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Thread: What is your favorite vintage chisel?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
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    Phoenix, AZ
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    What is your favorite vintage chisel?

    I have been building my tool collection and falling in love with antique tools. I still need a good set of chisels. I know Stanley 750 are nice and popular, but collectors are driving the price up really high. It seems I can almost buy a set of brand new Lie-Nielsen chisels for the same amount people want for vintage 750s (only a slight exaggeration). Also I can't find them anywhere but ebay. I visit the antique malls in my area maybe about 7-8 times a month (as well as flea markets from time to time) and I have only ever found 1 vintage chisel, and it was a banged up stanley defiance.

    Is there anything good that I can find for cheaper because it's less well known than Stanley? If it boils down to it I will just buy a set of Narex chisels, but I would prefer something older to fit in with the rest of my tools.

  2. #2
    Two good older brands are Swan and Witherby. But be aware that the best of the older chisels are not as good as the best of the modern chisels. The new LV chisels are probably the best from a steel point of view, and the LN and Blue Spruce are next in line. The older chisels are plain carbon steel.

    Also, the older chisels are generally much longer than modern chisels (unless you get one or more that are really worn down). Whether you like that or not is personal preference. I have a complete set of both Swan (with a certain logo - "Best Cast Steel" or Best Tool Steel") and a set of Witherby's. My everyday sets are a set of LV, a set of LN, and a set of some carbon steel chisels. I also have a set of Hirsch but I don't use them too much.

    I don't know if I'm unusual, but I think many woodworkers wind up with multiple sets of chisels as they search for the "perfect" chisel.

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

  3. #3
    buck bros that say "cast steel" on them somewhere, butcher, ibbotson.

    Those are all old chisels that are similar. Very easy sharpening, and good at edge holding.

    None of the good vintage chisels are going to be cheap, there are too many people watching ebay. Your best bet is to bite the bullet and buy what you want, or to look offline, especially from dealers who might go to auctions, etc, during the week and who don't mind parting with chisels for a reasonable price.

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    I really like Greenlee chisels, the steel is every bit as good as the few 750's that I have and they are a whole lot less expensive. I've managed to put together a couple full sets now.

  5. #5
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    Dec 2010
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    I'm a fan of older Marples chisels, although I've been bitten once by a paring chisel that always chips out in the middle of the blade, regardless of how I sharpen it. I ground off about a 1/4"-1/2", and it still does it, just the spot that chips moved a hair to the right. I think I figured out why it it was in such unused condition when I bought it . . . it's now being used as a very nice glue cleaning tool.

    I have a couple of older T.H. Witherbys that I really like as well. All the old chisels that I seem to enjoy say "cast steel" on them.

    I've picked most of mine up at yard sales and flea markets and such. I seem to have the best luck with tools that are on the shorter side, but appear to have been cared for. I like to think that combination might point to a tool that was well loved in the past, but it you never know.

    I have a handful of the Narex, as well, BTW (the mortise chisels, and a 40mm or so bench chisel) and they're really nice tools for the money. The handles are gigantic, however. I actually like that handle for the mortise chisel, and it doesn't bother me much with the wide bench chisel, (which I find myself using for everything it often seems) but I feel like it would be really awkward for a smaller bench chisel. The thing I like the least about those chisels is the "gummy" feel on some sharpening media, which may be from the chrome-vanadium mixed into the steel. The mortise chisels never really gave me any problems, but the wider bench chisel (which I got a while ago from LV, before they offered the finer bevel edges on them) seemed like the edge dulled a little prematurely until after a few sharpenings and a grinding.
    " Be willing to make mistakes in your basements, garages, apartments and palaces. I have made many. Your first attempts may be poor. They will not be futile. " - M.S. Bickford, Mouldings In Practice

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Crystal Lake, IL
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Lanciani View Post
    I really like Greenlee chisels, the steel is every bit as good as the few 750's that I have and they are a whole lot less expensive. I've managed to put together a couple full sets now.
    I am a fan of the older Greenlee chisels, as well. I have been able to cobble together a pretty full set of the longer length Greenlee chisels, as well as getting lucky and picking up a NOS (new old stock) set of 4 Greenlee butt chisels. Now I've got the best of both worlds, longer and shorter chisels.

    I have 4 Stanley 750's, and gave up on acquiring more because of the same reason the OP states......the price is driven up by the popularity. The steel in the Greenlee's is every bit as good as the 750's, and in my opinion, the LN chisels, as well. For this reason, I sold my expensive set of LN chisels (and got $5 less than what I paid for them....YEAH!), and use the Greenlee's daily.

    My average cost per chisel has been around $10 apiece.
    Jeff

  7. #7
    I have a couple of Witherbys that are excellent. They sharpen up really easy, and seem to get sharper than the other chisels that I have. The one was my grandpa's, and I got the other at a pawn shop for $2. They both needed new handles, but that isn't too tough to do.

  8. #8
    I think all of the cast steel chisels are good ,except when maybe allowed to get too hot when grinding .Even in that case it's usually easy to just grind the softer portion away. Whenever I have had to patch up old work in place I have always brought a number of vintage chisels. The Butchers always hold up the best. They were seen as a premium brand and their tools were often sold even by competitors . I remember reading that in the Winterthur book WITH HAMMER IN HAND. Since the performance and reputation match I believe woodworkers were able to choose tools without glossy advertising. Just a theory...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
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    One thing I'd point out if you aren't already taking it into account: You are looking for user chisels; you are happy to take ones that collectors would turn their nose up at. All you care about is that the chisels are not pitted. Surface rust, peeling handles, no leather washer, no handle even, no problem! You are a Woodworker; you can bring 'em back in short order. All these 750s, except teh 1 inch, were less than $10.



    Lots of brands other than Stanely are excellent. Even no name stuff. eBay and old tool dealers have scads of user stuff at reasonable prices. Buy some and make them your own!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Prince Edward Island, Canada's Ocean Playground
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    Though I have sets of Witherby and Swan chisels, my users are Veritas chisels. My everyday bench chisels are old Stanley 60s and I have a set of Marple Blue Chip from the 60's as well. One of the best vintage chisels is Keen Kutter as they are very hard and hold an edge very well. I almost put a bid in on a set of 8 last week on e-Bay that sold for only $150. Someone got a great deal there.
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] Erik

    Canada's Atlantic Paradise - Prince Edward Island

  11. #11
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    Dec 2003
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    Hutchinson, MN
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    600
    E. A. Berg

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Baton Rouge LA
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    968
    For cabinet work Ive got a set of Berg tang chisels, a set of 40's era Buck Bros paring chisels, and a few Witherby and Swan. For finish carpentry i have a set of Stanley everlasting. These chisels were gleaned from over 100 vintage chisels of different brands that I have gone through over the last 10 years. I kept the ones that I thought were the best in terms of edge holding, quick rehab, and comfort.

    For me nothing beats a tang chisel for sheer control and comfort, and Berg steel is awesome- it holds an edge and gets SHARP- have split hairs with it. Everlasting are tops for "beaters" as I can hit them with a hammer but they still stay sharp enough to cleanly mortise strike plates and hinges etc. on site.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Jared,

    As you likely already know, some parts of the country have better supplies of old tools than others.

    To answer your question, my chisels have been put together from quite a few different makers. My favorite paring chisels are my Buck Brothers. Only a few sizes are missing from my set from 1/8" to 1". The profile is fairly thin which is nice for some work.

    There are more Witherbys in the set of those, they are a little longer and the profile is a little thicker.

    Then there are the square sided chisels from a lot of makers. There are also a lot of extra bevel edge chisels from different makers including Greenlee, Union, Stanley, Defiance, Sandvick, Charles Buck, Swan, Bently, Berg and a few that do not come to mind at the moment.

    It is more likely for me to sell a spare plane than a spare chisel at the moment. If they are cheap enough at a yard sale or antique shop, they end up going home with me.

    If you want to get good chisels cheap you will need to be able to make handles for them. You will also need to be able to do some rehab. If that sounds like fun, then setting up searches on ebay is easy. You can also try putting advertisements "Wanted To Buy Old Hand Tools" in the local classifieds if there is one of the free ones in your area. Check the Craigs list in your area.

    My preference is for socket chisels since making handles for them is fairly easy. Tanged chisels are just as good, just a different animal when it comes to putting on a handle.

    Often on ebay there are lots of chisels being sold. They can be bargains or a pile of junk. If the sockets are mushroomed it might be better to pass. It isn't difficult to get rid of a little roll over, but some look like someone beat on it with a rock trying to cut a log in half.

    Happy rust hunting,

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

  14. #14
    I like these stanleys
    stanely#40.JPG
    Carpe Lignum

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
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    Charlotte, MI
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    I have lots of different makes of chisels, but my favorites are Butcher cast steels. A close overall favorite is Berg. But my most commonly used chisel is a 1" tanged firmer marked Lakeside. That thing takes a sharper edge than any other chisel I have (it has about a 15 deg. bevel on it, so no big surprise). Keeps it a long time too. I made a nice 18th c. octagonal handle for it and it rarely leaves my bench.
    Your endgrain is like your bellybutton. Yes, I know you have it. No, I don't want to see it.

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