What kind of chisel you reckon?


Arminius

Recommended Posts

Picked up a lot of chisels at an auction about two years ago, and really just getting to it now.    One of the most interesting in the batch is this Witherby, judging by the stamp quite early, probably around the Civil War era, but possibly from just before.   The mark is very hard to get an image of, only about 50% is still there.   As you can see by the fine custom handle it came with, I need to give it a new one.  But I am not quite sure what sort of chisel it is.   I first thought a firmer chisel, but it is actually rather more substantial than that.  Perhaps a form of mortise chisel?

 

What has me puzzled is the edge.  The bevel is 35 degrees, and it has a skew per the images attached.   Is there some kind of skew mortise chisel used in timber framing or something?  Or is it just a matter of 100 years plus of careless sharpening.

 

I think I will probably regrind it to a squared cutting edge, and use it as a mortise chisel.  I have one other Witherby, a 1/2 inch bevel, and I don't think I have another blade that can take an edge like it, so I am intrigued to put this one back in service.

post-14793-0-94862700-1423801253_thumb.j

post-14793-0-86539700-1423801254_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would say it's unlikely a mortice chisel. Mortice chisels look quite different. I have similar tool in our shop that are a hangover from our Wheelwright business. I would thinks it's more to do with heavy work like framing, wagon building or the like. It's a class act for sure and this is only my opinion and maybe Steve & Terry have it right.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The reason I was wondering about it being some kind of mortice chisel is basically because it really does remind me of the Sorby registered mortice chisel, very similar heft.   It definitely is not one of the two traditional patterns, the sash mortice or the English 'pigsticker' pattern.  But the actual thickness of the steel is not far off my sash mortice chisels.

 

Did some googling and found some 'Witherby mortice chisels', some of which looked quite similar, but also came across two catalogues from the Winsted Tool Works that made Witherby chisels after the founder.  Neither of them actually had any mortice chisels at all, and definitely not with a skew.  So I am going to run with the 'bad sharpening' explanation for that, though it is possible that it was deliberate given the heavy work nature of a 1-inch chisel.

 

The 1890 catalogue (probably newer than this example) has these two that are very close, the firmer and the framing.  The framing chisel is another two inches longer, but either way quite a length has been sharpened off.  The catalogue suggests slightly different angles for the socket for the two, and it looks more like the firmer than the framing.  I am going to go with the firmer on that thin reasoning, plus the fact that the handle on the framing chisel just looks really dull, not very interested in turning that.

 

Terry - the 1890 catalogue offers both socketed and tanged for virtually their whole line.  I was a bit surprised to see the price, $12 in 1890 would not have been cheap - a carpenter would have made about $20/week.

post-14793-0-36995700-1423874005_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I have done a light cleaning on this, basically to remove all rust and anything loose enough to come off in the work, but otherwise taken off as little as possible.   The makers mark is a little clearer, definitely earlier than the 1890 type.   Reground to a 30 degree bevel straight across, and then started out trying to make an imitation of the original Witherby handle.  I was not able to tell whether or not the original would have had a hoop, the 1890 illustration sort of looks like it might, yet that hoop tapers and appears to have grain.  Given the heavy work a 1" firmer would be doing, decided to go with it.

 

Made a bit of a mess of my by-eye imitation, the waist is a bit narrow, and the taper to the shoulder where the socket meets the handle ended up being too aggressive and the shoulder is more exposed than it should be.  On the other hand, I really quite like the look of it (curly maple scrap, finished with boiled linseed) and it feels surprisingly well balanced for what is a very hefty chisel.   I have a couple of outdoor structures I plan on building when the weather is more forgiving, looking forward to trying this one out.

 

 

post-14793-0-15277900-1425438274_thumb.j

post-14793-0-59048800-1425438275_thumb.j

post-14793-0-14583000-1425438278_thumb.j

post-14793-0-83044800-1425438279_thumb.j

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   1 Member, 0 Anonymous, 36 Guests (See full list)

  • Forum Statistics

    31.2k
    Total Topics
    421.8k
    Total Posts
  • Member Statistics

    23,759
    Total Members
    3,644
    Most Online
    R Parekh
    Newest Member
    R Parekh
    Joined