Rolson Wood Chisel Sets and Turning Chisels

The Rolson wood chisel sets are what this page is really about. The eight piece bevel edge set (56150) comes with walnut handles and a sharpening stone in the box, so you can put a working edge on the blades from day one rather than buying a stone separately. Alongside it sits the eight piece wood turning chisel set (56162) in a fitted storage case, aimed at lathe work rather than joinery, with the skew, gouge and parting profiles a turner actually reaches for. Both are genuine Rolson Tools stock. For the wider Rolson range beyond woodworking, the Rolson Tools collection covers everything we carry.

Honing Guides, Try Squares and Marking Gauges

A chisel is only as good as its edge, which is why the Rolson honing guide (56100) belongs next to any wood chisel set. It clamps the blade at a fixed angle so you get a repeatable bevel on a stone instead of rocking freehand and rounding the edge over. Marking and checking gear sits here too: the 230mm hardwood try square (56819) with a polished hardwood stock, steel blade and brass facing for squaring up cuts and checking a shoulder, and the plastic contour gauge (50967) for copying skirting profiles, pipe cutouts and awkward architrave shapes straight onto timber. For finer layout work at tighter tolerances, the precision and watchmaker tools range adds smaller squares and gauges.

Clamping, Drilling and Building the Set Up

Joinery needs holding and boring as well as cutting. The aluminium pocket hole jig takes 6, 8 and 10mm bits and gives you angled screw holes for face frames, cabinet carcasses and rail to stile joints without visible fixings on the show face. Two SG casting G clamps, 50mm (14302) and 75mm (14303), cover the small end of glue ups and hold stock to a bench while you pare a joint. The hand drill with a quarter inch chuck (48107) is the traditional option for pilot holes where a cordless driver is too fast or too clumsy, and it is quiet enough for indoor evening work.

If you are building a woodworking kit from scratch, start with a wood chisel set and a honing guide, add the try square, then bring in clamps and the pocket hole jig as projects get bigger. That order gets you accurate joints sooner than buying a large mixed kit with pieces you never touch, and it spreads the cost across a few projects instead of one large outlay. Keep chisels dry, guard the edges in storage and hone before the blade feels blunt rather than after, because forcing a dull chisel through timber is how most workshop slips happen. The Rolson hand tools and DIY tool kits pages cover the hammers, saws and measuring gear that sit around this collection.