Help with old chisels?

[Don Tener]

Hi. I am new here and was hoping to get some info on a few chisels I picked up at an estate sale. I got 14 old chisels 1 PS&W, 3 P MERRILL, 2 A.W. CROSSMAN. I know that the firs ones I have listed are pretty good. the other ones are what I can not find any info on. I have 4 that are stamped J BENTLEY and 4 that are stamped BIGELOW & DOWSE. The Bigelow & Dowse is a department store from the lat 1800's, I was hoping that someone here might know who made there Chisels for them. The J Bentley Chisels I can not find any info on them. Any help would be great. 281799281798281797281796

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Hi. I am new here and was hoping to get some info on a few chisels I picked up at an estate sale. I got 14 old chisels 1 PS&W, 3 P MERRILL, 2 A.W. CROSSMAN. I know that the firs ones I have listed are pretty good. the other ones are what I can not find any info on. I have 4 that are stamped J BENTLEY and 4 that are stamped BIGELOW & DOWSE. The Bigelow & Dowse is a department store from the lat 1800's, I was hoping that someone here might know who made there Chisels for them. The J Bentley Chisels I can not find any info on them. Any help would be great.

Don, I can give you a little info. PS&W stands for Peck Stow and Wilcox. They are usually good steel. A set of 14 of them is pretty rare, so keep them together. Chisels of this vintage are usually pretty good, one theory being that over the last 150 years, junk steel has been tossed, so if they survive today odds are they are pretty good. I have several PS&W and they are some of my favorites. One of the metal guys in the Neanderthal side can give you a bunch of info on the smelting processes used in these vs todays. Todays processes are much more consistent.

[Don Tener]

Thanks. I only got 1 PS&W. I was hoping that someone knows about the Bentley and the Bigelow & dowse chisels. There is not a lot of info on these on the net. Thanks Again

[Mel Fulks]

Steve is right about ps&w being same as peck Stowe & Wilcox ,but you can find the date for the name change to narrow the the time period of mfg. As for the ones with the store name ,it was a common practice for a premium local store to order top quality stuff marked only with their name.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Don, I misunderstood, too bad you didn't get 14 of them! Are you going to use them or resell?

[Steve Friedman]

Not much, but these may help:

http://swingleydev.com/archive/get.php?message_id=95963&submit_thread=1
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bentley-co-buffalo-ny-socket-chisel-167066740

Steve

[Don Tener]

I have not decided to keep or sell yet. It will be very hard to get rid of the P MERRILL just because they are before the Civil War. Here are pics of the hole lot.281878281879

[Steve Rozmiarek]

You have some beautiful chisels there. Guarantee you won't lose money if you sell, and I don't know what you paid! If I was you, I'd use them, but if you do sell, list them here. The hand tool crowd will appreciate them.

[Don Tener]

I got them all for $2.00 each. I collect old tools but I may sell some of them. At the same sale I also got 3 antique Stanley planes. One is a type 1 that is a 9 3/4 circa 1872-1675, also a type 2 that is a #7 circa 1869-1872, and the last is a type 4 that is a 9 1/2 that is from the late 1890's. I got all three planes and the chisels for $62.00 . I sold the 9 3/4 on ebay for $350.00 (I already have one) here are some pics 281932281933281934281935281936281937

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Wow Don, that was an epic score! I think I watched your 9 3/4 sell. Its sad to see that market weak right now, several years back it would have brought double that at least. Sometimes the stars align, and it pays to be there with cash!

If you already have a 9 3/4, you must have a pretty advanced collection. Those are not that common.

[Don Tener]

I do not have a lot but what I do have are rare ones. a few old bedrocks, some of the aluminum ones, I picked up a 9 3/4" about 2 years ago for $5.00. The one I just sold I got last Friday and the price on it was $6.00. The person who bought it has already received it and loves it. Thanks