Marple Chisels

[ken hatch]

I've the day off from my day job and have finished the kitchen cart project. I'm also waiting for a LV package of love to continue the new project. All this comes down to a lot of iron sharpening and some cleaning of the shop. Most of the sharpening time has been spent on my Marple chisels, someday I may get all of 'em sharp.

A little back story, I've a major jones for pre 1933 marple chisels and gouges and especially for the ones with Boxwood Carver handles. I do have one pre 1933 chisel with a London pattern handle and I expect I will add more when found. I just made a photo for the insurance file so I thought I would share. BTW, I've looked at a bunch bunch of frogs to find these.

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From left to right are the gouges, then the pre-1933 chisels followed by the lone London pattern (pre 1933) and then the six post 1933 chisels.

I use my Japanese chisels for most chopping operations and the Marples for most other bench work. I know everyone is different, YMMV and all that other rot but I've yet to find a modern chisel with the steel, balance, and feel of the early Marple chisels.

ken

[Bob Leistner]

How do you identify a Marples as being pre-1933? How do you date Marples chisels for any era for that matter?

[ken hatch]

How do you identify a Marples as being pre-1933? How do you date Marples chisels for any era for that matter?

Bob,

If I told you then I'd have to.....

Now don't you get in the market and drive up the prices they are high enough without help :).

Pre 1933 chisels were hammer forged and had flat tangs. After 1933 they were no longer hammer forged and the tangs were round or other shapes such as the chisel on the far right end.

ken

[Mike Baker 2]

Huminahumina

[Bob Leistner]

I think Sellers did a good job of driving the price up. Besides there's enough chisels out there for both of us, I just don't know about everyone else : )

[Ray Selinger]

I find Wm.Marples&Sons chisels regularly enough at the fleamarket. Being a member of the Commonwealth, there was preferential trade agreement. So I think most of mine are post war but pre '61. Now that I know what to check for, I'll go over them. I'm planning a run of London pattern handles for the "Splitproofs " one of these days .Good steel.

[Patrick Chase]

Pre 1933 chisels were hammer forged and had flat tangs. After 1933 they were no longer hammer forged and the tangs were round or other shapes such as the chisel on the far right end.

You're referring to the bolster rather than the tang here, right?

Judging by the stated era and the shape[s] I suspect that they switched from hammer-forging to die-forging for that part of the tool. It's not clear to me that one would automatically be better than the other except perhaps on aesthetic grounds.

[Mike Baker 2]

I would love to find something like that in the flea markets around here. What you get here is mostly junk, but there is the occasional old blue handled Marples, and you every now and then find a Stanly 720/750, or other decent vintage chisel in the antiques stores, but these are usually limied to brands that were imported sold through Sears and Roebuck, like the two Fultons I have.
But, box of chocolates and all, you never know, so I keep looking.

[Gerald Schram]

ken are those gouges in canal? they look like asome tools. jerry

[Patrick Chase]

I would love to find something like that in the flea markets around here. What you get here is mostly junk, but there is the occasional old blue handled Marples, and you every now and then find a Stanly 720/750, or other decent vintage chisel in the antiques stores, but these are usually limied to brands that were imported sold through Sears and Roebuck, like the two Fultons I have.
But, box of chocolates and all, you never know, so I keep looking.

I don't know how Ken is getting his tools, but if I wanted to find something as desirable and specific as a pre-1933 Marples in good condition with a London-pattern handle, the last place I'd look is a flea market.

Instead I'd reach out to some tool dealer, let know what I'm after, and see what they can (or have) come up with through auctions and meets. You pay more that way, but it's a lot more likely to yield results within a reasonable time investment.

David Weaver has also mentioned (in private correspondence) that there are some British auction sites that specialize in stuff like that, and that have decent prices.

[Bob Leistner]

Really, all kidding aside, I'm pretty much done buying any tools.

[Phil Mueller]

Wow, glad I swept up those 10 pre33s in the classifieds the other day. Looking forward to using them.
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...just kidding!:D

[ken hatch]

You're referring to the bolster rather than the tang here, right?

Judging by the stated era and the shape[s] I suspect that they switched from hammer-forging to die-forging for that part of the tool. It's not clear to me that one would automatically be better than the other except perhaps on aesthetic grounds.

Patrick,

To be absolutely correct it should be called the neck, then the bolster followed by the tang. I'm kinda lazy and it is all part of the tang in my Texas pea-brain.

ken

[ken hatch]

ken are those gouges in canal? they look like asome tools. jerry

Jerry,

Yes, they have been way down on the sharpening list but I hop to get to them soon.

ken

[ken hatch]

Really, all kidding aside, I'm pretty much done buying any tools.

Bob,

I should be but I still keep a lookout for somethings. Marple chisels are one of them.

ken

[ken hatch]

Wow, glad I swept up those 10 pre33s in the classifieds the other day. Looking forward to using them.
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...just kidding!:D

Phil,

Just think you could have either had a great set of chisels or made a buck or two. I keep hoping I'll find a full set but doubt it will happen. The advantage of a full set is I only get the skank eye from MsBubba once instead of twelve times :p.

ken

[Nicholas Lawrence]

I have never paid much attention to Marples chisels before. Probably because I never came across any. They look a lot like the AI ones I bought last year, which I like a lot. I assume in terms of handling they are very similar. How does the steel compare?

[ken hatch]

I have never paid much attention to Marples chisels before. Probably because I never came across any. They look a lot like the AI ones I bought last year, which I like a lot. I assume in terms of handling they are very similar. How does the steel compare?

Nicholas,

The Ai chisels are throwbacks to the time when some of the best chisels in the world came from Sheffield. I wish they had Boxwood handles but that's a quibble. Maybe because I'm nostalgic or maybe haven't a clue but I think the Marple irons are very slightly better than AI's but even if they are there is not enough difference to make a difference. What I do feel is a difference and again so slight if I didn't A&B the chisels side by side I would have a hard time noticing is the Marple chisels are lighter and better balanced. That is not knocking the AI chisels it is just the Marples are close to perfect.

ken

[Ray Selinger]

Quite the set, one of your chisels even has the classic English style handle. I 've never seen a London pattern handle in the wild, BTW, I certainly would have bought it. After looking at yours I had to check mine again, a few do have the square neck, but most are socket. And they have almost American pattern handles, but with a Marple decal, though. For export, no doubt.

[Bob Leistner]

I also have an English styled handle on one of my Sorby's, I think. It is my least favorite handle design. I prefer the tapered hex handle like Warren Mickley was showing in another post. I have a chunk of Elm from a tree I removed that I use for new handles. It has a nice feel in the hand and can take normal mallet strikes just fine. I've not made a mortice chisel handle from it, but given a chance, I won't think twice about it. The Marple boxwood handles are OK, I prefer a chisel that does't roll around and quickly indexes itself in the hand.

[Ray Selinger]

Looking at an old catalogue, the number of handle styles offered was extensive. They even had a " continental pattern " which sure looked Swedish.

Since boxwood is rare now, what other woods would work

[Jim Koepke]

Since boxwood is rare now, what other woods would work

Pick your favorite hardwood. Hickory makes a nice handle. Ash is good, but getting harder to find thanks to a little beetle.

For paring chisels that will not be struck almost any wood will do.

Yesterday was my first time turning cascara, a species of Buckthorn native to the Pacific Northwest. After the first few problems caused by the tailstock not being secure, it turned rather well. It is very hard and right off the skew it looked like it had a lacquer finish. Alas, if it isn't on your own property there may be restrictions on cutting cascara. It has medicinal properties. It is one of the woods that even for those who do not wear a dust mask you might want to for this wood.

The bark is used as a rather effective laxative. Over harvesting has endangered it in some areas. Interesting reading on cascara:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhamnus_purshiana

Some of this may be pulled from the firewood pile if a handle is needed.

jtk

[ken hatch]

Looking at an old catalogue, the number of handle styles offered was extensive. They even had a " continental pattern " which sure looked Swedish.

Since boxwood is rare now, what other woods would work

Ray,

Marple used Ash as does Sorby for many of their handles but as Jim posted almost any wood that does not split easily would work.

ken