That last picture there looks like some James Swan chisels I have seen.Since we're on the subject of these, can someone ID this one? I got it with 72 other tools (some of them being rare) for free. I asked if the owner wanted to sell a toolbox full of rusty tools that I noticed sitting near a garbage can. A couple days later, I got told "I can't accept any money for those rusty old tools, just take them". Notice the ˜ shape of the slick. Kinda odd, isn't it? You can see the lamination line on the slick's edge. The slick is partially buried by the front of the jack plane in the upper left hand corner of the mass photo. Its amazing what you can get for free if you offer to pay. So far I've gotten 73 cabinetry and timber framing tools, 5 axe heads + a machete and a bucket full of tools, and finally, access to a box of hammer heads and a barrel that has some nos handles in it. Ok, I'm done rambling.
It's a great thread when it motivates its readers to action, that's all I can say. Well, it's not really all I can say. Without pretending to know a thing about it, I guess the chisel was made with some intention, maybe lost now, or difficult to track down - except for Steve Tall - but some clues may exits if we look. The socket is striking to me, so small in proportion and with that knuckle or reinforcement at the opening, in a way a contradiction but maybe not. If the volume of the socket is reduced like that, the lateral strength on the handle that gets stuck in it is also cut down. We can say this is not a chisel made for prying, or much anyway. The thickening at the rim could be a way to increase the bearing surface and absorb direct blows so One conclusion could be, adding on the description of the original handle as ferruled and short, that it is primarily for chopping, the internal contradiction being that chopping is associated most of the time with prying. I don't know it but rather than being the chisel of the framing carpenter working and jointing timbers I guess this ones place is at the bench of the finish carpenter, so good for window frames, doors and jambs etc... relatively light work but on a large format. Still I'm bothered by this rim reinforcement because the notion of a bearing surface there really does not go well at all with a socket mounting. Always, and integral to the socket mounting is a space of free movement where the tung of the handle exits the socket to accommodate re-wedging of the handle as it shrinks - and expands. (Implied in this is that the tung will not bottom out at the end of its socket as the wood dries out, contracts and the handle re-seats tight a bit further down.)
This thread motivated me to turn a new handle for this chisel. It’s two inches. Slick or just 2” chisel? It has a small chip on the edge and I need to clean it up. I’m not sure if my skill level is there yet.... I have a sharpening guide but idk if that would work. Do I just keep the same angle and take it back past the chip? Seems like that would be a big undertaking.
The handle did not turn out like I wanted though. I had 10” piece of oak and thought it was enough but I will have to make another one.
hand crank grinder is my choice but ultimately it's whacha got on hand
