Rant: My favorite chisel snapped right through the handle

Was working on a door jamb in a 1920s house in Portland last week and my old Stanley chisel just gave out. The handle split clean in two when I was paring a mortise - never had that happen before. Had to borrow a buddy's Narex to finish the job. Any of you ever have a handle fail on a chisel you've used for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

michael_williams2d ago

Man that's rough... seems like nothing lasts the way it used to. It's like everything these days is made to break sooner than it should, not just tools but appliances, clothes, you name it.

the_mary2d ago

Yeah it's pretty frustrating. They call it "planned obsolescence" and it's real. They design stuff to fail so you have to buy a replacement instead of fixing the old one.

sandragrant2d ago

My 2015 Narex set handles are still going strong after 8 years of weekend use. I put them through some rough paring work too. Not saying the old stuff was bad, but modern heat treating is way more consistent than what they did 50 years ago. You got unlucky with a handle, but that doesn't mean the whole industry is making junk now.