Best wood chisel set

The IRWIN Marples High Impact set is my top pick because it's built to be hit with a hammer. IRWIN says the steel core is fully forged, and the extra-large strike cap holds up to repeated hammer strikes and can be hit from more than one angle.

That matters on the job. Squaring a notch in a stud for a drain line or opening a hole in subfloor means hitting the chisel, often at an awkward angle. The wood-handled sets on this page add steel ferrules for mallet work. This one is made for a steel hammer.

The set covers 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 in., the widths printed on the listing photo (6, 13, 19 and 25 mm). One catch: the listing's overview line says the size is 1/2 to 2 in. That doesn't match the photo or the four chisels, so I went by the photo.

IRWIN lists high carbon, solid-forged steel blades engineered for edge retention, and a split-proof acetate handle with its ProTouch grip. The maker names the jobs too: carpentry, furniture building, paring, carving and cutting.

What it isn't is a fine paring set. The handle is a thick composite with a cap, not a slim wood handle, and IRWIN doesn't publish a hardness or a bevel angle. For dovetails, the Narex Richter set below fits better.

For plumbing rough-in, the 3/4 and 1 in. chisels are the ones you'll reach for. The code decides how deep you go. The IRC caps a notch in a bearing 2x4 stud at 25% of its depth, which is 7/8 in. A 1 in. chisel squares the sides of that notch cleanly.

The 1/4 in. chisel earns its spot in the corners: cleaning out a mortise for a hinge or a strike plate, where a wider blade can't turn.

IRWIN backs the set with a lifetime limited warranty.

My call: if you want one set in the truck for framing, plumbing and door work, this is it. It was sold by Amazon.com, new and in stock, on the day of the update.

The Richter line is named for Narex's founder, Vaclav Richter, and the blades are stamped RICHTER EXTRA. Narex's listing for the 7 piece Richter set says the line marks the company's 100th anniversary. It's my pick for fine joinery because of what Narex lists for the steel.

Narex's listing for the 7 piece Richter set, the same line, says the blades are drop-forged chrome manganese steel, hardened to a minimum of 62 HRc. That's the highest hardness listed for any set on this page. After hardening, Narex adds a cryogenic treatment with liquid nitrogen down to minus 190 degrees C.

HRc is the Rockwell C hardness scale, and a higher number means a harder blade. Only three sets here publish a number at all, and the Richter's minimum is the highest of them.

The shape is made for joinery. That same listing says the sides are mirror-polished and very thin, made for cleaning out dovetails. That's the job a thick jobsite chisel can't do well, because its sides won't fit into a tight corner.

This set covers 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 in. Getting both a 1/4 and a 3/8 in. chisel matters for joinery, where the chisel width often has to match the mortise or the dovetail pin.

The handles are ash, with a splitproof ground steel ferrule carrying the Richter logo and a thin leather bolster between handle and ferrule. That's a mallet setup. There's no strike cap, so keep a steel hammer away from it.

It comes in a gift box, with the blades coated in a corrosion-inhibiting oil. Wipe that off before you use one. The listing gives an item weight of 1.4 kg for the set.

My call: if your chisel work happens at a bench with a mallet, this is the set to buy, and it's the one I'd keep in the shop rather than the truck.

It was sold by Taylor Toolworks, new and in stock, on the day of the update.

WORKPRO's kit is the one to buy if you're starting from nothing. Six chisels come with a double-sided sharpening stone and an adjustable honing guide, and that's the gear most first-time buyers don't have.

The 10 pieces are six chisels (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1, 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 in.), the stone, the guide and two carpenter pencils. The storage case and blade guards come on top of that, according to the listing.

The chisel range is the widest on this page. Every other inch set stops at 1 in. The 1-1/4 and 1-1/2 in. chisels pare a wide surface flat in fewer passes, like trimming a door jamb or leveling a shim.

The listing says the blades are Cr-V steel with a 28 degree edge. That's a bit steeper than the 25 degrees Narex and Jorgensen list. WORKPRO doesn't publish a hardness.

The stone is 120 grit on one side and 240 on the other. The honing guide holds the chisel at a fixed angle while you push it across the stone, so the bevel stays flat. Set it to 28 degrees to match the factory edge.

The handles are PP and TPR, a hard plastic core with a softer grip. A nickel-plated strike cap sits on the end, and WORKPRO's listing says it takes a hammer or a mallet. That puts it closer to the IRWIN sets than the wood-handled ones.

The blade guards matter more than they look. My call: a chisel edge that knocks around a tool bag won't stay sharp, and the guards cover each edge.

The manufacturer listed on Amazon is Hangzhou Great Star Industrial. The Jorgensen listing names Hangzhou GreatStar too.

My call: as a first set, this saves you a separate trip for sharpening gear. It was sold by Amazon.com, new and in stock, on the day of the update.

The Stanley 16-150 is the short one. The listing says the carbon alloy steel blades are 3 in. (76 mm) long, and the product description gives the whole chisel as 7-3/4 in. That's shorter than the Narex chisels, which run about 10 to 11 in. overall.

Short matters in tight spots. Under a sink, between floor joists or inside a cabinet, a long chisel can't get the angle it needs. A short one does. That's the whole reason to buy this set.

It's three chisels: 1/2, 3/4 and 1 in., Stanley part numbers 16-153, 16-155 and 16-157. Those are the three core widths, so it covers most notching and trimming jobs, but there's no 1/4 in. for small corners.

The listing says the edge is honed and ready to use right off the shelf. It's the only set here that says so. The blade is precision ground and lacquered for corrosion protection.

The handle is polypropylene. The listing says it resists deformation, most solvents and corrosive liquids. My call: that's a plus in a plumbing bag, where tools sit near PVC primer and cement.

What's missing: the listing doesn't say whether the handle end takes a hammer. There's no strike cap named and no ferrule. My call: tap it with a mallet or the heel of your hand until Stanley's listing says otherwise.

The listing gives a limited lifetime warranty and a weight of 16 oz for the set.

Pair it with a full set if you need a 1/4 in. chisel. The IRWIN 4-pack adds that width, plus a strike cap for the work that has room to swing a hammer.

My call: this is a second set, the one that lives in the plumbing bag for the tight jobs, next to a full set in the truck.

It was sold by MaxWarehouse, new and in stock, on the day of the update.

This is IRWIN's Marples construction chisel set: three chisels, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 in., in a folding carrying wallet. IRWIN says it's made for high-impact construction work.

The strike caps are the reason it's on this page. IRWIN says the large caps withstand repetitive hammer strikes, the same idea as the 4-pack, so you can drive these with the framing hammer that's already on your belt.

The grips are IRWIN's ProTouch design. The maker says they reduce hand fatigue and hold up to jobsite abuse. The blades are hardened steel for edge retention, per IRWIN, though like the 4-pack it doesn't give a hardness number.

The wallet is the difference from the 4-pack. It folds around the chisels, so the edges aren't loose in a bag knocking into a hammer, a level and a pair of pliers. My call: an edge that rides loose in a bag won't stay sharp for long.

What you give up is the 1/4 in. chisel. On a jobsite that's the one for hinge mortise corners and small cleanouts. If you do door hardware, the 4-pack covers it and this set doesn't.

For plumbing, the 3/4 and 1 in. chisels cover most of what you'd do: squaring a notch in a stud for a 1/2 or 3/4 in. supply line, or cleaning a hole edge in a plate. Stay inside the notch limits in the table above.

IRWIN backs it with a lifetime limited warranty, the same as the 4-pack. If you already own the 4-pack, skip this one. The 4-pack has these three widths plus the 1/4 in.

My call: buy this as a bag set when you already have a full set elsewhere, or when you never touch door hardware. It was sold by Amazon.com, new and in stock, on the day of the update.

This is Narex's 6 piece bench set, without the Richter name. It's my pick for mallet work because of how Narex builds the handle end.

Each chisel has heavy steel tangs and two ferrules. The listing says that's to withstand vigorous mallet work. The handles are European beech, stained and lacquered, about 5-1/2 in. long.

The widths are metric: 6, 10, 12, 16, 20 and 26 mm. In inches that's about 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 13/16 and 1 in. Close to an inch set, but not exact, which matters if you're cutting a mortise for inch-sized hardware.

The listing says the steel is chrome manganese, hardened to Rc 59, with a 25 degree bevel. Blades run 4-3/4 to 5-1/2 in. and the chisels are about 10 to 11 in. overall.

Read this part before you buy: the listing says they'll need final sharpening before use. It's the only set on this page that says so, so plan a session on a stone before the first real cut.

That hardness is a little under the Richter's 62 HRc minimum. It's a bench chisel, not a jobsite one, and there's no strike cap, so the same rule applies: mallet, not hammer.

The metric sizes have an upside at the bench. If you work from metric plans or cut mortises for metric hardware, the 6, 10 and 12 mm chisels match those numbers directly.

The set comes in a wooden presentation box, and the listing says it's made in the Czech Republic. The listed weight is 1.6 lb.

My call: this is the bench set for someone who sharpens. If you don't own a stone yet, the WORKPRO kit includes one. It was sold by Taylor Toolworks, new and in stock, on the day of the update.

The Jorgensen set is the inch-sized match for the Narex 6 piece. Six chisels: 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4 and 1 in. It's the only set here with both a 3/8 and a 5/8 in. chisel in inch sizes.

The listing says the blades are forged chromium alloy steel, hardened to HRC 60 to 64. That range tops out above the Richter's 62 minimum, though a range doesn't tell you where a given chisel lands.

The bevel is precision ground to 25 degrees, the same angle Narex lists. The listing says the wide chisels are for fast stock removal and the narrow ones for tight corners, which matches how most people split up a set.

The handles are hardwood with a metal ferrule. The listing says the ferrule resists splitting under mallet use. There's no strike cap, so this is a mallet set like the two Narex sets.

The listing calls the handle ergonomic. I can't measure that from a listing, so I'm only noting that it's a shaped wood handle, not a round one.

The 5/8 in. chisel is the useful odd size. It fills the gap between 1/2 and 3/4 in., so you can clean out a notch that falls between them without widening it.

Six widths also means a narrow and a wide option at each step. For a 1/2 in. mortise, you can chop the ends with the 1/2 in. chisel and clear the middle with the 3/8 in. one.

The listing doesn't mention blade guards or a case, so store the set where the edges don't touch each other or other tools.

Like WORKPRO, the manufacturer listed on Amazon is Hangzhou GreatStar. Jorgensen doesn't include sharpening gear, so plan on your own stone.

My call: for an inch bench set with a listed hardness and six widths, this is the pick. It was sold by GreatStar Tools, new and in stock, on the day of the update.