I think Joe Dillett, owner of the Carving Shop, has an excellent YouTube channel dedicated to all things carving. He's been carving full time since 1957 and has a lot of knowledge to share and I personally like his "down home" style.
He recently posted a video endorsing a new supplier of carving chisels and gouges. He's never endorsed a product before and claims that he receives no compensation for the endorsement. Here's a link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73A9w5IMCmk
The company is Schaff Tools. Here's a link to their site. https://www.schaaftools.com/
Joe goes into quite a bit of technical detail comparing the Schaff Tools to many of the other well-known brands including Swiss Made/ Pfeil, Stubai, Hirsch, Two Cherries, and about 6 others. He has solid reasons for liking the tools from Schaaf.
Based on his endorsement, I went to their site and then to their Amazon store and I was amazed to find that a 12 piece set of their tools was only $89. Joe didn't say a word about their price on his video but as anyone with any carving experience knows, quality gouges from Pfeill or Stubai, Aurliou, etc start at about $30 apiece. $89 for a set of 12 is a fantastic price.
Here's a link to their page on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBLNRNM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Without Joe's endorsement, based on price alone, I would have assumed these to be inferior but, based on his endorsement, I immediately purchased a set.
After making the purchase, I noticed that Schaaf offers an additional 10% discount if you sign up for their newsletter. I did this after buying my set so I'm not sure if it's too late but I sent a note to Schaaf asking.
Because quality carving chisels and gouges cost so much, I thought this info was worth sharing.
I also wanted to mention Joe Dillett's videos on carving because I think they're great. Some of his videos are clearly targeted for beginners but some of this work is very impressive. One example: a mural done for the DeKalb County Farm Bureau that is approx 7 ft x 32 ft. He describes in in his video on wood expansion as it related to carving.
He recently posted a video endorsing a new supplier of carving chisels and gouges. He's never endorsed a product before and claims that he receives no compensation for the endorsement. Here's a link to the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73A9w5IMCmk
The company is Schaff Tools. Here's a link to their site. https://www.schaaftools.com/
Joe goes into quite a bit of technical detail comparing the Schaff Tools to many of the other well-known brands including Swiss Made/ Pfeil, Stubai, Hirsch, Two Cherries, and about 6 others. He has solid reasons for liking the tools from Schaaf.
Based on his endorsement, I went to their site and then to their Amazon store and I was amazed to find that a 12 piece set of their tools was only $89. Joe didn't say a word about their price on his video but as anyone with any carving experience knows, quality gouges from Pfeill or Stubai, Aurliou, etc start at about $30 apiece. $89 for a set of 12 is a fantastic price.
Here's a link to their page on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XBLNRNM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Without Joe's endorsement, based on price alone, I would have assumed these to be inferior but, based on his endorsement, I immediately purchased a set.
After making the purchase, I noticed that Schaaf offers an additional 10% discount if you sign up for their newsletter. I did this after buying my set so I'm not sure if it's too late but I sent a note to Schaaf asking.
Because quality carving chisels and gouges cost so much, I thought this info was worth sharing.
I also wanted to mention Joe Dillett's videos on carving because I think they're great. Some of his videos are clearly targeted for beginners but some of this work is very impressive. One example: a mural done for the DeKalb County Farm Bureau that is approx 7 ft x 32 ft. He describes in in his video on wood expansion as it related to carving.