Side by Side Comparison of: X-Acto vs National

Good product and service.

I set the bar low with these, because there had been previous reviews saying they weren't worth the purchase. In a time of panic, because I had wanted to start woodworking, I bought them, and I haven't regretted it at all. They are sturdier than some say, and their only fault is needing to be sharpened--however, you can't expect shipped items to be razor sharp on arrival when it comes to tools. I'm pleased with them.

I bought this set of woodcarving tools as a gift for my husband to get started on woodcarving. Since he was just beginning, I didn't think it was a good idea to invest in expensive specialty tools. I chose these ones based on the reviews, and am very happy with them. Even the guy at the local woodcarving store who tried to talk me out of buying a "crappy art set online" admitted he was impressed with their quality and thought it was a great beginner set.

New to wood carving but can tell these are not "pro quality" but they are also 1/10th the cost for the set then just 1 "pro carver" tool. For the beginner they are good, they are fairly solid, come sharp and are easy to keep sharp with a slipstrop. Trust me they are sharp, made the silly mistake (again im a beginner) of carving during a football game, was using a little to much pressure because was almost done and didn't want to take the 30secs to sharpen on the strop, well oops...carved through the wood and about 1/2" into my palm at base of them. However, it was a very clean, surgical knife type cut about to the bone. Very sharp, quick shipping, worth the money.

Carved a couple wooden spoons with them. Really enjoy this set. even though they were priced low, they felt like high quality items

I love these carving tools. I needed them through my first class of printmaking where we did wood-blocks and I didn't need to sharpen or replace them once in the entire semester - fantastic. These are clearly good quality, and I'm still using them for my other side-projects.

Look-$5 bucks? No one should complain. They are sturdy, sharpened and if they withstand a few more sharpenings, that's fine. They are small in size, the blades all 1/2 wide or less.Fine for trim work which is what I used them for-custom electric cello.

Like most low and middle priced chisels, they're shipped dull and need to be sharpened before they can be used, a lot like how most fountain pens are sold without ink in them and shoes come unlaced - it's a little annoying but it's simply how it's done. Just consider the first time you sharpen these to be practice because chisels get dull as you use them and you will be sharpening them again.My set included: 1 straight edge chisel, 1 skew chisel, 1 round gouge, 1 v-gouge, 1 round gouge with a moderate spoon-bend, and 1 round gouge with more severe spoon-bend. The metal was coated with a rust protectant which is very difficult to get off so the shafts on mine are still rust protected - no shame in that! The set came in a cardboard box with slots for each chisel that works very well at keeping the chisels from knocking around and getting damaged, so that's what I still store them in.It took me about 10 - 20 minutes to sharpen each one. It was fairly easy and I got them hair-splitting sharp using a medium grit wet stone, a fine wet stone, and a strop. I''m sad to say the spoon-bent ones took the longest because I'm just not very good at sharpening that style of chisel. The skew chisel's bevel hadn't been ground at all leaving the edge far to acute so I had to grind it before I could sharpen it, taking a lot of extra time. Very annoying but fixable.The handles are made out of a light-weight but sturdy wood, good for hand-push work but I wouldn't recommend taking a mallet to them. They're nicely rounded and fit comfortably in my hands but they are on the small side so if you have big beefy hands you might need to wrap them or change them out for larger ones.I've mostly carved pine with them and the cutting edges stay sharp for many hours of work. My boyfriend borrowed them and kept commenting on how very sharp they where, and that was after I'd used them for several hours. I cannot say how well they'd hold up on hard woods but as long as you wheren't rough with them they should work well. Just keep in mind they are for detail type carving and not for blasting though large amounts of wood. This set is well sized and shaped for smaller carving work.My only real complaint is the skew chisel not being ground properly. That's just sloppy manufacturing especially when it would only take another 5 or 10 seconds in the factory to grind it at least close to 15 degrees on each side. It was a very fixable problem though, and considering the price I don't think it's a deal-breaker. Just be sure to have a grinding stone on hand.Many many reviews rate these very low because they're shipped dull. Please don't let that keep you from buying this set. If you can't sharpen chisels or hate doing it, wood carving probably isn't for you. These are not top of the line tools with hickory handles and the best steel shipped perfectly sharp and ready for 300 years of hard use. Those cost $75 each. These are cheap but good tools that will last for dozens of years or longer with careful use. An hour or two of grinding and sharpening and you're in business for very little money!

My first tools for carving! Very excited. I played (without any instructions) on pieces of wood that I have. I need to get a book or watch you tube. Seem to cut well. Easy to hold in my small hands. I don't know anything about these types of tools to compare, but considering my novice level and the use they will get, they are very affordable and sharp.

The set of chisels came to me as I wanted to do more relief carvings on flintlock rifles I build. Three of six were sharp and ready to go. The other three were unable to push cut any wood and two had jagged edges. Nothing a file and some stone did not solve. Now they are ready for action and push cut at will with no need for hammering out wood. Just what I need. The handles are well throught out and smooth. I look forward to continuning to use these. While there are some higher quality chisel sets out there, for the price, these are not bad.

From what I've read about chisels, gouges, the edges on these are cut a bit steep so I'm going to need to flatten them out a bit but they do sharpen up quite well.

Received well within the limit, and as described. However, I guess I just assumed they'd be longer. They're only about 5-6" total. Does the listing say that? I'm sure it must I was probably being lazy again. One thing YOU should not be lazy about is the care and maintenance of these tools. They come ground, and are fairly sharp. Don't let this fool you. If you haven't seen the other posts regarding this, THESE CHISELS NEED TO BE HONED OUT OF THE BOX, and then, just like all other chisels, regularly thereafter. If you're not sure how to do this I'd suggest googling it or talking to an experienced woodworker. Good product, admittedly haven't used them too much yet but they seem sturdy, both steel and handle.

You will need to sharpen these as soon as you get them. They will sharpen nice but I couldn't do anything with the V gouge. For the price and the fact that I don't know what I'm doing it lets me know that I want quality because you need to work with these. I think there was one other that I couldn't use also but it's raining and they are outside.

Thought they were bigger than what they really were when they arrived. Happy with the product

First project and already chipped metal on the tools...I was using soft wood. But there is the old saying "you get what you paid for"..which wasn't much.

These are okay, if you understand what you are buying. If you are looking at these I assume you are buying your first set of wood carver tools. These are good for that because they are cheap and get you started, that is why I bought them. I also bought one fairly good V gouge. The difference is night and day. With this set you are going to spend at least the first couple of hours trying to get them sharp enough to work with. I can also compare the metal and these are made from a lesser metal. Fit and finish is not that good as well. But they are cheap and work well enough to let you know if it's worth it to you to buy a decent set of tools. After buying these you'll eventually out grow them and buy some better stuff. If you aren't good at sharpening avoid these altogether.

A relatively poor attempt from some Chinese factory to make wood working tools. I have had some success with 4 of the 6 tools but wouldn'trecommend it.

Mine were shipped with pretty rough edges. The steel is good and the build quality is solid, especially for the money, but I had to take it a step further than just honing to get them truly usable. Three of the tools needed serious sharpening and reprofiling. There were some serious burs and chips. Now this wasnt a huge issue as I would normally reshape the edges, but like to have the choice. On 3 tools, there was no choice other than to remove some steel.Once I put them on the sharpener, then a wetstone stone and strop, they sharpened into a nice edge. I starting into roughing out a carving and they seem to so far hold the new edge pretty well. Not bad for the money, but if someone didnt have the kind of sharpening tools that make it easy, they would be hurting if they got my particular set of these gouges.I'm giving it 3 stars because of the decent steel and nice handles. The edges you get might need more than just honed. But overall its a decent value.

Arrived early! Pretty small. Not great quality but I guess it'll do for starters. Got it for someone who is just getting a woodworking tool collection started. Not a beginner but someone who had lost their tools.

The plastic packaging for my 6 piece wood carving tool set was already cut open when I took it out of the box. All of the pieces were there but they look dull and slightly used. Pretty disappointed with this purchase but for the price it is a decent set just need to sharpen them on my own.

Do not buy they come dull as hell I had to you my knife sharpener to sharpen the chisels buy I am still looking for a way to sharpen the other things

Pretty cheap. some of the handles were broken or loose before even opening the package. The metal is cheap and soft.

It was the positive reviews left by others that helped guide this purchase.I don't know if there was a change in quality control, but the set I received was nothing like what I had read Upon arrival, they were not sharp at all. In fact, they were dull. I rub my fingers across the tips all day without fear of cutting myself. I was okay with that because I like to sharpen my own tools beforehand (but it did make me wonder about the other reviews saying that they arrived sharp). What warrants the 2 star review is the quality of the tools. One blade was already loose upon arrival while another completely came apart while sharpening. I gave it a star because I do in fact like the handles. However, I would not buy or recommend these again.

the box has a sticker with a part number and made in Tiawan. Other then that neither the tools or the box has any other markings.The tools arrived very dull. After sharpening the tools dulled quickly and in 2 cases the edge folded over from because the metal was to soft or not hardened. These tools were used on Basswood a light carving wood. They are one step above the cheaper set found in the plastic bag for a few dollars.

Please be aware these are NOT the chisels they are sending now, but much cheaper ones with straight unvarnished handles.The ones I got weren't even sharp enough to cut a piece of soft pine wood! I would only use them on unbaked clay or plaster, not even for linoleum blocks. I would give 0 stars if I could. At least the "blades" seem to be stuck in firmly.

I could have forged stronger tools from a wire hanger. Whatever "steel" is used in their production is so flimsy that these are essentially disposable, single-use tools for denting wood. Unless you are sneaking these into prison for a shank convention (and even then, a tube of toothpaste would make a better weapon) do not buy.Not to mention that what they mean by, "offered in a heavy-duty, white cardboard box with dividers that makes a nice presentation" is "don't fool yourself, you'd have a better chance at winning over your stepson with a rusty oil filter and a naked picture of his mother. These single pieces of cardboard and plastic stapled together to sandwich the product in between is a perfect way to show whatshisname that you care enough to shell out $6 on a chisel set in hopes that he will just stay in the gd garage while you make nasty with is mom."

CHEEEEEAP steel. They claim this is tool steel? I'm calling them out on this because from how soft it is. A cheap wood file should not be able to mark these. It might as well be the stuff I use in pipes.Will not hold up to use, has to be resharpened constantly. I get better use out of a sharpened stainless steel table knife. Don't waste your money on these.

Not sharp at all. Very bad product for a beginner. My neighbor is a advanced wood worker and carver. I had him take a look at them. He said they are poorly mad and will make it hard to learn using them. I would in no way recommend using them. I have yet to be able to find a use for them at all. We sharpened them best we could. They just don't hold a edge. We could not even get a good sharp edge on them. Not good quality at all. Sorry to say.

Not very good quality. Dull edges, uneven finish, cheap handles. It does not remotely resemble "high-quality tool steel" like described.

I bought these expecting a cheap, basic set of gouges; what I got was worthless junk, the steel at the edges was notched, chipped, dull and misshapen, it was so soft that it couldn't hold an edge if you were carving butter. The wood for the handles felt as if it had already started to dry rot. Do not waste your money on these... 'tools'.