Basic carving chisel suggtions

I would like some suggestions for a basic set of carving chisel sizes. I have a cheap set of chisels - it is a 6 piece set of Buck Brothers from Home Depot (a couple sweeps, a 6mm v-gouge, 7 and 9mm gouges - at least I think that's the size - and another gouge with a scoop). Maybe those are fine; I don't know. If you were going to get a half-dozen or so basic carving chisels for long rifle stocks, what would they be.

Also, what bevel angles should they have? My cheap set came with something like 45-degree bevels, which seems absolutely useless. They will be good to practice sharpening, but that might be all. I don't know.

Unless you’re carving, you won’t need gouges or v tools. Some good smaller chisels, 1/4” and smaller.
Please don’t go out and buy “sets” of chisels, you’ll use 1 or 2 out of the six.
If you decide to stab in carving, you’ll need a couple of dozen gouges with multiple sweeps to stab in.
If you outline with a veiner, a smaller one is best. My favorite is a Pfeil #15/3. It will outline, and do some detail.
I hope this helps!

Flintandsteel said:

Unless you’re carving, you won’t need gouges or v tools. Some good smaller chisels, 1/4” and smaller.
Please don’t go out and buy “sets” of chisels, you’ll use 1 or 2 out of the six.
If you decide to stab in carving, you’ll need a couple of dozen gouges with multiple sweeps to stab in.
If you outline with a veiner, a smaller one is best. My favorite is a Pfeil #15/3. It will outline, and do some detail.
I hope this helps!

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This is for carving - I have plenty of regular flat chisels for inletting, mortising, etc. I don't think I'm ready to plunk down for a couple dozen anything, so the idea of outlining with a veiner sounds good. I'll check out the Pfeil. Thanks!

Small knives can be useful.
Dave

You only need a few chisels and a few gouges to do most gun work. Chisels in 1/8”, 1/4” is a good start. Gouges about 1/4” wide or a bit narrower of a few different sweeps. Look at your lock inlet. If you have a gouge that can cut all the different sweeps in your lock inlet you are pretty good to go. Go to eBay and buy antiques from England or older American ones. Pretty cheap. Or if you want to spend some money buy Pfeil. Go to the Pfeil site and see charts of all the possible gouge sweeps. Good advice above. Don’t buy a set.

Buying antique chisels can be a good way to go. Certainly can save a bit of money. Problem is that plenty of crummy chisels were made a long time ago also. The antiques are a good way to go if you know which ones are the good ones. If not, go with Pfeil. They cost a bit of money, but are worth every penny. Get one or two every payday and eventually you will have a good set put together.

Back around 1970 when Dad was working on his rifle, he needed a narrow chisel for some fine inletting. He could have ordered something from a catalog, then waited for it to deliver, but instead, he made a 1/4" and 1/8" chisels from small screwdrivers. They weren't fine Swedish Steel, but they did hold an edge well enough to do what needed to be done.

Lie-Nielsen is my choice if your going to purchase justy one or two.
They ain't cheap but what a great tool.

I only use Ramelson, JA Henkles or Soligen chiseles.

Thanks Bob. That's very helpful. I've got flat chisels ranging from 1/8"-1" (in 1/8th increments) so I really need to focus on the most important veiners/parting tools and gouges.

Bill Raby has had short discussions in his gun building videos about chisels. Unfortunately, I have not retitled all the episodes with the topic of each one. Chisels are discussed in Episode 39 of his Tennessee rifle build. He does the carving layout and begins carving in episode 50 of the Lancaster Flintlock Rifle Build series. By episode 65 he is fixing gaps and gouges and beginning finishing. I forgot to title the ones in between. Bill Raby

rp77469 said:

Bill Raby has had short discussions in his gun building videos about chisels. Unfortunately, I have not retitled all the episodes with the topic of each one. Chisels are discussed in Episode 39 of his Tennessee rifle build. He does the carving layout and begins carving in episode 50 of the Lancaster Flintlock Rifle Build series. By episode 65 he is fixing gaps and gouges and beginning finishing. I forgot to title the ones in between. Bill Raby

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I did not have enough chisels when I carved that one. I have more now, but still not enough. Don't have enough rifflers either. Also need a few more really nice rasps. And more cutting bits and fixtures for the milling machine. Most of my files are pretty worn out and need to be replaced. I still don't have a good engraving microscope. And the list goes on.

I have a whole lot more tools now than when I build the first gun. You can manage to get by without a whole lot. On the first gun you are pretty much just making do with what you have. The trick is to set aside a few dollars from every paycheck for tools. One the second gun you will be set up a little better. Just realize that nobody started off with a well equipped shop. It takes many years to accumulate all that stuff.

Good advice from Bill. Also, one may find after building a rifle or two it just isn’t something you want to do. Having spent several hundred or more dollars on tools might have been better put towards another firearm.

The smallest Pfeil V-gouge made for hand pushing will get the bulk of my work in the beginning. Later, a couple of U-shaped ones (small, medium, large) will get some play. Skew chisels are useful for flattening the plain around raised carving. The big mallet-driven stuff looks sexy, but it takes big hunks of wood. You'd better be very very good to have the confidence to use them, because big tools can make for very big mistakes that are impossible to recover from.

What ever it is that you use, learning excellent sharpening skills with carving tools is mandatory.

You did ask about carving. I suggest you plant your El Cheapo tools in the yard and forget where you dug the hole. Cheap carving tools often have soft wood handles and short tangs. This can cause dangerous break-through when applying pressure. I am a proponent of buying sets. The sets are......well......sets because they contain the most frequently used tools for carving. One or two you may not use often. But when you need it, your really need it. Check out woodcarving tool vendors online. There are many. Get good, don't go cheap.

First decide if you are going to stab in your outlines or use a parting tool. Stabbing is difficult to do and control depth but it allows for more detail. Parting tool can be used like a graver by tapping. That’s how I do it.
Background removal and contouring are the same whether you stab the outline or use a parting tool.

The most important part of carving is sharpening the tools you have and what you have may be adequate, but I have no knowledge of them. Pheil makes many 4 and six piece sets that will be all you need in carving the most exacting pattern for a longrifle. There are others but in the end, its you. Learning to sharpen them will ease your frustration and accelerate your learning curve.
https://www.woodcraft.com/categories/pfeil#Best of luck!!!!
Robby

Robby said:

The most important part of carving is sharpening the tools you have and what you have may be adequate, but I have no knowledge of them. Pheil makes many 4 and six piece sets that will be all you need in carving the most exacting pattern for a longrifle. There are others but in the end, its you. Learning to sharpen them will ease your frustration and accelerate your learning curve.
https://www.woodcraft.com/categories/pfeil#Best of luck!!!!
Robby

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Thanks, Robby. This last 6 months has been an intensive course in learning to sharpen my plane irons and bench chisels. Getting them scary sharp is now a quick, easy process (most days, anyway), so I hope the process for sharpening gouges is a modest jump.

For inspiration, a master carver I had the pleasure of touring his shop. There is a handful of these people in the entire world.

There's a feller with the right number of chisels for the job...... (See that BillRaby?)