Question about sharpening vintage Stanley 750 chisels

[Randy Graham]

Hello all,

I have recently acquired a very nice 10 piece set of vintage Stanley 750 chisels. These chisels have seen very little use and some of them appear to have never been hit with a mallet and some have never been sharpened. The original milling marks remain on the surface of the chisels.

Until now, I have used inexpensive chisels from the big box stores and hand sharpened those cheap chisels by hand as needed.

Knowing that the Stanley chisels deserved better sharpening than the freehand method I have used on the cheap things, I purchased a Worksharp 3000 and have learned to to use it by practicing on the cheap chisels. The WS3000 does a literally "brilliant" job in flatting the backs and setting the bevel on the chisels. I am amazed that I can easily get a mirror finish on the backs and bevels of the chisels with the WS3000.

I am concerned though, that when I move to the Stanley 750 chisels, with their old milling marks still present, will I be committing a major boo-boo if I polish the backs of those chisels as a part of flattening their backs? It is sad that I am almost scared to use the new-to-me vintage 750's because I don't want to damage them by doing something stupid in my ignorance and inexperience.

Anyway, any advice on how I should proceed with handling these old chisels would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Randy

[Jim Koepke]

Randy,

If you want to preserve these for your estate or future collectors, put them away in a dry place and protect them.

If you want to use them, then you shouldn't worry about erasing the original grind marks.

They are good chisels for users, but because some collectors tend to drive the price up I don't bother with them unless they can be bought at a low price.

If they were mine, my decision would depend on my circumstances. If they were my main or only set of chisels, they would get sharpened and used. If they came to me in my current situation of having a lot of chisels, they might be set aside for when a new tool caught my eye and then used to raise money buy selling off my surplus tools.

jtk

[Jeff L Miller]

Do what an old cabinetmaker would have done, use them and love them. I would flatten the backs of them just as I would a new LN chisel.

You need to have a flat back to get a fine edge, but thats just my opinion

Congrats on a great find, I would love a set of those chisels.

Jeff

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

You can use them and still "preserve" the milling marks... Chances are the the backs of the 750s are already flat enough as-is for use as a cutting reference. Just to ensure no milling serrations on the cutting edges, all you need is to smooth out only about 1/8" or so of the backs on the cutting ends.

That is what I usually do on most of my chisels, including a few 750s that also happen to have, pending the backs are "flat enough", ... I usually do such smoothing by hand, on oil stones or 600-1000 grit paper, followed by buffing on a leather wheel and a white stick bringing the edges to mirror shine...

[Archie England]

Well, if milling marks are present then the backs do need flattening. Only flatten about 1/2", more tang 1/8 is just extra for later.

To use them or not? I've been picking up flea m or pawn dogs (one for $2; one for $10). These i've rehabbed and enjoy using. The steel takes and holds a good edge. I'm spoiled by good chisels, so I'd highly recommend that you use the best possible and only reach for beaters when danger lurks in the wood. However, that's totally a personal call.

How much do you want for them? :-)

[Mike Brady]

Depending on what you paid and if they really are as nice as you describe, I would not alter or sharpen those chisels. Lie-Nielsens will perform better and may be less costly than what you have there. Using the 750's will lower their value to a collector. Ten 750's in the great condition are very valuable in collectible condition. Get a few more opinions before turning the Worksharp loose on them.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'd be tempted to put them on eBay with lots of nice pictures, pointing out how minty they are and that they have the original factory grind, and list it with a really high reserve, just to see what happens. Then buy myself some two sets of nice new chisels if they do sell. I've seen them go for stupid prices sometimes when they're really nice looking. If they don't sell after a couple rounds, well, then put 'em to use.

[Jerome Hanby]

I'd hate to advise someone to do something against their own financial best interest. But with that said, I just hate these folks that collect these tools and never use them. Seems kind of pathetic and sad. If the tools are used up and no longer useful, using them as trophies wouldn't bother me at all. Guess I'm just not that kind of collector. I feel the same way about folks that collect comic books but just bag and board them then hide them away in boxes and never read them.

[Tom McMahon]

The highest price a set of ten 750s has brought at the auction recently was $493, a set of nine LNs $495. I'd use them. For a shot time after they were mentioned in a magazine article they were selling for really high prices.

[lowell holmes]

I sharpen my 750's and LN chisels on diamond hones, mostly freehand. I strop them on mdf charged with green buffing compound from LV.
I bought the LN chisels I have because they were patterned after the 750's.

The hones stay out during a project. You can touch up an edge in seconds.

There is no reason to refrain from using a wooden mallet on them.

[Randy Graham]

Thanks for the help guys. I am definitely going to use them, but at the same time I want to preserve them as well as possible for my sons who, thankfully, enjoy woodworking too.

I will simply flatten the back a short distance from the cutting edge and let the milling marks stay.

It appears they are cleanly ground to a 25 degree bevel so hopefully I won't have to do much grinding on the front side either.

Thanks again.

Randy

[Jon Toebbe]

Depending on what you paid and if they really are as nice as you describe, I would not alter or sharpen those chisels. Lie-Nielsens will perform better and may be less costly than what you have there. Using the 750's will lower their value to a collector. Ten 750's in the great condition are very valuable in collectible condition. Get a few more opinions before turning the Worksharp loose on them.
I'm with Mike on this one: a full set of 10 in prime condition ought to fetch a pretty penny. I'd turn that into a nice set of L-N chisels, and maybe a saw or two. Make a collector happy, buy some top drawer tools to use and cherish, and keep a current toolmaker in business -- sounds like a win all the way around, there.

[Sean Richards]

To the OP I am sure they are lovely chisels you should do what ever you feel is best - me I would just use them.

That said can someone educate me - they must have churned out millions of these over the 30-40 years they were in production and they were a standard quality chisel - so why are they so attractive to tool collectors?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Tom brought up a good point on recent prices - I must have been thinking of prices back when they were arbitrarily high, or maybe I was thinking of the "buy it now" on one of Jim Bode's auctions. That ten piece set still had the labels on a lot a of the handles too, if I'm looking at the right one. I'd still be tempted to list them on the eBay at a crazy price and see what sticks, but that's because I've been less than impressed with the one 750 I have.

[Archie England]

To the OP I am sure they are lovely chisels you should do what ever you feel is best - me I would just use them.

That said can someone educate me - they must have churned out millions of these over the 30-40 years they were in production and they were a standard quality chisel - so why are they so attractive to tool collectors?

Well, they're great chisels! The steel takes and holds a edge quite well--like a Lie Nielson chisel, which is based upon the 750 design. Second, they're nicely balanced, have leather pads for mallet work, lessening the chance of handle damage; and, they appear to be quite rugged and durable. My set of Fat Max chisels have handles that will take a beating but they're too big; the steel sharpens beautifully, but the edge won't hold up long; and there's very poor balance in use, always tipping over. YMMV

[Sean Richards]

Well, they're great chisels! The steel takes and holds a edge quite well--like a Lie Nielson chisel, which is based upon the 750 design. Second, they're nicely balanced, have leather pads for mallet work, lessening the chance of handle damage; and, they appear to be quite rugged and durable. My set of Fat Max chisels have handles that will take a beating but they're too big; the steel sharpens beautifully, but the edge won't hold up long; and there's very poor balance in use, always tipping over. YMMV

Thanks Archie - but my question was more as why collectors find them desirable - they aren't exactly uncommon ...

[Shlomo Hoffmann]

750s being collectible is not so much for individual chisels, I believe, but for sets, especially when they are complete and close to pristine... that IS rare... Individual chisels are also desirable and being sought after, for the reasons listed by Archie, but they usually tend to be "users"....

The price for a complete 750 set is way higher then the sum of individual chisels....