I love traditional tools - wood, steel & leather talk to me. This week though we've filmed my review of Fiskars tools, modern with lots of plastic.
Are they any good?
Are they any good?
Fiskars tools - are they plastic tat?
- Thread starter British Red
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After some real use and abuse the axes and billhooks are good, secateurs so and so; well made but the cutting blades are too thin and tend to bend and break: kind of misuse but still within operational parameters. Plastic handles are good, steel used is good. I have visited the factory some years ago and quality control was strict and operation looked well thought out and efficient.
If only they had consulted a structural engineer every now and then.
If only they had consulted a structural engineer every now and then.
Have a few fiskars tools and agree with a lot of what you say. A fair bit of thought seems to go into making them but like your gardening trowel all that thinking may not be the best fit for all users.
Hollow handles save a lot of weight on axes etc but accidentally run one over with the tractor or trailer and you end up with a mess of razor sharp cracks and an unusable tool.
My fiskars secateurs are far from my favourite, I didnt buy them just found them on a dog walk somewhere and picked them up, they had been in the woods some time yet a little oil, cleanup and sharpen they do the job several years on.
I have a wonderful pair of traditional secateurs that I much prefer to use over an extended period, from a cutting, comfort and strength point of view they are far superior but secateurs must be the most easily misplaced item in a gardeners toolkit and the fiskars ones come out again to be used (and grumbled at) till I find the good ones again. That orange is hard to misplace.
Other manufacturers tools with hollow plastic handles I would really avoid, like you I break stuff with alarming ease, but the solid fibreglass ones from just about any manufacturer are pretty bombproof if a little heavier.
Hollow handles save a lot of weight on axes etc but accidentally run one over with the tractor or trailer and you end up with a mess of razor sharp cracks and an unusable tool.
My fiskars secateurs are far from my favourite, I didnt buy them just found them on a dog walk somewhere and picked them up, they had been in the woods some time yet a little oil, cleanup and sharpen they do the job several years on.
I have a wonderful pair of traditional secateurs that I much prefer to use over an extended period, from a cutting, comfort and strength point of view they are far superior but secateurs must be the most easily misplaced item in a gardeners toolkit and the fiskars ones come out again to be used (and grumbled at) till I find the good ones again. That orange is hard to misplace.
Other manufacturers tools with hollow plastic handles I would really avoid, like you I break stuff with alarming ease, but the solid fibreglass ones from just about any manufacturer are pretty bombproof if a little heavier.
I have used Fiskars for years, both in my previous gardening business and my last job as a grounds worker. The secateurs were the most comfortable I ever used. The loppers I still have, and they are fantastic. Way better than any heavy old fashioned Stihl ones.
Recently I saw an ad on Facebook offering a broken Fiskars tree lopper for free. I flew round and collected it ! It only needed the cord rerouting and is as good as new. Trimmed all the trees at the back of my house in no time.
I can highly recommend Fiskars gear and have had nothing break on me. Comfortable and powerful gear.
The only thing I have reservations about, is when I enquired about spare cutting blades for the tree loppers, I was told by Fiskars that it was an old model and they no longer keep any stock …
Recently I saw an ad on Facebook offering a broken Fiskars tree lopper for free. I flew round and collected it ! It only needed the cord rerouting and is as good as new. Trimmed all the trees at the back of my house in no time.
I can highly recommend Fiskars gear and have had nothing break on me. Comfortable and powerful gear.
The only thing I have reservations about, is when I enquired about spare cutting blades for the tree loppers, I was told by Fiskars that it was an old model and they no longer keep any stock …
I have some Fiskars Garden implements which have held up to a lot of abuse mainly from the kids, the same kids who somehow managed to bend our old spade!!!
The snow shovels are very good and are the only ones I have found that can take the stress of clearing snow and scraping ice for more than one season.
The axes feel a bit strange to hold and use but they are a decent quality bit of kit.
Secateurs are good but mine are only used for light duties.
The snow shovels are very good and are the only ones I have found that can take the stress of clearing snow and scraping ice for more than one season.
The axes feel a bit strange to hold and use but they are a decent quality bit of kit.
Secateurs are good but mine are only used for light duties.
Reason why I like Fiskars (have two axes; X5 and X7) is that I don´t use the very often and therefore do not want to spend over 100 euros for a traditional wood handled axe. Fiskars are more affordable.
I have a Gränsfors small forest axe that I bought in my stupidity some years ago but that one is almost unused. Have no use for it, X7 suits my need better. So that was a bit of wasted money.....
I have a Gränsfors small forest axe that I bought in my stupidity some years ago but that one is almost unused. Have no use for it, X7 suits my need better. So that was a bit of wasted money.....
I have an X27 splitting maul and a bill hook (I forget the model no.) that I use frequently and both are still going strong after over a decade of use.
Both are nicely weighted and balanced pieces of kit with well matched steel that resists both edge chipping and edge rolling surprisingly well. They require hardly any maintenance other than an infrequent sharpen. Can’t fault them.
Both are nicely weighted and balanced pieces of kit with well matched steel that resists both edge chipping and edge rolling surprisingly well. They require hardly any maintenance other than an infrequent sharpen. Can’t fault them.
I like my Fiskars tools- I use my brushhook as much as my billhooks (similar but different) and I have a selection of other stuff. Good basics- although I also have my traditional restored stuff too.
I don't have any Fiskars secateurs, but I have found that with any secateurs it's very important to clean and sharpen regularly. Niwaki sharpening stones are ideal as they have a side which is shaped for secateurs blades, plus they do a "crean mate" which is a sap remover. (My budget doesn't stretch to Niwaki secateurs unfortunately.....).
The Fiskars range of scissors is generally good- the classic dressmakers shears and razor scissors are excellent, although I will say that their embroidery scissors are not very good, the Prim Kai ones are way better and a similar price.
Generally though, I think that Fiskars tools are good value for money, pretty bomb proof and tolerant of the level of abuse/neglect they will typically get; @British Red - I think your video is a fair summary.
GC
I don't have any Fiskars secateurs, but I have found that with any secateurs it's very important to clean and sharpen regularly. Niwaki sharpening stones are ideal as they have a side which is shaped for secateurs blades, plus they do a "crean mate" which is a sap remover. (My budget doesn't stretch to Niwaki secateurs unfortunately.....).
The Fiskars range of scissors is generally good- the classic dressmakers shears and razor scissors are excellent, although I will say that their embroidery scissors are not very good, the Prim Kai ones are way better and a similar price.
Generally though, I think that Fiskars tools are good value for money, pretty bomb proof and tolerant of the level of abuse/neglect they will typically get; @British Red - I think your video is a fair summary.
GC
I've got 3 of the extendable pole pruners. Broke the blades on the first 2 but I've repurposed them for fruit picking etc. I haven't seen anything else as neat but wish the blades were stronger.
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