels can be used to make intricate designs in decorative cabinetry and to fashion moldings and trimmings.  

2. Joiners.

Chisels can be used for shaping pieces of wood so that wood joins fit precisely together.

Joiners typically use paring chisels to make smooth joints. Chisels with lower angles are especially useful for easier trimming of end grains.

3. Builders.

Builders use chisels to gouge out bits of wood from larger pieces. Most carpenters typically use saws to cut wood roughly to the necessary dimensions.

Chisels are then used for shaping or for making more precise cuts.

And can be used to etch out intricate designs into wood, and to make individual pieces that fit precisely with each other, for finger joins and dovetail joins.

4. DIY’ers.

DIY woodworkers have many uses for chisels, from correcting warped or unevenly cut pieces of wood to connecting two end pieces.

Homeowners may need o to trim some wood off a door jamb to fix sticky doors or to cut holes into larger sections of wood.

For more wood chiseling tips and tricks, check this out.

You will need a sharpening kit to keep your best wood chisels in top condition. The kit below comes with a double-sided whetstone and a handy bamboo base to keep the stone steady for your steel alloy or chrome vanadium steel woodworking chisels.

You get a helpful angle guide and an instruction manual. There is an e-book that provides a wealth of sharpening tips and tricks that you will find useful regardless of your level of experience.

For major wear and tear on your wool chisels, you can use a table grinder.

Most bench grinders operate at 3500+ RMP but for sharpening chisels, a slower speed can be easier and reduce the chance of burning the blade. Or you could use a variable speed grinder like the Craftsman bench grinder. 

The Two Cherries woodworking chisels are a top-of-the-range choice, for hobbyists and home DIY’ers and are available online at a reasonably affordable price.

The design is easy to use and boasts a low-maintenance design, while made to handle complex woodworking tasks so you can keep the same set as your skills grow.

The 6-piece set offers more than enough blades to get started with.

But if you plan on getting serious with your woodworking, then you can spring for the 11-piece Narex chisel set, which offers even more tool options with the bonus of a comfortable octagonal handle. You are going to have to carve your own case.

For building work rather than carving or woodworking the Irwin ProTouch 8-piece set offers the durability that you need with the ProTouch handles that can be used for long periods without discomfort, and of course, are fitted with metal striking caps that can handle both steel, aluminum or titanium hammer.