Chisel trivia

[Dave Cav]

With the exception of a few 20 year old plastic handle Stanley butt chisels, nearly all of my chisels and gouges are vintage socket models. I got most of the on Ebay over the last couple of years; a few are Stanleys and the others are odds and ends (except for a few very nice NOS Greenlee gouges). I use them mostly for paring and lighter work (if I have to chop I either use my Narex mortise chisels or the aforementioned Stanley butt chisels) so most of the socket chisels are longer. Most of them are bevel edge, but recently I got a couple that have flat sides or are square in section, which I guess makes them "registered", like a mortise chisel. They are obviously not mortise chisels, however, as they are too light. My question is what, if anything, was (or is) the functional difference in use of bevel edge vs registered bench chisels? Thanks;

Dave

[James Owen]

As far as I am aware, the only substantial functional difference is that the square-sided chisels won't get in to tight angled areas -- such as the bottoms of dovetails -- without bruising the wood quite as well as proper bevel edge chisels will. Other than that, there is no functional difference that comes to mind.

[Sam Babbage]

I'd call them "firmer chisels". I kind of find them not all that useful, they have neither the strength of a mortise chisel nor the agility of a bevelled edge. I'd guess that they were mostly made when the costs of beveling a chisel during manufacture were more significant.

[Jim Koepke]

There are many different types of chisels for different uses. There is some overlap. Bob Smalser answered this question for another person:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?13599-Really-Basic-Chisel-Questions

jtk

[john brenton]

I have three square sided "antique" firmers that I use to prolong the life of my beveled bench chisels. I use them whenever I need to do a little mallet pounding. It's unnecessary really, but I like the chisels and use them when I get the chance. I have yet to find a set of mortise chisels that I really like, so the only true mortise chisel I have is a rather large antique marples 1/2".


There are many different types of chisels for different uses. There is some overlap. Bob Smalser answered this question for another person:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?13599-Really-Basic-Chisel-Questions

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

I have a whole set of Swan rectangular cross section chisels and find them quite usable. There's very few places where you need a beveled side chisel. Most bevel sided chisels are not beveled all the way down so the extra room you get on the side is not that much.

I collected the set just because they were old and different from the bevel sided chisels but I don't find any serious limitations in them compared to ordinary bench chisels.

Mike

[Dave Anderson NH]

Like Mike I have a set of non bevel edged Swan paring chisels. They are quite useful and hold an edge beautifully. Unfortunately there are only 5 in he set so I have to often use my set of 7 bevel edge Swan paring chisels to make up the difference.:D I have come to believe that many of the chisel makers of the early to mid 1800s offered both bevel edge and non bevel edged chisels in both what we now call "bench chisels" and in the "firmer" style. It was perhaps to satisfy that part of the market that resisted change. Maybe George Wilson can chime in on this, but if memory serves me correctly the majority of chisels before 1800 were not beveled on their edges and I think the ones at Colonial Williamsburg in the Hay shop are unbeveled.

[george wilson]

You are correct,Dave. But,there was a beveled edge chisel found at the Novaya Zemlya site,where the crew of a ship was marooned for the Winter(?) in the 17th.C.(?) It looks similar to a modern Swedish chisel,except that the blade flares a little.

Old man Simms,who I knew early on when I came to Wmsbg. in 1970,used only his old English chisels and other tools. He ground each corner off of the end of his chisels that were used for dovetailing. He took a triangular grind off the corners adjacent to the beveled cutting edge. Not very attractive,but it enabled him to get into dovetails. Roy Underhill bought his old tool chest years after he died,from his son. I was shocked to see his chisels,that used to have about 8" blades,all ground down to a couple of inches. Probably by his son.