Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi

I was wondering, where in Berlin can I find some quality chisel for a decent price? I found a OBI in Berlin and they had chisels from their own house brand (I forgot what it was called), but since there are no indications of country of manufacture (since some of their power tools are made in China), I can't determine how good they actually are. They were generally above 10 euros for a piece. They also sold wooden planes as well...

I only want blades made in Germany because I know German steel is very good.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

2 cherries are made in Germany

Solingen would be another option. How much you want for that bridge Filippo?

You can get the Kirschen chisels (= Two Cherries) online at www.feinewerkzeuge.de, shipping costs within Germany are not much. They have their address in Berlin, but I think they have no shop there, at least they don't mention it on their homepage *** (you might call them). They also carry fine japanese chisels and nearly any kind of fine hand tools you might wish.
The owner has the same last name as me, but we have nothing to do with each other, "Schmid" is a very common name in Germany and Switzerland. No business for me
*** Edit: Wrong! Somewhere else on their homepage ( => here <= ) they mention their opening hours! (Mo-Fr 10:00 - 18:00)


Another good online resource for handdtools in Germany (again low shipping costs within Germany) is Dick GmbH. They also carry fine japanese chisels, swiss chisels (Pfeil), but not the Two Cherries. Unfortunately some of their German products are not top notch (but still good I have been told, but I never tried those), the same goes for the Chinese stuff they carry. Yo can deduce quality pretty much straightforward by looking at the price tag.

OBI is a discounter chain, I doubt they have chisels which match luthier's expections...

You sure? the prices for stuff at Obi seems a bit expensive... sure doesn't look like a discounter to me.

I mean at places like Plus/Netto, Aldi, etc. the prices for stuff are cheap, and the quality isn't bad either.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I bought chisels from Lidl/Aldi and use them for taking the lids off paint tins.

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

When I was in Switzerland a few years ago I visited a store very similar to Home Depot called Bauhaus. They have lots of stores across Europe. They had an assortment of excellent Two Cherries chisels (made in Germany). I think there's a good chance that they would still have some. You could give them a phone call.

Here's a list of all the Bauhaus stores in Berlin

http://www.bauhaus.info/fachcentren/mei ... cache.html

Sorry, the link will work better if under Mein Fachcentrum you search for Berlin under Stadt. Then press Suche starten.

try a setof stubai cabinetmakers bench chisels from austria.Just as good as 2 cherries , but less expensive

Some of my favorite chisels are Two Cherries. I love reaching for them. I want more of them!

I don't really understand why, but that was funny on so many levels! Ok, maybe I know why, but I ain't going there.

Yes, sure. And yes, some things at Obi are expensive. They also carry good brands, but the bad ones always will cost too much for what they are.
Just as an example: if I remember well once I have seen wooden Klemmsia cam clamps at OBI's, just at the same price as Dick sells them, and they also sold some no-name cam clamps (at only a slightly lower price) which I didn't manage to clamp anything when trying them in the store...
You'll be able to sharpen really well some chisels you might get at OBI's (LUX, Bahco, etc. - those 10mm chisels would cost about 10 up to nearly 20 Euros), but they won't hold the edge as you might want them to. In the worst case you walk away with an overpaid can opener, just as Colin said...). Sometimes you can have luck there and sometimes not that much.

If you find Two Cherries, Stubai or Pfeil at OBI for a lower price than Dick or feinewerkzeuge.de sell them, go for them! These are the 3 best European chisel brands (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). I prefer the Two Cherries because I feel they hold the edge a little bit better than their two non-German competitors but they are not worlds apart each one from another. I buy Pfeil when I'm in a hurry to get some special gouge.

Hi

I just went to Bauhaus and bought a 12 and 26mm 2 cherries chisel, at 12,25 and 15,65 respectively. Really good stuff, could already split hairs out of the box, will have to run them through some 8000 stones before I can really get them sharp.

On that subject, where can I get some 8000 stones in Germany? They sell some stones (made by two cherries I think?) at Bauhaus but they're not fine enough...

I looked at the price at www.feinewerkzeuge.de and they're at least 50% more expensive than what bauhaus sells them for. They had a 4 chisel set for around 44 euros but I didn't really need 4 chisels.

If this thing is as good as they say, these may be the only chisel I'll ever need...

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

The same brand? If so I'll get them in the future at Bauhaus I guess.

Yes the same stuff... see attached picture.

They're the polished variety. The only problem is they do not have the smallest size (2-4mm) or the largest size (largest they have is 26mm)

They also have lathe tools as well as carving gouges made by two cherries.

I am stoked, there is just no way in hell I could find quality hand tools in Taiwan. All they got is soft steel or insanely expensive Japanese irons, and sometimes its hard to tell which is good...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

GREAT!