Flea Market/Antiques Store finds

[Mike Baker 2]

Went wandering today.
I've been building electric guitars and basses for about 8 years now. I use a hand plane to flatten surfaces, cut the scarf joint for the neadstock by hand and join it with a hand plane, and hand carve the neck with various rasps, but other than that, it is mostly routers and other power tools.
But now I'm slowly gathering tools to start making other things by hand.
This is what I found today. Not a big haul, but there are a few nice things in there, I think.

359280

First up, a sliding bevel. Just your garden variety contractor type, but it will do the job. The two chisels next up are Fulton, made in Germany. 1/4" and what I thought was 1/2" but turned out to actually be 7/16" in reality. I think these are really lovely chisels. I'm not up on vintage brands(nor any else, really),but they look and feel quality to me. The store I got them from has one or two larger ones, and I may go back for them next week if I can.
Next is a Stanley No. 64 spokeshave, and lastly, two chisels I found at one of the flea markets for .50 cents each. They are wood handled, and the backs are stamped "Japan", but they clearly are nowhere near the quality of the Fultons, so we'll sharpen them up and see how they do. 1/4" and 1/2" respectively here, too.
I also picked up a little 1.5" X 4"X .5" Soft Arkansas, but it is sitting in Simple Green for clean up, so is not pictured

[Jim Koepke]

The two chisels next up are Fulton, made in Germany. 1/4" and what I thought was 1/2" but turned out to actually be 7/16" in reality.

Curious if the 7/16" is actually a metric size of 11mm. That may not be a common size in the European market.

jtk

[Mike Baker 2]

That would be my guess, but the sizes are not marked on these chisels anywhere. BTW, any information about Fulton would be appreciated. I know nothing about the brand, but if I remember right, they had 3 or 4 Fulton planes as well.

[steven c newman]

Fulton was a secondary brand of Sargent tool co. They also were sold at your local Sears store...

[Mike Baker 2]

Thanks. I'm just glad I have a couple of chisels that aren't Stanley FatMax or (gasp) Harbor Freight. Those work for limited use, but if I'm going to be using chisels more often, I want to move toward better designed ones. And I love rehabbing old things.
These two would probably be the sizes I'd most use, anyway, at least at first.

[Michael J Evans]

I just bought a 1/2" ( or close enough) Fulton special. Looks identical to yours. I'm curious are your tapered with the cutting edge being wider than the part near the socket?

And they it sharpened up real, nice and actually held an edge compared to my harbor freight pos.

[Mike Baker 2]

I would need to look at them again, and they're in my work room right now. I'll get back to you on that.
But yes, a far cry from HF.
Speaking of HF chisels, I have sharpened all but the 1 1/4" and 1 1/2", but have only used the 1/4" and 1/2". The 1/2" I have used over a couple of days (two to three hours at a time) in pine and mahogany. I screwed up the project and had to scrap it, but the 1/2" is still sharp enough to shave hair off of my arm. I don't know about the rest of them, and I would bet some are good, and some are soft as Gouda, but that little half inch, despite it's lack of pedigree, is holding up well, at least used in paring wood. Chopping mortises? Who knows? Doesn't matter; they're going in the junk drawer as loaners, along with the cheap japanese chisels I bought yesterday. If I need anything besides the two Fultons I have, I'll use my Stanley FatMax until I can find something better.

[Russ Ellis]

I'm wondering if the Fulton chisels are 6mm and 12mm; both a bit smaller than 1/4in. and 1/2in. sizes.

Also possible that the chisel was ground under-size by either the factory or a previous owner. Remember that manufacturing processes were not as tightly controlled as we expect today.

This thread has some good info too:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?13734-Wood-Chisel-Survey-for-Beginners-(Revised-For-The-Record)

[steven c newman]

Also depends on one other item.....a few of my chisels from Germany are marked as 'British Zone". Right after WW2, a few companies tried to restart, shifting back from arm maker to toolmaker.

[Jim Koepke]

I'm wondering if the Fulton chisels are 6mm and 12mm; both a bit smaller than 1/4in. and 1/2in. sizes.

This also crossed my mind. Also curious if these were actually made by/for Sargent or if it was another maker using the name with or without knowing about the Sargent branded tools.

One of my chisels is a Fulton, but my recollection is of it being made in the U.S.

Have to check it for size.

One advantage about having a slightly narrower chisel is when cutting a 1/2" dado with a chisel a smaller size tends to make less tear out at the edges. My Sandvick 1/2" chisel is actually 12mm. My 1/2" Bentley chisel is more like 13mm.

"Too many chisels" is an oxymoron.

jtk

[Mike Baker 2]

I'm wondering if the Fulton chisels are 6mm and 12mm; both a bit smaller than 1/4in. and 1/2in. sizes.

Also possible that the chisel was ground under-size by either the factory or a previous owner. Remember that manufacturing processes were not as tightly controlled as we expect today.

This thread has some good info too:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?13734-Wood-Chisel-Survey-for-Beginners-(Revised-For-The-Record)


I went back with an actual set of calipers, where before I was relying on a 12" rule and my eyes to see the different 16th inch graduations. Calipers read 6mm and 12mm, respectively. Mystery solved. :)