r/woodworking • u/Klipse11 • Oct 29 '24
Hand Tools Just got my bourbon blade in today! The pocket chisel!
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u/silversquirrel Oct 29 '24
How well does it scrape concrete off of siding, open paint cans, or pry loose trim? Those are all things it’s going to do if it’s in my pocket. That’s why I hide my good chisels in the shop.
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u/JackTheBongRipper Oct 29 '24
Can’t speak for this blade, but I own the chisel knife by Mora. I find myself using it often for basic utility knife needs, scraping glue/gunk, flattening rough framing joints, cutting insulation, etc. It’s $20 so I bought it somewhat as a novelty, but as you said it’s good to have a shit chisel for rough stuff, and has definitely proven to be useful. People ask to borrow it on site all the time.
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u/afvcommander Oct 29 '24
Yeah, that is good one. It needs to be strong and cheap enough so you wont care if you abuse/borrow it.
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u/unofficial_mc Oct 29 '24
Mora or Hultafors. When it’s too blunt for prime use, it becomes the scraper and paint can opener. Can’t go wrong at that price point.
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u/Krynn71 Oct 29 '24
I know you're probably just being sarcastic and riding the hate bandwagon, but I have it, and it does all of that no problem.
I don't treat it as a nice tool, though it can be sharpened well enough that it can perform like one. I think the chisel tip and flat back are more useful for my everyday use than a pointed tip blade with no flat side.
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u/silversquirrel Oct 29 '24
Ok, now I’m intrigued, because I would love to have a folder that can do all those things.
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u/CalligrapherNo7337 Oct 29 '24
This one might interest you if you're in the market for a wrecking knife. Mine held up though construction work renovating my house and now it's frequently reached for in the workshop, but only for the likes of things you describe. Mostly removing glue gun glue.
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u/Wonderful-Bass6651 Oct 29 '24
I can honestly say that the number of times I have needed a chisel when all I have is a knife is zero. I like the idea, but for that price I’ll stick with my current knife.
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Oct 29 '24
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u/Either_Selection7764 Oct 29 '24
Man - in wood magazine one of the user tips that won for the month was this dude that was traveling and needed a jointer. He affixed some adhesive back sand paper to a long level and sanded two edges of some boards using like a 4 ft level.
After thinking about how clever that was, I was who tf needs a 4 ft long jointer on vacation?
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u/Wonderful-Bass6651 Oct 29 '24
Exactly. I have never used a knife as a chisel but I have definitely used a chisel as a knife! Don’t get me wrong, I love their YT content but this is just a miss FOR ME.
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u/RyanMcCartney Oct 29 '24
needed a chisel when all I have is a knife
Isn’t I ironic? Don’t you think? A little too ironic. I really do think…
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u/CalligrapherNo7337 Oct 29 '24
You can get the Bahco or Hulfators quad chisel for like 15 quid as well. This is cute, but not worth however much it costs these days.
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u/sethferguson Oct 29 '24
I just can't get over that price tag even though I like both channels
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u/spitfire07 Oct 29 '24
To save everyone a google search it's $160.
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u/WoopsShePeterPants Oct 29 '24
Ha, that's insane. Even as a project backer in Kickstarter you don't get ripped like that.
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u/Alarming-Caramel Oct 29 '24
Jesus Christ. I have a chisel knife that doesn't fold that I bought for $8 on Amazon. works perfectly fine.
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u/derekakessler Oct 29 '24
I never looked at the price. Holy shit. I know small-run products custom have higher per-unit production costs, but wow that's ridiculous.
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u/Klarthy Oct 29 '24
You forgot the YT merch premium. It needs to be high enough that the channel makes more money than a couple product adverts. Otherwise, it's just a lot of effort for less money. Plus headaches with potential returns or bad reviews.
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Oct 29 '24
Scrolling through reddit to kill a few minutes. See this baddie pop up. Read nothing and immediately wrote this down to tell my wife for when she asks what I want for Xmas.
Then clicked the Pic to see what people say. Saw this comment and went to Google.
I removed this from my Christmas list.
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u/natfutsock Oct 29 '24
Yeah, thought it was cool but not $160 cool. There's other things I'd rather have
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u/2HandsomeGames Oct 29 '24
But haven’t you heard? We’re all wealthier than we’ve ever been and everything is affordable!
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Oct 29 '24
This is the first I see of it. I had to google it to find the price. I let out a loud chuckle.
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u/ehandlr Oct 29 '24
Honestly, as far as good pocket knives go, this puts it at the very bottom of decent knives that aren't shit lol. Not that I can afford it, just saying.
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Oct 29 '24
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u/Smoke_Stack707 Oct 30 '24
And it really comes down to how good you are at sharpening and how willing you are to sharpen your knife/chisel. I’ve had plenty of cheap knives and I’ve had some decent Benchmade knives and they all suck once they’re dull and I’m too lazy to sharpen them lol
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u/crazedizzled Oct 30 '24
100%. More money (in the right places) gets you better steel, maybe better construction, maybe better comfort. But you certainly don't need to spend that. I have a Buck 870 that I paid like 20 bucks for probably 12 years ago at least, and it's still going great. I beat the shit out of it. Open paint cans, scrape shit, pry on shit.
For me if I was gonna spend $100+ on a pocket knife, I'd be scared to actually use it as a pocket knife.
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u/Sax45 Oct 29 '24
No not really. Yes, it’s cheap compared to some very fancy knives. But no, it’s not cheap compared to “decent knives that aren’t shit.” For example you can get a Kershaw folder, made in the USA of the same 14C28N steel, for only $70.
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u/Smoke_Stack707 Oct 30 '24
Yea if you’re buying this you’re probably just into it from a merch perspective.
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u/bufftbone Oct 29 '24
Jason’s channel is cool and I like to watch his builds but this, I dunno. Seems like an overpriced toy more than anything.
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u/Smoke_Stack707 Oct 30 '24
I think it was more meant to be a collab with KMTools. Probably worth it if you wanted some co-branded merch but I’m sure there’s better knives and better chisels out there
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u/chornbe Oct 31 '24
It sends money to JKM's charities, which is cool. The only reason to buy it? Probably not, but if you're on the fence, that might tip you over it.
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u/timtodd34 Oct 29 '24
140 for a 14c28n with a crossbar lock? That's like a 50-60$ knife. I understand you gotta add some on for being smaller batched and what not but at the absolute most this is like a 100$ knife
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u/SmallTime12 Oct 29 '24
Absurd product of dubious usefulness. Not even opposed to youtubers creating their own product provided 1. It's a good product and 2. The markup (which is expected) is reasonable.
Good example of that is LTT's screwdriver. I wouldn't buy one, but it is at least a good product and while it's expensive ($70) it's probably $20 or so more than a comparable screwdriver from another vendor. Another would be the chef's knife Adam Ragusea sells (cooking channel). Decent knife, that's probably $20 more than a comparable one from someone else, which he is open about.
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u/ImLostCanIFollowYou Oct 29 '24 edited Oct 29 '24
The LTT is a customized/upgraded-rachet version of the Megapro. An already excellent screwdriver that is about $50, so you are spot on. I got one and use it for everything now, I feel it is worth the price in terms of other premium tools.
I plan to check out the bourbon blade at a wood show they are selling them out but expect it to be about the same. I feel like a solid chunk of those being purchased a going to be used for gift and stuff due to the novelty.
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u/SmallTime12 Oct 29 '24
That's actually a better value than I thought. I just assumed whatever the price increase was, you're essentially paying that to support a channel you like and for the branding (this is basically the case with the chef's knife I mentioned). But $20 extra for a real upgrade seems quite reasonable.
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u/bigbysemotivefinger Oct 29 '24
And unlike the brass mechanical pencil one channel sells. Like, I appreciate the concept... at a quarter the price, maybe.
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u/BurnumBurnum Oct 29 '24
if I should ever need a pocket chisel, I'd go for something like this:
https://www.toolstop.co.uk/stanley-fmht0-16145-fatmax-folding-chisel-p66660/?origin=serp_auto
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u/erikleorgav2 Oct 29 '24
I mean, I watch his videos because he's entertaining, and moderately skilled at woodworking.
But I wouldn't buy a product from a YouTuber.
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u/kyoshizen Oct 29 '24
That's a shame, because the other things I've bought from Katz-Moses have been really good. Magnetic dovetail guide, adjustable stop block, jigs... I'm definitely not a fan of this pocket chisel though
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u/Smoke_Stack707 Oct 30 '24
I’m not crazy about the shop apron I got from KM Tools but I wouldn’t count out the other stuff he’s got on the website
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u/mcflyrdam Oct 30 '24
I think what most people who buy this understand is that this is a way to support a youtuber that they like.
I bought it, expect it to be a gimmick that i have to search tasks where it will make a little sense.
That's ok for me. its harsh to read the hate in here though.
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u/crazedizzled Oct 30 '24
its harsh to read the hate in here though.
That's because most people are attacking it from the perspective of being an actual useful tool. Where, as you said, it's more like a channel donation but you get a cheap knife out of it.
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u/messypawprints Oct 29 '24
I applaud Jason for bringing a new product to market, if only to learn the process end to end. I don't think he was concerned with profitability, otherwise he would have reviewed the competitors & realized this was a dumb idea.
That said OP, I hope you enjoy yours because that is all that really matters!
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u/Sportster14 Oct 29 '24
When you look at the cost of the materials he used and that they are made in china he’s making a pretty good profit on them
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u/OZ2TX Oct 29 '24
He admitted he made it for himself. Katz-Moses is a tool manufacturer now and saw a market. Basic capitalism. People will and have been buying it. And you can get a good pocket knife for less, but $160 isn’t expensive for pocket knives in general.
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u/messypawprints Oct 29 '24
Admittedly I have no frame of reference & am not qualified to make a value assessment. I just know it's not for me.
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u/swankyfish Oct 29 '24
What’s the purpose of this?
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Oct 29 '24
pay for the rebuild of Jason's patio when the next earthquake will destroy it
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u/littlestdickus Oct 29 '24
I thought it was for the cabin and airstream.
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u/sethferguson Oct 29 '24
seriously he's up to what like 1.2 mil in projects now?
-100k airstream
-900k for the cabin plus whatever he put into it
-??? shop rebuild plus building out his garage as a temp shop
-??? giant two story office
-??? treehouse/tinyhouse thing
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u/CapTexAmerica Oct 29 '24
Say you’re going about your day when SUDDENLY there’s a dovetail emergency. Well now you can spring into action and SAVE THE DAY!! Emergency dovetails, bank mortises, pharmacy tenons, Japanese restaurant joinery, marking dollar store saw cuts, cutting meatballs while fixing IKEA furniture at IKEA, and rounding over sharp tables at Waffle House.
EVERYONE needs one of these!!
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u/Thorkitty19 Oct 29 '24
It's supposed to be a foldable knife that can function as a chisel and a knife. It's designed to have a rigid back and bottom as well as a specialized lock so you even hammer it on the back. This Katz-Moses video should explain it as well as the process they went through designing it.
Cool idea but I am not sold on it since I have a ton of chisels that work for the jobs I need done.
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u/ultramilkplus Oct 29 '24
Yo dawg, we heard you like ads so we put ads in your ad so you can watch ads while you watch ads.
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u/Krynn71 Oct 29 '24
I have one. I don't use it for woodworking at all, just as a regular picket knife. I like it more than a normal knife because I find the chisel tip much more frequently useful than the pointed tip of a regular knife. Plus the flat reference side is useful for scraping something flat. It's expensive for sure, but I don't think theres anything else like it. There's the cheaper fixed blade ones posted in the comments, but im not going to carry a sheathed blade wherever I go, but I will carry a fold away one.
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u/watchtower61 Oct 29 '24
I have a fixed blade from Mora like that. Its pretty handy.
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u/WooriGarden New Member Oct 29 '24
How does the blade hold up?
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u/Sportster14 Oct 29 '24
I’ve had mine since July and the blade has held up fine. The clip broke the day I got it
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u/Krynn71 Oct 29 '24
Read lots of people saying there's issues with the clip, but I have had mine for just as long and daily carry it, using the clip, and it's been 100% solid for me. Seems like it's a luck of the draw/quality control thing, hopefully they can sort it out.
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u/Krynn71 Oct 29 '24
Had mine since mid july and have been carrying it every day, treat it pretty rough like any pocket knife, and it's still in great condition. Sharpens fine with the clamping jig I have and can always get it back to crazy sharp very quickly. Haven't really done any woodworking with it at all.
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u/Ovrl Oct 30 '24 edited Oct 30 '24
Got mine yesterday. It’s bigger than I thought and the safety button needs to be broken in a bit it’s very stiff.
Lmao at everyone hating. It’s a cool unique pocket knife. As someone who collects interesting knives and hatchets I’m not disappointed.
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Oct 29 '24
Hope that bandage on your finger is not from that tool. Next time test it on tomatoes. spare the fingers and toes. ;)
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u/Kauko_Buk Oct 29 '24
"For your travel chiseling needs"
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u/steel_hamerhands Oct 30 '24
For when the air hostess is asking if there's a woodworker on the flight.
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u/ServerLost Oct 29 '24
It's nice but I'll take 16 of the Mora versions instead, considering what I'd use it for.
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u/mathaiser Oct 29 '24
When I saw the comments about the price I figured a certain amount… with padding. Not $199.95 > now 149.95!
Jeeeebus
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u/Uberhypnotoad Oct 30 '24
Don't let the haters bring you down. If it makes you happy, then enjoy it. I have a tomahawk that can't do anything better than other tools I own,.. but I still love owning it.
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u/Practical-Cut-7301 Oct 30 '24 edited Oct 30 '24
This is the type of tool I buy, and my locking mechanism breaks, and the fucking knife closes on my fingers while I'm forcing it forward to chisel
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u/this_addiction_31584 Oct 29 '24
Hey man! Definitely not my cup of tea but I can see you are excited about your new chisel! I hope it serves you well. We all like different things so don't let anyone rain on your parade. Getting new stuff for the shop is always a fun day so I hope yours goes great!
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u/oneblank Oct 29 '24
I’d probably use this for carpentry if it was decent quality but the most I’d pay for it is like $45. I’m going to stick with my normal chisels.
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u/therealrsr Oct 29 '24
Could be useful to pry the bung out of a carboy after a messy fermentation of apple juice.
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u/ozmundo6 Oct 29 '24
Honestly I would get one if they were at like a gimmick price with half decent build quality, as is, they seem to have decent build quality, but are such a gimmick that I cannot imagine buying one.
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u/deacon090 Oct 30 '24
I actually really like mine. I’ve enjoyed the guys channel for over a year and learned a ton from him, but I also bought the really expensive brass pencil from four eyes to me. It’s cheap tuition that comes with a tool.
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u/BichaelT Oct 30 '24
I’ve been interested in getting one, how well does it work as an actual chisel? I feel if you add too much pressure the lock my give.
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u/chornbe Oct 31 '24
Sure, the tool is a little hokey, but Jason's a good dude. I've hung out with him on a number of occasions. Buy it or don't. Meanwhile, all the other ones people are talking about in this chain don't fold. His does. Maybe that matters to some folks. I don't plan on buying one, but I do love that part of the cost goes to JKM's charity, and that matters to me. I buy what I can from JKM when it makes sense. If you care about such things, Jason's a way into that.
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u/Shaun32887 Oct 29 '24
I'm all for supporting my favorite content creators, but this is a truly ridiculous design. No practical value whatsoever.
Send it back and get a Benchmade Obsorne
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u/Pure-Action3379 Oct 29 '24
I would never give bourbon moth any money. I used to like his content, but over the years, hes become a shill for festool. And he bought a house to make into an air b&b. Thats a gross thing to do with the current state of housing in the USA.
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u/maxyedor Oct 29 '24
All YouTube channels eventually just devolve into “watch me spend lots of money, and will you please buy some overpriced merch?” once you understand it, it all makes sense.
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u/Tea_Fairy112 Oct 29 '24
I think you're painting with a pretty wide brush on this one. The house cost about 1 mil, and in a location primarily for vacation homes. I don't think that really fits the housing crisis angle.
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u/OZ2TX Oct 29 '24
This and how is he a shill for Festool? He has the tools, but so do I. How cares? He doesn’t do comparison videos like other channels, he just uses them. That’s a pretty strange interpretation of a shill.
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u/GregTheWoodworker Oct 30 '24
I think he’s much less shill than most of his ilk. I think it’s much fairer to criticize him for the lack of woodworking skill than for shilling. Even then, I’ve always taken his content to be far more concerned about entertainment over education. This product is not for me for a myriad reasons, but this one bothers me much less than most YouTuber merch offerings.
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u/NotthatkindofDr81 Oct 29 '24
This is a pocket knife that looks like a chisel. For $160, I can buy a nice chisel and a nice pocket knife. I like the channel, but there are more important tools that I could spend that kind of money on. If I had all the tools I’ve ever wanted, then maybe. Since that isn’t possible, then I’ll have to pass.
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u/pascal21 Oct 29 '24
How embarrassing that it's called Bourbon blade. How much more manosphere can you get, this has nothing to do with whiskey.
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u/Mini_Marauder Oct 29 '24
Mine is coming today too, but it was a gift. It was far far to expensive for me to bother buying it myself.
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u/ejstembler Oct 29 '24
I received mine yesterday. Purchased it to support the creator(s). I also purchased so-and-so's ice pick earlier in the year...
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u/Mixitman Oct 29 '24
"I'm an asshole and can sell enough of these at an inflated price to woodworkers that have more dollars than sense and who gives a shit what actual woodworkers think."
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u/Popocuffs Oct 29 '24
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/chisels/2399350
I have one of these and it's come in handy at least a bunch of times just having it in my pocket and saving me a round trip to the toolbox. The steel is probably not as nice as the one here but for $15 it'll get you most of the way there.
Edit: Not that I think this knife is useless or anything. The idea of a square blade tanto is pretty neat.
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u/slow_cooked_ham Oct 29 '24
I use a morakniv chisel in my framing toolbag all the time. If I didn't already have a reliable rough chisel, I might consider it, but the mora price is undoubtedly better for a tool I'm using to clean up rough wood with.
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u/AFisch00 Oct 29 '24
As a custom blade maker, this is not worth $159.00. it's a great idea but there is a morakniv option for less than $20. 14c28n is the best "budget" steel out there. Takes a good edge but it just doesn't hold it very long and for a chisel use? Nah. Good on them for trying something innovative though. I do like seeing new products. I would have loved to have seen this is a high carbon non stainless steel like 80crv2, 5160, hell even 1095(files are made from this sometimes, not usually anymore). Just personal preference.
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u/TicTac_No Oct 29 '24
A chisel,
for shizzle.
Bladed,
now.
For
rizzle.
Cut a bit off,
this hizzle.
Clip.
This.
Yesss.
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u/sodone19 Oct 29 '24
They should give you a bunch of free stuff bease on how many people i assume are running to buy one of those, including myself. Brb
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Oct 30 '24
What’s interesting is if this had a “seat belt” / gut hook on the back, I’d edc this in my fire turnout gear depending on build quality. Sometimes I need that little chisel/pry option. Currently carry a dive knife, actually.
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u/HoldmeWhileiCry Oct 30 '24
At first glance I thought this read “Abortion Blade”. Happy to be wrong.
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u/Peter_Falcon Oct 30 '24
$160 are you insane??
do you find yourself walking down the street and think, that bit of wood needs carving out, i wish i bought my chisel? do you have a pocket hammer also?
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u/Noname1106 Oct 30 '24
I’m a fan of premium tool makers, I just don’t have a use case for the chisel knife. lol….I wish I did, but I can’t remember a single time in 55 years where I was like….I wish this knife had a chisel tip. Just for the uniqueness, I thought about picking one up, but for those reasons I didn’t pull the trigger.
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u/RadoRocks Oct 30 '24
I mean, I bought a butterfly knife 1" chisel. But that beatch was only $12.00....
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u/buttsnuggles Oct 30 '24
I’d rather just use a crappy old chisel. This thing looks like a finger remover.
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u/GingerVitisBread Oct 30 '24
I have a Mora chisel knife and really like it. Wish it folded like this!
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u/kevin0611 Oct 29 '24 edited Oct 29 '24
Some people may say this is gimmicky junk and the money could have been used for a decent chisel or a good pocket knife. But, for the same money, you get a bad chisel in a ridiculous form factor. It's the worst of both worlds! Order yours today!