Thrift Shop Find

[Paul Incognito]

Here's some old beat-up chisels I found yesterday.
They've already been de-rusted with naval jelly. I decided to work on the big guy first.
I started by finding a suitable hoop. After looking in vain for a while, I spotted an old rigid mountainbike fork in the corner of the basement. It sacrificed 3/4" off the top of it's steerer tube.
Turned a new handle using some of the oak I had left over from my scrap-wood workbench project, sharpened the blade (it still needs work), and here it is.
Total spent (on all the chisels), $10.00.
Now I have to work on the others.
PI

[george wilson]

That long chisel is a bitted chisel. You can see the different color of the bit. it looks to be pretty old. Any names on it?

[Brian Kincaid]

I have often wondered if oak was any good for tool handles. I have assumed that any moisture would cause the acid in the wood to eat the metal so I have avoided it for that reason.

Anyone have any better insight into this?

Brian

[george wilson]

If you don't let the handle get soaking wet,it should be o.k..

[Paul Incognito]

George, I'm not understanding. Is the bit the tip of the blade? I thought the color was just because of the way I shaprened it.
After looking at it more closely, I can see that below the socket it appears to read BEA___Y and something under that that's not legible. The inside of the socket shows that it was rolled, not a milled piece of solid stock.
Did I stumble onto a gold mine? :)
PI

[Paul Incognito]

I have often wondered if oak was any good for tool handles. I have assumed that any moisture would cause the acid in the wood to eat the metal so I have avoided it for that reason.

Anyone have any better insight into this?

Brian
I had no idea this might be an issue. I just used what I had laying around.
I'll keep this in mind next time.
PI

[Joshua Clark]

That chisel is likely marked "Beatty" and would have been made by either William or his son John's edge tool companies in PA somewhere in the mid-1800s. That sort of long, stout chisel is called a millwright's chisel, framing chisel, timber framing chisel, etc. It's not a goldmine, no, but it's a really nice chisel. The larger ones are desirable and can sell for a decent price. If you do a search for "beatty chisel" you can see several for sale.

A "bitted" chisel is another term for a laminated chisel. A small bit of expensive (at the time) high-carbon steel was forge welded on to the less expensive chisel stock. This way the working edge was always made of high carbon steel while keeping the costs low.

Nice find, and nice handle.

Josh

[george wilson]

Joshua is correct. If you look at the side of the chisel,perhaps after filing it clean,you can make out a thin strip of different "color" steel that was welded to it. It may be a couple of inches long. Old plane irons were made the same way. Even scissors could be laminated. Recall Wiss's " inlaid" steel ? Same deal.

I've seen a few of those old laminated chisels come open at the cutting edge. The only cure was to grind the chisel back to get rid of the "cold shut" where it didn't quite weld. This happened even on good old brands.

I've also had to re harden some of them. The edge would turn back like a fish hook on some examples. They must have gotten through without being hardened at the factory. Maybe the smith was reaching for his bottle !!

I'm not saying that any of those things will happen to your chisel. I've just seen them happen when I was toolmaker in the museum. All that is old is not great.

I bought a never used pre WWII set of Addis carving tools about 35 years ago. They were so hard that they wouldn't take or hold a good edge!! Never drawn after hardening. I had to draw them myself. Then,they were fine.

[Paul Incognito]

I figured the inscription was a home brew saying "Beat Me" or something like that. Your explanation makes more sense.
I was excited to find this because I have a small timber frame pergola on my work schedule. I wanted to get a framing chisel, but they're pretty expensive. Lo and behold, I stumble upon this.
PI

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

The chief problem with oak is that it splits easily and readily, which doesn't interact well with tanged chisels. The tannins won't really do anything too unpleasant to the chisel although the oak itself will stain. Should work fine for Paul's application, with the bolster and socket chisel.

[Shawn Albe]

I figured the inscription was a home brew saying "Beat Me" or something like that.

That would be very cool too -- a great mantra to have when you just want to beat the snot out of something!

[Dave Beauchesne]

I have often wondered if oak was any good for tool handles. I have assumed that any moisture would cause the acid in the wood to eat the metal so I have avoided it for that reason.

Anyone have any better insight into this?

Brian

Paul:

While I can't provide insight to the chisels themselves, many Japanese chisels have ( Japanese ) oak handles with striking hoops. They last well.

Enjoy your find!

Dave Beauchesne

[Paul Incognito]

Here's the next.
Used maple for the handle this time. Same deal with the hoop, another ring off the poor steel fork's steerer tube. This time I just cut the whole steerer tube off so that I'd have something to beat the ring onto the handle with. Anyone want a mtb fork sans steerer to make a lamp out of?
The stamp on this chisel reads:
________ Duke
STEEL
WARRANTED
Anyone have any idea who Mr. Duke is or was?
Thanks everyone for your help with #1.
PI

[Christian Castillo]

Japanese oak isn't like North American white/red oak. The domestic oak that comes closest to it is Live Oak. Both Japanese oak and live oak have the characteristic of not splintering when hit. This is why Japanese oak is preferred in making wooden swords for martial arts and why the USS Constitution is nicknamed "Old Iron side", because they say cannon balls would bounce off of it. None the less, I made a handle for my oval bolstered mortise chisel out of American white oak and its fine.

[Harlan Barnhart]

That long chisel is a bitted chisel. You can see the different color of the bit. it looks to be pretty old. Any names on it?
Mr. Wilson, what is a "bitted" chisel?

[Andrew Gibson]

Looks like a good find to me!

As far as the poor MTB fork, you could always make a base for it and turn it into a wheel truing stand. it shouldn't e to difficult to make, that is if you are a cyclist and find yourself causing your wheels to go out of true periodically. wheel truing is one of those things that people like to place a mystique around but I found it rather simple the couple times I have done it. might not be a bad skill to have when the end of the world comes in 2012... JK.

I'm getting married in 2012 so I will not be happy if the world ends and we don't get our deposits back!