Vintage wood chisels

[Old tool guy]

Didn’t see an existing thread for this.

Picked up this Witherby 2” chisel today at Habitat Restore for $3. Needs a new handle, and there is a chip in the edge. They started making chisels in 1827 and sold the company about 1869, but the new company continued to mark them Witherby. You can sometimes narrow down the age by the details of the logo, but mine is so faint that it’s not clear.

Question. Whats the best way to grind out the chip?
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[d42jeep]

When I get a wood chisel that needs the blade squared away, I use my vertical belt sander and take my time removing metal trying to duplicate the original angle. It can be time consuming to remove the metal with that big of a chip.




-Don

 

[B Halverson]

Here are some Crescent wood chisels I collected a long time ago, I had them before Alloy Artifacts had them up. These are the only two sizes I have seen so far. I think these were not for fine work or cabinetmaking, but for construction tradesmen whatever craft they belonged to, to have in their kit in case they happen to have to do some work on wood. Like the heavy-duty docking saws made for rough use on loading docks, these were just about indestructible being all one forging. Of course I did have to remove a bit of mushrooming and do some sharpening on them. Just a bit something different than what is usually seen in showcases for wood chisels.

 

[RTM]

Question. Whats the best way to grind out the chip?

It can be time consuming to remove the metal with that big of a chip.

As Don says, Very Slowly.

Something that big is a little easier than a skinny one. But grind a little, dunk a lot, grind a little, lather rinse repeat. A coarse stone, or coarse belt sander, or coarse belt grinder. Short time w reasonable pressure.

If you burn the edge and lose the temper, you will have to grind more, else it won't hold an edge.

Some people like to blunt the edge back to the chip, to reduce the amount of thin metal you are grinding, reducing the odds of overheating.

 

[grannyknot]

There are some nice old chisels on this thread too, https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/found-some-old-wood-chisels.490234/#post-10837214

 

[Old tool guy]

There are some nice old chisels on this thread too, https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/found-some-old-wood-chisels.490234/#post-10837214

Dang … didn’t see that.

 

[B Halverson]

four-inch wide slick by Barton and Belden. I was surprised to learn that this partnership lasted only four years in the late 1840s. There is almost no pitting on this blade so with a little sharpening and a good handle it could go right back to work. So it is a pretty old tool made in the short time a partnership held together, it is about the maximum width these were generally available in, in excellent condition, and it would have been an expensive tool to buy in it's day, all conspiring to make it I am guessing a very hard to find tool today.

 

[Old tool guy]

And owned by J Green. What’s the third line of the makers mark?

 

[crguy]

four-inch wide slick by Barton and Belden. I was surprised to learn that this partnership lasted only four years in the late 1840s. There is almost no pitting on this blade so with a little sharpening and a good handle it could go right back to work. So it is a pretty old tool made in the short time a partnership held together, it is about the maximum width these were generally available in, in excellent condition, and it would have been an expensive tool to buy in it's day, all conspiring to make it I am guessing a very hard to find tool today.

Good find! Now it needs a proper handle.

 

[Contraptor]

Even though this thread has grown cold, I wanted some place to document this old chisel that was given to me. EADON saws are well recognized and some EADON chisels are referenced, but I have not come across the EADON JESSOP &FOX makers mark anywhere. From what little documentation I have found, I conclude this chisel is 200 years old, maybe more. Unfortunately, the chisel was badly abused.

I may give it my best shot at restoring it unless someone thinks it is worth retaining this small bit of history as is.

Eadon, Jessop, and Fox dissolved their business in 1829. (https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/18550)



The maker's mark is
EADON
JESSOP & FOX
CAST STEEL

 

[Old tool guy]

I would clean it up a little and fit a new handle.

 

[four.cycle]

Hello there @Contraptor and welcome to the site!

You may find this link to be of some use.

You will want to keep this link handy as well.

This is the URL for all things "British Tool"

You might try posting your photo images and that snip HERE - the de facto "go to" source for all things "Sheffield"

Unless I'm missing something, you have a pretty rare bird there. I would strongly urge you to do a bit of "restoration", but not at the expense of any detrimental effects to the intrinsic value of what I believe is a pretty rare piece.
There is no mention of "Eadon Jessop & Fox" per se at gracesguide.co.uk, but that doesn't necessarily mean they didn't exist, as your 1829 Gazette clipping makes very clear.
However, that may or may not have been the actual name of the business. It appears that several of those gentlemen had their fingers in many pies:

Eadon / Henry Eadon & Sons, High Bridge Forge, Owlerton (Sheffield), England / formerly Yeomans and Eadon / https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Henry_Eadon_and_Sons /

Eadon / Moses Eadon & Sons, Sheffield, England / est. 1823 inc. 1902 inc. 1918 into Sheffield Steel Products Ltd., Sheffield, England / edge tools / https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Moses_Eadon_and_Sons /

Eadon / Eadon, Jessop & Fox, Sheffield, England / edge tools ca. 1824-1829 /

Sheffield / Sheffield Steel Products Ltd., Templeborough Works, Sheffield, England / est. 1922 became Walter Lawrence Tools 1980 / https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Sheffield_Steel_Products / https://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/topic/18752-sheffield-steel-products/ /

Yeomans / Yeomans & Eadon, High Bridge Forge, Owlerton (Sheffield), England / https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Yeomans_and_Eadon /

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It is not a great leap to understand why men of means would want to be involved in the business of manufacturing tools and related items during the middle of the 19th Century in Great Britain.

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a wood handle Witherby chisel I found at a recent estate sale. I finally got around to sharpening it today.
-Don