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Thread: Rehandling paring chisels

  1. #1

    Rehandling paring chisels

    A couple of years ago I bought a box lot of James Swan paring chisels in a mix of bevel edge and firmer styles at one of the LFOD auctions here in NH. They had a pretty manky and mixed set of handles on them which were each different from the one next to it, 12 different handles in all. The chisels were all Swans though they were of different vintages and stamped logo styles. They sat untouched for over a year since I was suffering from a serious shortage of roundtuits but finally I got around to them last Spring and began the derusting and restoration process.

    As you will notice in the photos, the bevel edged parers are finished and the firmer style chisels are partially derusted but lack new handles and have yet to have the backs flattened and new cutting bevels ground and honed. Back about 4 or 5 years ago my friend Alan Turner from the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop gifted me a very nice chunk of Olivewood. I had never found the proper project for it until the chisels came along. The Olive made great handles since I'll never be striking the paring chisels with anything and the finish of 2 coats of BLO followed by a buffed coat of Carnuba wax worked out great.

    This afternoon I finished a quick wall rack to hold the bevel edged parers and the last picture shows them installed in their new home on the tool wall behind my bench. Now to find the time to complete the restoration of the firmer style paring chisels.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  2. #2
    Dave, nice job on the restoration, and those handles really look great! I have read that olivewood wants to crack often, but after 4-5 years, I am sure it had dried sufficiently and obviously worked very well for you.

  3. #3
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    Nice work, looks like a nice tool wall too.

    jim
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  4. #4
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    Nice job on the paring chisels Dave.
    The handles look great.

  5. #5
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    Jan 2004
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    Bala Cynwyd Pa.
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    Rehandling paring chisels

    Nice job Dave,
    Here are a few Purpleheart paring handles for my Lie Nielsons.
    Ya gotta love socket chisels.
    Gene
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #6
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    Those look great, Dave. Big improvement from the originals! I can't believe it was two years ago! Time flies.

    Mark

  7. #7
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    Nice looking handles Dave. With regard to the wall rack, how did you go about cutting out the holes? Are these drilled and/or chiseled?

  8. #8
    Join Date
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    St. Louis
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    Nice job as usual on the chisel handles, Dave. This reminds me that I need to go visit my BIL. He has 5 acres in CA and has a grove of olive trees. I first found out about his grove when he told me he was using what he cut down for firewood!

    SWMBO thought my facial expression was pretty hilarious at the time...
    Where did I put that tape measure...

  9. #9
    Nice job on the chisel handles, Dave. Too bad you didn't have some pear wood. You could then have called them pearing chisels.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

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