J.H. Williams chisels any good?

[patent pending]

Went to an estate sale today and ended up with a few Williams chisels. Never heard of them but they said made in the USA so I figured for a buck apiece I couldn't go wrong. Looks like they are made by Snapon so that's got to be a a decent sign?

 

[CWP1616L]

If they're old enough, the may have been made by Williams before the Snap-on take-over.

 

[justanengineer]

Just my $0.02, but if its Williams and not pre-SO send it back to the ladle. Otherwise its likely excellent, as JH Williams was known primarily for their forging ability.

Disclaimer - I may be just slightly biased as I collect genuine JH Williams.

 

[patent pending]

Just my $0.02, but if its Williams and not pre-SO send it back to the ladle. Otherwise its likely excellent, as JH Williams was known primarily for their forging ability.

Disclaimer - I may be just slightly biased as I collect genuine JH Williams.

Thanks...Any way to find out the age?

 

[lbgradwell]

What is written on the tools themselves? If it's just "Williams", it's from after the Snap-on acquisition; if it's "J.H. Williams", it's before.

Either way, if the chisels are stamped "USA", the quality will be just fine and a bargain at a buck a piece.

 

[patent pending]

What is written on the tools themselves? If it's just "Williams", it's from after the Snap-on acquisition; if it's "J.H. Williams", it's before.

Either way, if the chisels are stamped "USA", the quality will be just fine and a bargain at a buck a piece.

Cool...that was easy! Thanks. Looks like I got the post snap on ones. They are stamped USA. One has never been hit and has a brand new edge. Two could use a little sharpening but are still in great shape.

Also got a Proto 15 5/8 aligning punch marked Los Angeles in the mix.

 

[NHerron]

Just wanted to pop in here and say their chisels are the best I've used to date. The other day I was grinding a weld off and got a little impatient so I took one of my chisels and positioned it in a way that the weld bead was in the middle of cutting edge. I literally wailed on it with a 3lb hammer and when I was done (it did the job thankfully) I was astonished that the edge was still sharp. I showed it to my coworkers that noticed what I was doing earlier and they were just as amazed. Buy the set, you won't be disappointed. I bought mine from toolsdelivered.com.

 

[3baygarage]

What is written on the tools themselves? If it's just "Williams", it's from after the Snap-on acquisition; if it's "J.H. Williams", it's before.

Either way, if the chisels are stamped "USA", the quality will be just fine and a bargain at a buck a piece.

Most old Williams tools never had "J.H." stamped on them. Tools such as the old sockets and chisels just say Williams. Many of their wrenches used to just say Williams, Superrench, or were marked with the diamond W. Snap On had nothing to do with that.