Harbor freight chisel prep

[Tony Zaffuto]

Shouldn't the conclusion here be "don't bother"? Harbor Freight would be the last place, literally, to shop for an edged tool. Almost anywhere else would be better: flea markets, garage sales, Aldi grocery (really not bad chisels!). This thread reminds me so much of one started about ten years ago regarding a HF hand plane. Guys were having custom irons made for them, making new wood handles, etc....really kind of ridiculous, like lipstick on a pig. I would bet maybe 10% of those purchased ever saw any use. The only winner here is be Harbor Freight.

With the HF plane thread, I remember buying one as an experiment to see what it would take to make it perform. I had Jim Reed supply me an iron, had one of my machinists true and square the sole, I vaguely remember doing something with the adjusters, plus "prettying" the plane up (stripped knob and tote, applied BLO, also painted it a LN black color). With the cost of the plane, plus items needed to make it perform, cost was less than $100.00, even accounting for blade and grinding. The plane was easy to adjust, and would take .0015" shavings without batting an eyelash.

I gave the plane away to a budding woodworker, who used it for several years before replacing.

[steven c newman]

That "Harbor Freight Plane" I had, was turned into a very nice scrub plane. The "Windsor # 33" is a #3 sized version of Stanley's SB4 smooth plane. Iron was already quite thick, was easy enough to regrind a 3" radius camber to it. Was never meant to be a smooth plane, anyway. What I paid $10 back then, in now approaching the $15 mark new... They must be selling quite a few of them?

I would prefer any edge tool from them, way before I'd buy a power tool. I thought about getting that 6-9 piece chisel set, but got the four pc from Aldis. Until then, my 3/4" chisel from H-F was my go-to chisel. Doesn't like hitting a nail lost in the wood....but, what chisel does? It now has it's second handle, and I may make/turn a new one...someday.

What do some of you do to a chisel that turns them into a "Mushy" state? de-temper them? Even the gauge to check for Rockwell hardness will dent Rc 64......Are you trying for brittle steel? Or. just burn cheap chisels for fun?

[steven c newman]

Just went down to the shop....I still have both a 3/4" and a 1" H-F wood handled chisels, that I bought new back in the mid 1990s.....still quite sharp, I can trim my fingernails with either, with ease. or shave hairs with them. The other thre in the set are long gone, now.

[John C Cox]

What do some of you do to a chisel that turns them into a "Mushy" state? de-temper them? Even the gauge to check for Rockwell hardness will dent Rc 64......Are you trying for brittle steel? Or. just burn cheap chisels for fun?

They came in that way. At first - I thought it was just grind back 1/16" to good steel and off you go... But nope. You could get it shaving sharp - and it was dull as soon as it hit wood.

I was hoping that somehow - the heat treatment was just messed up. Nope - not enough carbon to hold any reasonable hardness.

[steven c newman]

Hmmm, going to make a run up to H-F in a bit.....have a few other items to look at. Will take a look at their current version of chisels while I am there...My son saw a couple things on sale, and we can get a bunch of AA or AAA free....will sww what they have.

[steven c newman]

Currently, my local (Lima,Oh ) H-F is SOLD OUT of the wood handled chisels.....they had plenty of the yellow plastic handled junkers, though. Can't imagine why...

Free 24 pack of AAA batteries, and a jar of Green Polishing compound.....Son got a roll-around stool, and a light-weight jack for the van.

[Harry Hagan]

Currently, my local (Lima,Oh ) H-F is SOLD OUT of the wood handled chisels.....they had plenty of the yellow plastic handled junkers, though. Can't imagine why...

Free 24 pack of AAA batteries, and a jar of Green Polishing compound.....Son got a roll-around stool, and a light-weight jack for the van.

I used a coupon to buy some of those "yellow plastic handled junkers" to chop out old caulking around my windows and doors before recaulking and repainting last summer. Mush was just one of the four-letter words I was using to describe them!

[steven c newman]

Must be the reason there was so many left in the store......

Took a picture or two of the two remaining H-F wood handled chisels in the shop, that were bought new back in the early 90s, maybe earlier..
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A 3/4" and a 1" wide chisels....
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Decent enough bevels....
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Backs ARE flat where they need to be flat
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The 1" handle USED to have a top ferrel, just like the 3/4" one's.......lot of use in over 20 years will do that...

[John C Cox]

So I think I figured out what was going on... There were these bands of hard and soft.. It was pretty obvious when sharpening and giving them the scratch test...

So I gave the offending 1/2" chisel a go in the torch... And it showed me whats going on.... Apparently, this particular chisel just has bad steel. Perhaps a reject - but there are funny U shaped bands in the steel. The edges are soft and mushy. The middle between the U's are hard. I will try to get pix up to show this.

I sharpened up the 3/4" chisel and it seems fine. But it has a lot of dings where it looks like they messed up the grinding a little....

which brings me to my suspicion... They are recycling reject chisels from some other process for these... This is their way to sell off the seconds. The question is "Why did they reject this particular chisel?" In th case of the 1/2" - the steel was bad. The 3/4" appears to have several grinding defects... I am loosing interest in these chisels.... I think I will try to clean up the good ones - but I wont waste any more time if I hit one that seems soft.

[george wilson]

Just give up on HF edge tools! Their twine is o.k.. The acid brushes even look cheaper than others,but they are o.k. for spreading glue-as long as the hairs don't fall out!

Back when I was a kid with little or no money,I used those yellow plastic handled wood chisels that hardware stores used to sell. Their blades were stamped out of FLAT 1/8" steel. No bolster. Just the outline of one. I wish I still had one,so,now that I know better,I could test them against good chisels. I think that in the 50's,there was still enough pride in tool making that you could get a 50 cent chisel that would cut fairly well. It's been a very long time ago,but I made quite a few guitars with those chisels. Those,a block plane,and my pocket knife were my main tools back then.

[John C Cox]

Shouldn't the conclusion here be "don't bother?

Probably. My conclusion is that these tools are factory 2nd's from someone's chisel making factory.... And realistically, you are rolling the dice.

And as with all seconds - you have to ask why they dropped this specific one out.... If the steel is good and the heat treat is good - but it warped too much or they messed up the grinding and finishing.. Then you can probably salvage a good chisel out of it...

On the other hand - if they rejected it because the steel was bad or they messed up the heat treatment - Then there's no hope for fixing that up by sharpening or flattening it some more.

Now... Maybe its worth rolling the dice... Maybe not.... Its a lot of work to find out its junk... And its a lot of work to sort out a warped or badly ground chisel...

What happens if the ones you wanted are the junk ones.. Hey look - the 1/2" chisel that I really need and would use all the time is junk but the 1 1/2" chisel that I never use for anything is great.

So.. Yeah.. Are you interested in rolling the dice on seconds?

[John C Cox]

Just give up on HF edge tools! Their twine is o.k.. The acid brushes even look cheaper than others,but they are o.k. for spreading glue-as long as the hairs don't fall out!

No more for me.... I have already wasted way too much time on these.

Back when I was a kid with little or no money,I used those yellow plastic handled wood chisels that hardware stores used to sell. Their blades were stamped out of FLAT 1/8" steel. No bolster. Just the outline of one. I wish I still had one,so,now that I know better,I could test them against good chisels. I think that in the 50's,there was still enough pride in tool making that you could get a 50 cent chisel that would cut fairly well. It's been a very long time ago,but I made quite a few guitars with those chisels. Those,a block plane,and my pocket knife were my main tools back then

I found one of those chisels in a junk store last week. An old thin blade, no bolster, wood handle Great Neck chisel. The steel was so soft you could scratch it with an old carbon steel pocket knife.... You know - the ones they only hardened to 54 or 55 so they would be super easy to resharpen. I gave that one a pass....

Not all old tools were good ones...

[steven c newman]

This drawer is for all those "Extra" chisels.....
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left side of the drawer...
wee chisels.JPG
Sears, Millers Falls Permaloids, Stanleys, a Fuller, and a few others....saved to be loaned out, or when some dirty, nasty recycled wood comes to the shop. Beaters, everyone.
top loaded...JPG
Need a chisel? Pick one, and take it. Not worried if it comes back. use these for the "Dirty Jobs" out there, and save the good chisels for other, more Gentlemanly work..
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Prefer old Witherbys, Butchers, and the old Buck Brothers. Mortise Chisel is by "New Haven Edge Tool Co." Have about worn out the top leather washer, may need a new one...

[Mel Fulks]

George, the Southern aversion to Nicholson could have been a Civil War thing. There was a Yankee ship captain by that name. I can remember hearing why some products were were not to be used. YES we invented "branding"!

[george wilson]

Thanks Mel,I was not aware of that!