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Thread: Need a Name That Sounds Better Than Beater

  1. #1
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    Need a Name That Sounds Better Than Beater

    Many of my chisels are not my go to chisels. Some are actually of good quality. Many of them were acquired when buying groups of chisels with a few other of my preferred chisels.

    They mostly stay in a drawer until there is a need for their particular features.

    My calling them beaters has some equating them to junkers. A few might be junk. Most of them are decent chisels. Some do not have handles to my liking, like plastic, broken or missing.

    Here are a couple of images of "chisels from the beater drawer:"

    Chisel Group 1.jpg

    The first two from the left are actually used occasionally in the shop. Mostly when doing a lot of chisel work and a group of similar size chisels is used so there isn't a halt in the work when an edge gets dull. The next three are Buck Brothers shallow gouges. They either need a bit of rehab work or they are redundant. Moving right, the following three are redundant. The half inch with a reddish handle is a Stanley #750. The one with the rounded end was from a group of chisels. Since it is a redundant one inch it wasn't needed enough to be ground to a new bevel. Now it is used whenever something calls for a finger catch. The shiny one, a Craftsman is occasionally called to duty like the first two on the left. The next two are Stanley Handyman chisels, often used for out of the shop work. Next is an unmarked socket chisel without a handle. The metal handled chisel is a Crescent. That one is made to be used with a steel hammer. The next five do not see much use. The first two of these are not that great. Besides the handles, they do not seem to have a specific purpose. The Marples, Buck Brothers and Stanley Everlasting do not appeal to me due to the plastic handles.

    Here is some old copy on the Crescent chisels:

    Crescent Chisel.png

    Second batch of chisels:

    Chisel Group 2.jpg

    First from the bottom is a gouge that doesn't fit in my current holders for gouges and carving tools. The second is pretty much junk. Next is another Craftsman, used occasionally. The fourth is a 3mm chisel that is used when something smaller than 1/8" is needed. It is followed by another Sandvik chisel. The first new chisels purchased for my shop were Sandvik chisels. They were being purchase one at a time since that is all my budget would allow. When it came time to purchase a 1/4" chisel the brand had changed to Bocho and the handles were not the same. The Sandviks are fine chisels for the price, at least what they sold for back then. The three chisels with black plastic handles are by Stanley. They were purchased at ACE Hardware on sale, with a coupon. The price was ~$3 for the set. Those handles can be beaten with a hammer and survive. The piece with a large black handle was a bad deal on ebay. The little tool with a black handle looks to possibly be a broken spoon gouge. The last three are another 1/4" Buck Brothers with a plastic handle, a 1/2" Craftsman and old Stanley #60 that had a plastic handle that was falling apart.

    So, only a few of these would fall into the junk category. If you were a neighbor needing to borrow a chisel from me you would likely be handed one of these, most likely with a plastic handle. Most of these are kept sharp.

    So, is there a better name for this eclectic accumulation of chisels?

    There are likely a few more in a box somewhere.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  2. #2
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    The motley crew, A.P.C (All Purpose Chisels), Ronin chisels (hey they're naming cinematography drones this why not chisels), General Use Chisels, The APP; All Purpose Posse, Jack Chisels, etc. I find this fun. I'll be back.

  3. #3
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    Some look "Vintage" to me. Maybe "Classic Vintage".

    JKJ

  4. #4
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    Thanks Vincent, that brought a smile and a few ideas.

    Fizzle Chisels
    Drawer Queens (people in aircraft and other transportation venues know of 'hanger queens')
    Tool Box Sleepers
    Stay in the Box Tools
    UA or SIE Tools for Use Another or Seldom If Ever

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  5. #5
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    Bowery Boys Tool Company....

  6. #6
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    Workhorses

  7. "Reserve chisels"

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    Some look "Vintage" to me. Maybe "Classic Vintage".

    JKJ

    The Buck Brothers gouges have pre-buck's head era ~1870 trade mark.

    The Stanley 750 was last made in 1969 according to the Stanley Tools book by John Walter. That is likely in the "Classic Vintage" category. Trouble is the 750s only get good money on ebay if they are in collector condition. When they are run of the mill, then users can buy them economically.

    The Craftsman chisels likely aren't much newer.

    What chisels and things in general have done on ebay is almost shocking for those of us who have purchased a lot in the past there.

    My current project is using only an Aldi chisel and a Union Hardware chisel. My plan was to post it at the end of the Aldi Chisel thread as a comparison. The project is building a pair of sawhorses. Most of the work is cross grain which is a good test for chisels. Now my plan is to compare the chisels with another image in the Aldi thread. A post on making saw horses may or may not come later. Though was done awhile ago:

    https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?146777

    The only difference is these are made for different use.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  9. #9
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    I have a box of spares. Not one of them is second rate—there’s just not room in the wall cabinet.

    If you ever decide to part with any, I’ll take the Bergs and Stanley no. 60’s, please.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
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    Mine are all chisels. If they can no longer perform the work allotted to chiseling than they are scrap steel and are subject to "Adaptive Re-use".
    Jim

  11. #11
    How about: spare chisels, loaner chisels or 2nd tier chisels?
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  12. #12
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    I keep my woodworking chisels separately from my “beater” chisels. I call them “Carpenter’s chisels” as I don’mind using them in carpentry. Some are good, some not. Tool fit for purpose.
    Shawn

    "no trees were harmed in the creation of this message, however some electrons were temporarily inconvenienced."

    "I resent having to use my brain to do your thinking"

  13. #13
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    Take if from fair Juliet: What's in a name? That which we call a beater by any other word would cut no better.
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  14. #14
    "Private reserve."

    Or bench warmers

  15. #15
    Jim,

    Some of your "beater" chisels are probably better quality than a few of my "good" chisels.

    I have my "good" chisels, my "carpentry" chisels, and my "loaner" chisels. And then there is the box of ones that might be one of those three, if I ever get around to cleaning then up and sharpening them.

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