7pc Expansion Set

Really impressed with the quality and size of these chisels. They don't come with a fancy case and need to be sharpened a little more but the metal chisel and handles are a bit larger than most and really seem sturdy. Only did some test chiseling for tiki carving on a palm and worked great. Will post a later review after more usage. Only wish there was one more really wide chisel 1 1/2" plus.

I think these tools are a very good set for beginner carvers. While they are machined they will need to be sharpened to a fine edge which is what I would expect to do with any new tool. The steel holds a very sharp edge and I like the feel. I had an issue with one of the tools in the set and I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the quick and generous response by the Schaaf customer support. I would recommend these tools to anyone who is looking for a full size set and you can buy with confidence, you will be supported if anything is not quite right!

I’m an home woodworker and I’ve always wanted to learn decorative and relief carving. I have a basic Pfiel 6 piece carving tools set given me years ago that I learned to sharpen properly and put to use. I needed more range for relief carving and decorative shapes. I did a lot of research via blogs, YouTube and forums and the Schaaf carving tools stood out in the budget category. The seven piece set covered some of the range I needed at a reasonable price. Nerdy and surely excessive detail below, but my headline summary is: good steel , decent hardness, expected rough finishing marks, but some gouges needed significant reshaping and finishing beyond mere (and expected) sharpening. These are potentially great budget tools… if you put in sweat equity to compensate for the budget price. None of the issues warranted returning tools or needing customer service from Schaaf. As others have said, that the customer fills the quality control role. I am now happy with their performance, but 3 of the 7 tools required notable work because of careless finishing at the factory. I’d like fellow purchasers to be realistic about what they are buying and what might be required to commission them for use beyond casual sharpening. If you are a newbie to sharpening and grinding I strongly recommend you buy directly from Schaaf and pay for their sharpening service. Obsessive details and pix below ————————————-————————————-————————————- They came quickly from Amazon, well packaged in its own box in a nice canvas roll, each tool a plastic bag for each gouge. The handles are hardwood and decently finished except for one that has a divil and another that had a small chip I could re-glue. These issues don’t interfere with use but are annoying and unnecessary flaws. All the blades were square to the handles. I love the full size and substantial handles as I have big hands. If you have with smaller hands you might want to reshape them. The blades are weighty and feel robust enough to will withstand mallet work. All the gouge curvatures were symmetrically cast and ground, a crucial ingredient for function. I expected to see some grinding marks on the shafts— these don’t impact function just appearance and can eventually be polished out. But… I could also see significant rough grinding striations on the inner curves of 3 (out of the 7) of the gouges. These significant machine marks were on inside gouge curves and went all the way to the cutting tip. This is key because no matter how fine and polished you sharpen the outer working bevel, if the inner edge is grooved your cut will be serrated, not smooth! This is one reason why you flatten and polish the back of regular bench chisels so the bevel edge you sharpen is even and smooth across its width to a few microns. Take a look at the pix. So beyond normal sharpening new tools before use, I had to first smooth these machine marks for 3 tools. Fortunately these were on shallow curved gouges, #3’s and #5’s, so working the inside curve was easier. I shaped some dowels to match the inner curves as slipstones and glued on 400 grit wet-dry sandpaper. It took a fair bit of time to smooth these grinding marks to about 10-15mm from the edge. Fortunately the deeper gouges were all finished much better inside and out, few grind marks and ready for sharpening to my preferred edge geometry. Getting inside these more acute curves would have been unacceptably challenging and I would have contacted customer service and replacement. The good news: the steel itself seems quite hard and tough which, while more work to hand grind, bodes well for edge retention. Another issue: the V-chisel was symmetrically cast but asymmetrically ground and sharpened. I had to first flatten the tip on a grinder to make the wings even with each other, regrind the edge bevel and also grind the lever curve behind the V to a gentler curve so a steep chisel angle wasn’t required during use. Now to shaping the cutting angle and sharpening- All the gouges were ground to about 25 degrees. I like closer to 20 degrees and I expect to rework them myself. All fixed up they perform well and seem to hold an edge as well as my smaller Pfeils and are a pleasure to use. This set gives me the angles and depth for bigger carvings and faster wood removal. I really love using the broad #3 20mm for background removal and smoothing work and the fishtail gouges for contour shaping. By the way, one thing I’d suggest to Schaaf is have the tool number on the steel as it wears off the handles readily. From what I gather you might get a set that you can sharpen up and use right away, or you might get a set that is good but might have gouges you need to exchange— their customer service has a good reputation. Or, you might get what I had- no deal breakers but requiring work and prior knowledge to bring them into use. It was a mix of good materials and product concept on the one hand, and with poor manufacturing quality control with a few of the gouges in the pack. These are potentially great tools for a great price… if you are willing to put in sweat equity to compensate for the budget price. You will pay one way or the other. If you are not already knowledgeable about sharpening you might feel frustrated since sharp and properly ground tools are everything to carving happiness. I hope this is helpful to your making an informed purchase.

These aren't my first chisels, but I am by no means handy with chisels, but I found them sharp enough to shape wood with just honing with a strop The handles fit my large hands. The blades are thick and steady and precisely shaped. They are a joy to carve with.

Price was great-but expect to spend some time honing, shaping and polishing these. After they are tuned up, they are every bit as good as any other gouges out there-Hirsch, Pfeil etc. These hold an edge just as well and are just as durable!

Not overly sharp. 2 out of the 7 tools handles were not properly fixed and loose as seen in photo, easily fixed with epoxy.... one was obviously over-bored??. Upon sharpening, I noticed handle misaligned with a gouge, making it hard to get square edge while sharpening. Handles slightly too large for great dexterity, and slightly different sizes (not a huge deal). Takes a razor sharp edge. With some decent quality contol these could compete with higher end tool brands. Overall a little less quality than I hoped, but will do a quality job at a good price point.

Quality tools, well received.

Ok, I've only used them for a couple hours so but but I'm happy. They are very sharp out of the package. A little stropping and I was ready. I'm working on straight grained pine and I like the way they cut. I can cut across the grain will little splintering and the angle of the cutting edge is also where I like it. A person can pay $60 + for a singe German or Swiss made gouge that does everything I'm describing but why should I pay for that when I get what I want from these gouges?

Good value chisels for the occasional project where I will need them. Spent some time getting all the bevels to suit my use and they sharpened to a good cutting edge and cut very well. Not yet used in 'anger', but can't see any reason they won't do the job. Have also ordered the 'fishtail' gouges to go with them!

Beautiful tools and high quality

Demoraram mais do que eu imaginava, mas chegaram bem. Realmente chegaram afiadas e muito bem embaladas, boa aparência.

Like the handles. They were sharp right from the box. Good value for high quality tools.

Just resigned to add the elbow grease to make them MINE.