vintage wood carving chisels

I want to get into woodcarving, but it seems the chisels of choice (new) are German and Swiss. I have no problem with imported tools if they are quality. I would like to know the quality of S.J. Addis and AMT vintage tools. I understand forged is the way to go, and the old tools seem to stand up. The reviews I have read about the German V gouges is that they have a hard time sharping the inside of the V. New chisels are about 3X as expensive and 1/2 as cool. Because I'm new at this any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks Mike

If memory serves, AMT was imported stuff. Cheap copies. Most of what they sold was bandsaws and such. No experience with Addis, but they have a good reputation.

There are lots of good vintage chisel brands out there. Many came from Sheffield, like my Henry Taylor Acorn chisels.

I know the Addis are English, I agree that the AMT looked kinda cheap, thanks for the input. Mike

lakelandcat said:

I want to get into woodcarving, but it seems the chisels of choice (new) are German and Swiss. I have no problem with imported tools if they are quality. I would like to know the quality of S.J. Addis and AMT vintage tools. I understand forged is the way to go, and the old tools seem to stand up. The reviews I have read about the German V gouges is that they have a hard time sharping the inside of the V. New chisels are about 3X as expensive and 1/2 as cool. Because I'm new at this any opinions would be appreciated. Thanks Mike

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I've bought and sold lots of carving chisels over the years and generally the most desirable are Addis and Herring Bros from England. Those as well as well as older Henry Taylor and premium American makers like D. R. Barton, older Buck Bros., James Swan, and L & I.J. White are usually pretty pricey but the consensus is that they are worth it. Nothing wrong with top of the line Swiss, German or Italian made either. Practically all good chisels will be forged; the cheap stamped steel variety are not worth the effort to sharpen them. Any sharp V or in-cannel curved chisel will be difficult to sharpen inside unless you have a stone that matches the profile. If you are looking for low priced decent quality carving chisels to start out with the Millers Falls sets of 5 or 6 often show up eBay and might go for $25 or so in the box and are pretty good for small carvings.

Thanks Joe, thats the info I looking for.

First off, I am not a woodworker, and I don't collect woodworking tools. Having said that, I couldn't resist these chisels at the flea market this morning, for different reasons. See Pic 1.

The "newer" one was made between 1945 and 1949 in the British Occupied Zone in postwar Germany, marked "GERMANY BRIT. ZONE". It's a Steelcraft. I have a small collection of Steelcraft "Zone" tools, including e-z-outs, a spiral push-drill, some other things, and now this chisel. It's not really the reason I am posting. See Pic 2.

The oldest one is just neat. The handle is obviously hand-made. In fact, it's just a step past tree branch. The reason I am posting is I can't make out the name on it and I am hoping a chisel guy will recognize. I'm pretty sure the last five letters of the 7-letter word are BRAVES or GRAVES. So "_ _ BRAVES" or "_ _ GRAVES." The first letter looks like it might be a "W". Anybody? See Pics 6 & 7.

The other chisel without a ferrule is an Addis. Due to how short it’s been sharpened, I can only make out "Addis & ??? Sheffield Eng.“. Not sure about the "39". It's the marking on the other side of the shank/blade that I don’t fully understand. In doing some handy reading on a collector’s site, it looks like a number (possibly a "10", indicating the gouge size) followed by "PRIZE MEDAL." So I think it’s a J.B. Addis & Sons. He was the Addis that made PRIZE MEDAL chisels after winning the London Great Exhibition in 1851 and several times thereafter. Am I right in dating this to 1872 to 1876 after he moved to Sheffield from London? See Pics 3, 4, & 5.

Private Lugnutz said:

The oldest one is just neat. The handle is obviously hand-made. In fact, it's just a step past tree branch. The reason I am posting is I can't make out the name on it and I am hoping a chisel guy will recognize. I'm pretty sure the last five letters of the 7-letter word are BRAVES or GRAVES. So "_ _ BRAVES" or "_ _ GRAVES." The first letter looks like it might be a "W". Anybody? See Pics 6 & 7.

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Just stumbled on this post. Might be a Hargreaves Sheffield.

RTM said:

Might be a Hargreaves Sheffield.

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Thanks.