Industrial Chisel vs Cold Chisel?

[jstutzman]

I was looking to buy a cheap set of chisels and ran into this. http://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-cold-chisel-and-punch-set-66440.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-piece-industrial-punch-and-chisel-set-4885.html
The first set is called a cold chisel and is made of chrome vanadium and the second set is called industrial and is made of carbon steel. I think the chrome vanadium is harder. If it is harder, why would you want the softer ones. Maybe less brittle. Does anyone know of situations in which one would be better than the other?

 

[airbuff101]

J,
Cheap chisels & punches will just frustrate you if lucky...and can hurt you as well. I personally wouldn't trust that slag to be properly or consistently heat treated to prevent chipping etc.
Your eyes are worth getting a decent US made set from a brand that you recognize. It won't be all that much more than that stuff.

Craftsman usually has U.S. P&C sets at very reasonable prices and made by reputable manufacturers. Some may be offshore nowadays but you can still find the good ones.

airbuff

 

[jstutzman]

I agree, and i do have a set of Snap on punches and craftsman chisels. I dont think the craftsman chisels are very good though as they very easily get the edge all mashed up. My snap on punches are very nice and seem to be really good quality. I was just looking to get a cheap set of chisels for my secondary box. Most likely they will see light to medium duty stuff.

 

[Wrenches of Death]

Maybe less brittle. Does anyone know of situations in which one would be better than the other?

Cheap chisels and cheap punches aren't worth the trouble. It'd be tough to go wrong with something along the lines of Mayhew, Proto, Williams, Mac, or Snap-on.

Keep them sharpened correctly. A vise and a good file make this very easy. In a pinch a pair of vise-grips and a trailer hitch will work. And most importantly, keep the head dressed.

Oh, and make damn sure that you wear eye protection when using them. One chip can blind you.

WoD

 

[lametec]

I think cold chisel is like a cold noodle, and industrial chisel is like a warm noodle.

I have a set of cheapie chisels, and they're very soft.. Good thing is they won't chip. They'll just deform.

I have a set of HF pin punches, and they're a lot harder. They still mushroom pretty easy, but they also snap off pretty easy. So they retain the worst of both worlds.

 

[Coach James]

I have a C-man set I bought about 10 years ago that is still doing fine. The last 3 or 4 years, I have been buying Enderes from the local Tru-Value hardware. They are A+ good. I used to buy the Baltimore Tool Works and Dasco from Lowes but it's all gone noe for the China made Bostich.

My neighbor bought the orange set from HF and they were fine as long as he put almost no stress on them. When they were used very hard, they chipped, dulled and mushroomed quickly.

Coach

 

[Griff93]

I'll put it this way, all my cheap chisels have ended up in the scrap bin. The just won't cut. The edge just dulls up instead. There may be some decent ones out there but I haven't found them. The western forge made craftsman ones are decent as are the SO. I doubt you can go wrong with old forge, proto, or mayhew either.