Micro Mark chisel set

[Glenn Jennings]

Hi Guys
Do any of you use the Micro Mark ultra fine chisel set???? They look like they would ne fantastic for detail work around the eyes and face of vey small carvings. Made in USA .Am toying with getting a set I think it would give me cleaner and more defined lines in finer detail work.

If you have some HOW GOOD ARE THEY????

[woodburner807]

Would like to see some input also. Never noticed them before. For small stuff I use Dockyard, but these look smaller.

[Merle Rice]

Hi Glenn, they look like they might be god , but I like my Right Eye. Ha,Ha. Merle

[Dark Lightning]

Holy Sh...moke! They'd better be good for $200. I'd have to see some in person before a purchase. But I have all the Dockyards, so it is unlikely that I would buy them, anyway.

[joepaulbutler]

Seems like they are awfully proud of them, my dockyards and handmade knives will hold me for a while

[Arthur C.]

If no professional carvers use them, I doubt their usefulness. Can they do enough...that can't be done with the tips of somewhat larger knives and gouges...to justify the cost, which isn't bad for 15 pieces if the steel is good. I suspect if I bought them they'd just add to the pile of stuff I've bought but hardly use.

[Randy]

They could be nice. Just wonder about the steel. good stainless dose not always mean good carving. They are cheaper than Dockyard. I saw that set at $180 on thier site, thats $12 each. Dockyards 10 piece set is $160 ,$16 each. I have a older 10 piece docyard set. I like the ones I use, but I really only use 4 or 5 of them. A small skew. a flat chisel ,V tool and a couple of U gouges. Last week I saw a flexcut 6 piece micro tool set a friend just got. I like the grip on them, the Dockyard and these Micro Mark tools have that thinner handle. I have issues with my dockyards wanting to twist in my hand when working with harder woods and it has resulted in a few unwanted cuts.

[mpounders]

I think I would pass on these.

[Nebraska]

There are a few reviews on Amazon not glowing enough to peak my interest.

[Eddy-Smiles]

They could be nice. Just wonder about the steel. good stainless dose not always mean good carving. They are cheaper than Dockyard. I saw that set at $180 on thier site, thats $12 each. Dockyards 10 piece set is $160 ,$16 each. I have a older 10 piece docyard set. I like the ones I use, but I really only use 4 or 5 of them. A small skew. a flat chisel ,V tool and a couple of U gouges. Last week I saw a flexcut 6 piece micro tool set a friend just got. I like the grip on them, the Dockyard and these Micro Mark tools have that thinner handle. I have issues with my dockyards wanting to twist in my hand when working with harder woods and it has resulted in a few unwanted cuts.

Randy... I came across the same problem. I love my Dockyards but they can be awkward to use because of the small wood handles. I believe it was Helvie that came up with a solution for this problem. A number of years back, and again if I remember correctly, when Helvie was putting out production way beyond their physical ability, they offered a handle that they fabricated to hold dockyard tools. I don't see it offered on their website anymore and at the time I didn't see a need for it. However, since then, I've made one of my own just to see if I'd like it. Basically, the idea behind it isn't much different that interchangeable FlexCut tools. Make a handle to your liking, drill a hole in the end the same diameter as the Dockyard handles and insert the handle of a dock yard into the hole. The depth of the hole is sort of up to your preference. Also the shape of the handle. I happen to like the Helvi Gerald Sears handles so I made my Dockyard receiver in the general shape of one of those.
DockYard Holder (2).jpg

[DiLeon]

Not cost-effective for me, got my dockyards when they were cheap and affordable......they would have to be tons better than them for investment like that. They sort of look like my clay/ wax sculpting tools which are stainless and cost about twenty bucks. On the video appears to be the same size as dockyards and the question was asked and not answered what about hardwoods which they did not answer. Another issue is ...they are made for the hobbyist person and did not mention them as wood carving tools. I have had my dockyards for very long time and they are major used and still very good and they are made for wood carving, and they do carve hardwoods. He was carving basswood in the video but think my dockyards can do better. They say he is carving basswood but I have never seen basswood that thin and wondering is hobbywood balsa?

[pallin]

Effectiveness in carving, whether you're talking precision or production, is more a matter of the carver's skill than the choice of tools. As Arthur points out, details and intricate cuts can be made with the tips (corners, heels) of larger knives and gouges (by carvers who have learned such techniques.)

"It is a poor workman who blames his tools."

[Glenn Jennings]

Thanks for the comments Guys much appreciated.

Hi Di
Basswood does come that thin. I got a pack of it for doing pyrography burns on as it has a real nice surface to work with.

Hi Phil, Arthur
Just trying to find ways to get a better result. Not blaming the tools as such as I'm very happy with the set of 6 German Soligen steel chisels that I have and the flexcut knives. I haven't had the benefit of years of carving to perfect the skills with a knife and a lot of what I do will be fairly small animals for which I think my existing chisels are a little too big and not fine enough which is why I found I got better results with very fine files but I think it would be possible to get it better than that as the tips of the files are not as fine as they might be. I just got the finest I could find.

The cheetah I'm working on head is about 18mm wide and the eye about 2.5mm at the widest point and 1.5mm high. I also want to do detailed pieces of life size humming birds. I want to try and get them looking as close as I can to the real thing.

What tools would you use to fine detail something this small???

ALL Thoughts would be most appreciated.

[woodburner807]

Well, Glenn, I have the Dockyard and they have done great for me. I like the handle improvement that Eddy mentions and might do that myself ...not too hard to do. I mainly do caricature carvings in the 2-4 inch high range where a lot of detail is not needed. BTW, no complaints using them.

[joepaulbutler]

This probably sounds goofy, but the knife I use a lot in fine detail is a 9mm Olfa With a 30° pointed knife blade I cot somewhere on Amazon, have never popped a blade, they thin and if you keep them stropped, sharp. I like the Olfa because it has a metal guide that keeps the blade steady.