Is this a good set of chisels to start with?

Hello all,
I have been a long time collector of Tiki and I have now decided to start carving my own. I live in Texas, so palm trees are pretty rare, but we do have a lot of cedar trees! I found this Pfeil starter set for 110$ online:
Specially forged for Woodcraft, these intermediate size, professional style tools are 2" shorter than our regular Swiss tools for easier control and greater responsiveness. The precise tempered high-grade steel tools are sharpened, honed and buffed for immediate use with an edge that will stay sharp for many enjoyable hours of woodcarving. These delicately balanced tools work well for getting into confined areas. The overall length is 8" with 3-1/2" blades and 4-1/2" octagonal hardwood handles. Set includes: 12mm No. 2 gouge, 12mm No. 5 gouge, 4mm No. 7 gouge, 14mm No. 7 gouge, 10mm No. 7 bent gouge, and a 10mm No. 8 gouge. PFEIL carving tools and sets are "Swiss Made"."Swiss Made" implies reliability and precision. PFEIL is undoubtedly the finest carving tool on the market, second-to-none in terms of manufacturing quality and durability.

Is this a good set to begin with?

Thanks!
Tribal Tiki

[ Edited by: Tribal Tiki 2012-08-27 07:53 ]

Sounds like you have a great start Tribal Tiki, better than what I have. I'm still using those clear yellow handled chisels that you can buy at Toys R Us. The important thing is to start and keep them sharp!

Pfeil is good

Learn to sharpen. Those will go a long way.

Yes, those Pfeils are basically "forever" tools. You'll want to learn how to sharpen those suckers. I like the flexcuts too if u get the mallet set. I'm not good on mm, but that set you describe sounds a little narrow-ish for my taste. But obviously it depends on what you carve. For the flat chisels like the #2 gouge, I like a wide gouge, 20mm or better. My #3 pfeil is 35mm. Of course it's not quite as easy to finese that one.

no, those are BAD!!!

send them to my house....lol...

j/k...those are nice...pfeils & flexys are what I use...good tools just make carving a more pleasant experience in my opinion.

Carve a tiki out of mesquite! It's pretty stuff when polished. I've got a cedar tiki mask.

What's a chisel for? They don't look like they spin very fast.....

Sorry...couldn't resist...

That set is the $hit... get busy!

Welcome to TC!

Mahalo!

McTiki

If your starting out with PFEIL, then your ahead of about 99% of the rest of us. I started out with a set Craftsman bench chisels made for carpentry.

Thanks for all the feedback.
Yeah I have the ol' yellow handle set I am using to remove the large areas, but I wanted a set for some detail work. I was going to go the cheap route (Harbor Freight or Home Depot) but after reading reviews it seems like those would just be a waste of money and I figure put that $$$ towards a good set now rather than later.

Yep, good stuff
I Still use the old crappy dull yellow ones
:)
Have fun

Normally Pfeil IS Great,, HOWEVER, Beware that many chisels "Made for" Woodcraft are FAR Inferior to the original brand, ESPECIALLY when they are Honed and polished ready to use.
I purchased some Henry Taylor Gouges "Made fir Woodcraft" and they were "Polished and ready to use" too but the first time they were put to wood they peeled back like a banana peel. In Honing and Polishing them they had removed the temper and were essentially Useless.
JUST A WARNING THESE WILL NOT BE PFEIL QUALITY

On 2012-08-30 03:53, Benzart wrote:
Normally Pfeil IS Great,, HOWEVER, Beware that many chisels "Made for" Woodcraft are FAR Inferior to the original brand, ESPECIALLY when they are Honed and polished ready to use.
I purchased some Henry Taylor Gouges "Made fir Woodcraft" and they were "Polished and ready to use" too but the first time they were put to wood they peeled back like a banana peel. In Honing and Polishing them they had removed the temper and were essentially Useless.
JUST A WARNING THESE WILL NOT BE PFEIL QUALITY

Thanks Benz. Good to know. I have purchased all my Pfeils at woodcraft so I will have to watch them.

No Worries, you only need to be wary of the 'Forged for Woodcraft" tools. If they are Straight Pheils or HT's or whatever the brand they will be OK.

Benzart,

I'm a bit confused, as Woodcraft indicates they are the sole US distributor for Pfeil. They are not promoting any of the Pfeils as "made for Woodcraft" that I see. While I could imagine a rebranded Woodcraft chisel might not be the same quality, how do you know if any of the Woodcraft Pfeils are of lesser quality than the European versions? I'm just curious, as I am interested in getting back into carving and have been looking at some of these Pfeils to buy.

GK

I bought Pfiels myself when i decided to have a go at carving. Here in Aus. they cost about $50 each. Just sayin'.

I'm not saying these ARE "made for woodcraft by pfeil", BUT, IF they are THEN Beware. The "Henry Taylors" I bought said "Made for Woodcraft by Henry Taylor" and they are Garbage.
The ones I got were ground, sharpened and polished, UN like the Henry taylors.Perhaps they had a sharpening class and they burned the steel but the will not hold an edge. they were on sale buy 1 get one free.??Look at that set for 110 and go anywhere else and find the same set you will find it more in the 350$ range I think. Why do you suppose that difference is there. Pfiels are among the BEST you can get butr when they License production for another company as Woodcraft I'm pretty sure Pfiel doesn't Make the tools they LICENSE another company to do it, OR License Woodcraft to hire their own manufacturer to do them.
Very SIMILAR is the licensing of grills, Lawnmowers and such. Home Depot has a company who does nothing but make all their "Licensed" Grills, every brand they sell. They are Way less expensive then the real thing because they use Inferior materials, Non stainless screws and fasteners when they show a stainless grill,,,,it AIN'T SO!!! CHeck it out, Buy Pheil Originals get good tools
.