What is your favorite vintage chisel?

[Jared Walters]

I have been building my tool collection and falling in love with antique tools. I still need a good set of chisels. I know Stanley 750 are nice and popular, but collectors are driving the price up really high. It seems I can almost buy a set of brand new Lie-Nielsen chisels for the same amount people want for vintage 750s (only a slight exaggeration). Also I can't find them anywhere but ebay. I visit the antique malls in my area maybe about 7-8 times a month (as well as flea markets from time to time) and I have only ever found 1 vintage chisel, and it was a banged up stanley defiance.

Is there anything good that I can find for cheaper because it's less well known than Stanley? If it boils down to it I will just buy a set of Narex chisels, but I would prefer something older to fit in with the rest of my tools.

[Mike Henderson]

Two good older brands are Swan and Witherby. But be aware that the best of the older chisels are not as good as the best of the modern chisels. The new LV chisels are probably the best from a steel point of view, and the LN and Blue Spruce are next in line. The older chisels are plain carbon steel.

Also, the older chisels are generally much longer than modern chisels (unless you get one or more that are really worn down). Whether you like that or not is personal preference. I have a complete set of both Swan (with a certain logo - "Best Cast Steel" or Best Tool Steel") and a set of Witherby's. My everyday sets are a set of LV, a set of LN, and a set of some carbon steel chisels. I also have a set of Hirsch but I don't use them too much.

I don't know if I'm unusual, but I think many woodworkers wind up with multiple sets of chisels as they search for the "perfect" chisel.

Mike

[David Weaver]

buck bros that say "cast steel" on them somewhere, butcher, ibbotson.

Those are all old chisels that are similar. Very easy sharpening, and good at edge holding.

None of the good vintage chisels are going to be cheap, there are too many people watching ebay. Your best bet is to bite the bullet and buy what you want, or to look offline, especially from dealers who might go to auctions, etc, during the week and who don't mind parting with chisels for a reasonable price.

[John Lanciani]

I really like Greenlee chisels, the steel is every bit as good as the few 750's that I have and they are a whole lot less expensive. I've managed to put together a couple full sets now.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I'm a fan of older Marples chisels, although I've been bitten once by a paring chisel that always chips out in the middle of the blade, regardless of how I sharpen it. I ground off about a 1/4"-1/2", and it still does it, just the spot that chips moved a hair to the right. I think I figured out why it it was in such unused condition when I bought it . . . it's now being used as a very nice glue cleaning tool.

I have a couple of older T.H. Witherbys that I really like as well. All the old chisels that I seem to enjoy say "cast steel" on them.

I've picked most of mine up at yard sales and flea markets and such. I seem to have the best luck with tools that are on the shorter side, but appear to have been cared for. I like to think that combination might point to a tool that was well loved in the past, but it you never know.

I have a handful of the Narex, as well, BTW (the mortise chisels, and a 40mm or so bench chisel) and they're really nice tools for the money. The handles are gigantic, however. I actually like that handle for the mortise chisel, and it doesn't bother me much with the wide bench chisel, (which I find myself using for everything it often seems) but I feel like it would be really awkward for a smaller bench chisel. The thing I like the least about those chisels is the "gummy" feel on some sharpening media, which may be from the chrome-vanadium mixed into the steel. The mortise chisels never really gave me any problems, but the wider bench chisel (which I got a while ago from LV, before they offered the finer bevel edges on them) seemed like the edge dulled a little prematurely until after a few sharpenings and a grinding.

[Jeff Heath]

I really like Greenlee chisels, the steel is every bit as good as the few 750's that I have and they are a whole lot less expensive. I've managed to put together a couple full sets now.

I am a fan of the older Greenlee chisels, as well. I have been able to cobble together a pretty full set of the longer length Greenlee chisels, as well as getting lucky and picking up a NOS (new old stock) set of 4 Greenlee butt chisels. Now I've got the best of both worlds, longer and shorter chisels.

I have 4 Stanley 750's, and gave up on acquiring more because of the same reason the OP states......the price is driven up by the popularity. The steel in the Greenlee's is every bit as good as the 750's, and in my opinion, the LN chisels, as well. For this reason, I sold my expensive set of LN chisels (and got $5 less than what I paid for them....YEAH!), and use the Greenlee's daily.

My average cost per chisel has been around $10 apiece.

[Tyler A Anderson]

I have a couple of Witherbys that are excellent. They sharpen up really easy, and seem to get sharper than the other chisels that I have. The one was my grandpa's, and I got the other at a pawn shop for $2. They both needed new handles, but that isn't too tough to do.

[Mel Fulks]

I think all of the cast steel chisels are good ,except when maybe allowed to get too hot when grinding .Even in that case it's usually easy to just grind the softer portion away. Whenever I have had to patch up old work in place I have always brought a number of vintage chisels. The Butchers always hold up the best. They were seen as a premium brand and their tools were often sold even by competitors . I remember reading that in the Winterthur book WITH HAMMER IN HAND. Since the performance and reputation match I believe woodworkers were able to choose tools without glossy advertising. Just a theory...

[Sean Hughto]

One thing I'd point out if you aren't already taking it into account: You are looking for user chisels; you are happy to take ones that collectors would turn their nose up at. All you care about is that the chisels are not pitted. Surface rust, peeling handles, no leather washer, no handle even, no problem! You are a Woodworker; you can bring 'em back in short order. All these 750s, except teh 1 inch, were less than $10.

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3273/2743321060_300f4b2f46_z.jpg?zz=1

Lots of brands other than Stanely are excellent. Even no name stuff. eBay and old tool dealers have scads of user stuff at reasonable prices. Buy some and make them your own!

[Erik Manchester]

Though I have sets of Witherby and Swan chisels, my users are Veritas chisels. My everyday bench chisels are old Stanley 60s and I have a set of Marple Blue Chip from the 60's as well. One of the best vintage chisels is Keen Kutter as they are very hard and hold an edge very well. I almost put a bid in on a set of 8 last week on e-Bay that sold for only $150. Someone got a great deal there.

[Bruce Haugen]

E. A. Berg

[James Taglienti]

For cabinet work Ive got a set of Berg tang chisels, a set of 40's era Buck Bros paring chisels, and a few Witherby and Swan. For finish carpentry i have a set of Stanley everlasting. These chisels were gleaned from over 100 vintage chisels of different brands that I have gone through over the last 10 years. I kept the ones that I thought were the best in terms of edge holding, quick rehab, and comfort.

For me nothing beats a tang chisel for sheer control and comfort, and Berg steel is awesome- it holds an edge and gets SHARP- have split hairs with it. Everlasting are tops for "beaters" as I can hit them with a hammer but they still stay sharp enough to cleanly mortise strike plates and hinges etc. on site.

[Jim Koepke]

Jared,

As you likely already know, some parts of the country have better supplies of old tools than others.

To answer your question, my chisels have been put together from quite a few different makers. My favorite paring chisels are my Buck Brothers. Only a few sizes are missing from my set from 1/8" to 1". The profile is fairly thin which is nice for some work.

There are more Witherbys in the set of those, they are a little longer and the profile is a little thicker.

Then there are the square sided chisels from a lot of makers. There are also a lot of extra bevel edge chisels from different makers including Greenlee, Union, Stanley, Defiance, Sandvick, Charles Buck, Swan, Bently, Berg and a few that do not come to mind at the moment.

It is more likely for me to sell a spare plane than a spare chisel at the moment. If they are cheap enough at a yard sale or antique shop, they end up going home with me.

If you want to get good chisels cheap you will need to be able to make handles for them. You will also need to be able to do some rehab. If that sounds like fun, then setting up searches on ebay is easy. You can also try putting advertisements "Wanted To Buy Old Hand Tools" in the local classifieds if there is one of the free ones in your area. Check the Craigs list in your area.

My preference is for socket chisels since making handles for them is fairly easy. Tanged chisels are just as good, just a different animal when it comes to putting on a handle.

Often on ebay there are lots of chisels being sold. They can be bargains or a pile of junk. If the sockets are mushroomed it might be better to pass. It isn't difficult to get rid of a little roll over, but some look like someone beat on it with a rock trying to cut a log in half.

Happy rust hunting,

jtk

[phil harold]

I like these stanleys
254163

[Zach Dillinger]

I have lots of different makes of chisels, but my favorites are Butcher cast steels. A close overall favorite is Berg. But my most commonly used chisel is a 1" tanged firmer marked Lakeside. That thing takes a sharper edge than any other chisel I have (it has about a 15 deg. bevel on it, so no big surprise). Keeps it a long time too. I made a nice 18th c. octagonal handle for it and it rarely leaves my bench.

[Derek Cohen]

I have been building my tool collection and falling in love with antique tools. I still need a good set of chisels. I know Stanley 750 are nice and popular, but collectors are driving the price up really high. It seems I can almost buy a set of brand new Lie-Nielsen chisels for the same amount people want for vintage 750s (only a slight exaggeration). Also I can't find them anywhere but ebay. I visit the antique malls in my area maybe about 7-8 times a month (as well as flea markets from time to time) and I have only ever found 1 vintage chisel, and it was a banged up stanley defiance.

Is there anything good that I can find for cheaper because it's less well known than Stanley? If it boils down to it I will just buy a set of Narex chisels, but I would prefer something older to fit in with the rest of my tools.

Hi Jared

Don't give up on the Stanley 750s. I have a set and I love their balance and all round performance. If you are patient, you can pick up near full length blades with poor handles or even without handles on eBay. It took around 2 years to accumulate the set I have.

I modified the blades a good bit - reground all the shoulders until the lands were minimal, made a 1/8" out of a 1/4", and a 3/8" out of a 1/2", and added longer handles that suited my hands. They are some of my favourite chisels now. 1/8" through 1" ....

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Derek50/Chisels/Stanley%20750%20Dovetails/Chiselset2.jpg

I've had many Witherbys, and never found them to hold a decent edge. Not a patch on the 750. I have had a few sets of Bergs (also patiently put together). They are good steel, but I preferred the balance of the Stanleys.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Russell Sansom]

I love the Bergs and my grandfather's Ohio (cast) Steel. With home-made I have choice of picking the temper that fits specific needs. The Bergs are a tad soft as George says, but they make for a work cycle that I like: easier to sharpen but require more frequent sharpening. Sometimes ( not always ), I prefer less time at the grinder and more time at the work. I set up a specific species of chisel ( A-2, Bergs, Cast steel ) for a specific task and my tolerance for interruption. We are SO lucky here in 2013, to have these kinds of options.

[Brian Thornock]

I don't have a favorite, because I don't have any, but have a real hankering for some good old socket chisels. You just can't beat the look... :)

[Charlie Stanford]

I have a set of Marples straight sided firmers I really like. They aren't really all that old, maybe 1970s, not sure. Ash handles, all business. No frou-frou.

[george wilson]

I like my 1960's Marples chisels I bought new. They have the ash handles,like London pattern handles,but without the octagonal flats,and have the leather rings at the top.

[Rob Harris]

Though I have sets of Witherby and Swan chisels, my users are Veritas chisels. My everyday bench chisels are old Stanley 60s and I have a set of Marple Blue Chip from the 60's as well. One of the best vintage chisels is Keen Kutter as they are very hard and hold an edge very well. I almost put a bid in on a set of 8 last week on e-Bay that sold for only $150. Someone got a great deal there.

Like most of us, I have sets of chisels (in various states of completion) and oddball chisels picked up here and there. I can only comment on the sets I've bought as they give a pretty good representation of the quality of the tool line.

James Swan - accumulated a decent set of firmers but found them to be very expensive and overrated. Sold them for what I paid for them.
Pfeil butt chisels - impulse purchase. Hold a good edge but I rarely use them.
Millers Falls 30 Series - surprisingly good for "bling" chisels. My preferred set. If anyone has a 30-07 (1 1/4") for sale, let me know.
C. E. Jennings - uncommon, usually beat up. I find they make good users.

Rescue a few from flea markets and garage sales, rehab them, and put them to use. Keep what you like and build a set over time.

Rob

[Trevor Walsh]

My tro top favorites are a long 1" Witherby socket chisel and a very thin 3/8" Charles Buck (not Buck Bros.) tanged chisel.

[Gary Herrmann]

Search for Bob Smalser's threads on chisels in this forum. All you ever wanted to know and more.

[Mel Fulks]

Gary,that article is worth reading but contains some inaccuracies which have been mentioned here before. Best read as sincere advice and not laboratory tests.

[Jim Koepke]

Search for Bob Smalser's threads on chisels in this forum. All you ever wanted to know and more.

Bob's chisel threads are in the Sticky: Neanderthal wisdom/FAQs thread listed near the top of Neanderthal Haven.

Good read, but some is based on Bob's personal preferences. ymmv.

jtk

[Roger Bell]

I think the quality of vintage chisels varies, and varies a LOT, from brand to brand, and among various chisels among the vintage brands. I own probably a couple hundred vintage chisels, all users and all picked up on the cheap. And, I have used them all. But I have gravitated towards a few brands, because I think I have stumbled upon some brand consistency among the better ones. And I have a few of the much-touted newer ones, as well.

I have found very good chisels among the entire gamut of brands, and I have found the occasional crappy one among what I would otherwise consider as the better brands. My sole criteria in this regard is decent edge retention consistent with a reasonable ease of sharpening.

My favs include, James Swan, EA Berg, Butcher, LJ White, Witherby, DR Barton, earlier Bucks. These seem to stand out from my subjective but wide-sample perspective. But remember what I said about the occasional crappy one. And the more than occasional great one from among those I didnt list. I dont include the hardware store brands made by one of the major makers.

Seems to me that quality control was something sought but often not accomplished in the old days. It also seems to me that any so-called present day "laboratory tests" pitting single examples of one old brand with another are also prone to invalid conclusions due to sample size. Are you listening, internet pundits? Not to suggest that anyone should listen to me, either.

I have never understood the fascination for the Stanley 720/750 (have complete sets of both) or any of the Stanleys for that matter. They're ok, but hardly great. The Everlastings are another matter, but only because you can beat on them and thus they're terrific for utility work.

How the chisels fits in your hand and feels in your hand is what matters most and by far, I think. And, naturally, that's purely subjective from the point of view of the user and the kind of work one needs to do. And what one might demand in the trade off between edge retention and ease of sharpening is also subjective, I suppose.

[Howard Klepper]

But be aware that the best of the older chisels are not as good as the best of the modern chisels. The new LV chisels are probably the best from a steel point of view, and the LN and Blue Spruce are next in line. The older chisels are plain carbon steel.



My experience has been that the older carbon steel sharpens better and takes a finer edge than the modern alloys. I think that most of the engineering of steel in the past 60-70 years has gone into making it more resistant to heat and corrosion, and increasing toughness, but not into producing a grain structure that sharpens any better.

[David Weaver]

If not heat and corrosion, into stuff that's not related to cutting tools and also into stuff that makes the steel more stable in hardening and tempering. I guess that's probably important in diemaking if you want the die to retain its shape exactly when hardened, but I have no familiarity with that stuff.

But, you're right, in the cutting steels, the high tech stainless steels have gotten a lot of attention even from early on. How long have henckles friodur knives been available? As far as I know, they are 440C stainless that is cryogenically treated. That is what their razors are reported to be, and despite having 3 different friodur razors or at least razors from blanks that originated at henckles, and having had a fourth friodor stamped razor, I think they're lacking a little bit compared to carbon steel razors. Anyway, just an indication that for quite some time the dollars have been spent making various cutlery steels

I'd imagine a large part of the reason LN went to A2 (as it wasn't so common when they did) was because it is far better behaved when hardening than is water hardening steel. I'd be almost sure they had loss from cracking or warping when they were using water hardening steel.

The only current steels that hold a candle to the vintage US and german razor steels are the hitachi cutting steels of the white variety and the swedish very high carbon steels (which I'd assume would make absolutely fabulous chisels).

[Mike Henderson]

My experience has been that the older carbon steel sharpens better and takes a finer edge than the modern alloys. I think that most of the engineering of steel in the past 60-70 years has gone into making it more resistant to heat and corrosion, and increasing toughness, but not into producing a grain structure that sharpens any better.
I guess it depends upon what criteria you use to judge which is best. While carbon steel may take a better edge, the modern steels hold an edge longer. And, as I understand it, the claim to fame for powdered steel is that it produces a very fine grain structure, better than can be produced in regular (melted) steel.

I've used vintage chisels of various makers and modern chisels. The modern chisels definitely hold an edge longer and are more consistent. With vintage chisels, sometimes you get a decent chisel and sometimes you get a dog, even in the same maker and the same time frame of manufacturer.

When I'm chopping out dovetails, for example, a long lasting edge is one of the most important aspects of the chisel to me.

Mike

[Jim Matthews]

I doubt they're the best of the vintage steel, but I like the way they balance.

I have the sensation that they like to point down, as if they were "head heavy".
The ovoid handle just feels right to me, and they'll tolerate a whanger session.

Easy to get sharp, too.