If someone wants to instruct me how to post a photo, I'll post a pic of the Winchester chisel. Or, pm me an email address and I'll send you the photo and you can post!
Member
If someone wants to instruct me how to post a photo, I'll post a pic of the Winchester chisel. Or, pm me an email address and I'll send you the photo and you can post!
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
Member
Have your picture ready to go.
On the quick reply screen, there will be several buttons to pick. Click the third one from the end. A pop up "Insert Image"will appear.
Click it and follow the instructions.
Member
image.jpg
If this works, thanks Lowell!
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
Member
I have to wonder. Kentucky is the Bluegrass state. If the tools were made in Kentucky, it could be the reason for the name of the tools.
What if????
Contributor
Maybe a little Blue grass music from Allison Krause?
A lumber yard I used to deal with all the time sold Bluegrass Tools. Had to take one 48" level back, couldn't get it to read correctly.....replaced with no questions asked. Note: They also sold Fuller brand chisels, and Vaughn hammers.
Lumberyard closed down a long time ago....lost all those tools, too.
Member
Yes, I have Allison Krause albums.
I know about Vaughn hammers, but I'm not familiar with Fuller brand chisels.
Member
I don't know where the tools were made or by whom, but Bluegrass tools were retailed by Belknap Hardware based in Louisville KY.Originally Posted by lowell holmes
Member
"Bluegrass" is a brand name used by Belknap Hardware located in Louisville, Kentucky. Just distributed from Kentucky, not made there.
Member
Thanks Greg, that explains a lot. I've wondered about the name. I've heard about Belknap before, but had forgotten it.
So, there is a connection to Kentucky.
Member
In the late 70's/early 80's, in the town where I grew up, there was a small, "old-style" hardware. The old guy that owned it and I became good friends, talking guns and handtools. He had a Belknap catalog he ordered from, and though it may have been a few years old at that time, it had virtually any and every tool available in it. Flash forward to around 2002, my dad (died in 2004) and uncle (died in 2007) bought all the in-town property from the hardware store owner's estate. I got a call from my dad to come down and pick up a "bunch of rough cherry" behind the store. I went down to the property, looked around and couldn't find the lumber, until my dad came down. He pointed to a mound on the edge of the property, overgrown with weeds, etc., saying it's there. Well, after pulling weeds, digging through dirt and muck, underneath was a stack of rough lumber. Some was rotted, but for the most part, the stuff was pretty much intact, save for some spalting. The lumber was mostly cherry, some maple and a piece or two of poplar. The maple was what was mostly spalted, and I made some gorgeous table tops with it. The poplar was, well, poplar. But the special stuff was the cherry. The lumber was cut in in late 40's and stacked there ever since, hence, having the "landscape" grow over it. The cherry did have its share of knots, but for the most part, had taken on a deep red color different than any fresh cut lumber bought today.
I still have a couple of pieces of it left, but used most of it for projects for family members to remember relatives now gone.
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
[OP]
Member
update:
24 hours in the vinegar soak has rendered them rust free. there is quite a bit of pitting. I lapped the flats on my makita flat top with diamond disks. that worked pretty well- in a couple of hours I did the whole set of 11, from 1/8" to 2", scrubbing, lapping, blow dry and wax.
I sawed one of the split handles in half lengthwise, primarily to make a better diagnosis of species of timber used. I'm not sure if it is just age, or age plus the effects of whatever water events caused so much rust, but the handles were dark, almost purple. the saw revealed the bright orange and distinctive aroma of padauk. This is great news, as I have an ideal chunk just waiting. padauk is not perhaps an ideal chisel handle for chisels intended to be struck, as it isn't particularly tough. It is pretty though, so I'll just have to baby them a bit.
in the porch archives I found a post from Scott Grandstaff where he felt it likely that a lakeside chisel he had is made by whitherby. on Derek Cohen's photobucket page (http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a2...catalogue3.jpg) is an old catalog page of whitherby chisels with a boxed set with the same sort of clips holding the handles. the few whitherby socket chisels I have are pretty similar to both the lakeside and the bluegrass.
I know, none of this is conclusive, but there is some circumstantial evidence pointing toward whitherby as the maker.
Member
One of my favorite old cjisel brand is "Shure-Cut", and side by side to a Witherby, you would be hard pressed to see any difference. I have never found any history about the name, but I didm't aggressively look either!
This begs the question if Witherby manufactured, then private labeled chisels.
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
Contributor
After 1869 Winsted tool company made Witherby branded tools. I do know they also made Karpenter branded tools. I have a few different off brands of chisels that look like Witherby chisels.
http://toolemerablog.typepad.com/too...y-history.html
jtk
Last edited by Jim Koepke; 05-11-2016 at 5:34 PM. Reason: Added link
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
Seen several versions of Winsted - Witherby relationship and descriptions of it as "mysterious".
Member
If you come across a chisel marked "Shure-Kut", give it a try. I have three, gave one away (wish I hadn't), and the remaining two have great steel.
If the thunder don't get you, the lightning will.
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