Some gems found while cleaning the shop.

[Beerhippie]

I vaguely recall paying something like $15 at a yard sale for this old wrap of chisels some years back. I must have just stuffed them in a corner and forgot until I disinterred them during my recent cleaning craze:



L-R, 1-5 are Craftsman, including this oldie:





I think that one, and the all-metal ones, are keepers. The all-metals are newer, probably not USA, but offset handles.

#6 is a True Value, with a logo I don't recall seeing before:



#s 7 and 8 are no-label, at least no legible label, and pretty rough.

9 and 10 are Lakeside--I know nothing about that company.

11 and 12 are Greenlee. That I've heard of.

13 is a barely legible Northern King, but has seem some hard use.

The mallet... well, it's been rode hard and put up wet.

I think I'll keep the Craftsman and the True Value and just cleanup the rest and see what I can get for them. I don't use wood chisels all that often, but when I do, I like having good quality and scary sharp edges.

 

[WisJim]

At one point, Lakeside was a Montgomery Wards line, and I think it was a name used by another hardware company too, but at the moment I don't recall for sure. I did have a Lakeside Montgomery Wards saw at one time.

 

[Beerhippie]

I'd forgotten about that!

I've owned and restored a The Lakeside for Monkey Wards stove:





Interesting old stove--actually a re-badged Prentiss Waber #4 (which means amazingly little). It's not mine anymore.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

#6 is a True Value, with a logo I don't recall seeing before:

PEXTO actually registered an asterisk as a logo, believe it or not, in 1938. It is seen on PEXTO tools by itself, but also with a host of their other TM's. I don't recall seeing 'True Value' (which also smacks of the modern hardware store conglomeration to me...) as one of those, though, and we have seen asterisks on tools that were clearly made by other OEMs. To qualify, I'm not saying that's a PEXTO chisel. Just putting the info out there for you to pursue further, or not.

 

[Zrxrunner]

I've seen that style asterisk on a handful of sockets. Without going to the shop to check, penens comes to mind as the brand. I'll get a chance to check in the morning.

 

[Roberts210]

I've got a Lakeside ball pein hammer. It's small, damm nice ball pein too.

 

[Beerhippie]

Trying to find something on Lakeside tools is frustrating. Yes, The Lakeside was a Monkey Wards store brand. But Lakeside foundry was a real thing, starting, I think, about 1908.

Anyhow, the one things I've gleaned from the jumble that is the internet is that both the Lakeside and Greenlee chisels are fairly desirable for someone actually aiming to use the tools.

I sold the wrap and chisels, except for the Craftsman and Asterisk True Value, to a coworker as a gift for his SIL. I had to sit down and ask myself "How often do I wish I had more chisels? How often do I reach for anything but my 1/2" and 1" Ace brand cheepos?" The answer was SELL. I'm an occasional carpenter, not a woodworker.

I'm roughing out the primary bevels on a 220 grit belt on my little hand-held belt sander right now, keeping everything cool with a spray bottle of water. I have the sander clamped up in my bench vise and I'm using a cheap Amazon sharpening guide meant to be used on stones. I was worried about burning out the bearings on the full-width roller, but yesterday I completely re-profiled and sharpened a 1 3/4" plane iron entirely by hand. It took me about three hours, and I just ain't going to waste that much time again when it takes about ten minutes to re-profile a very bad bevel on the belt sander.

 

[Beerhippie]

Here's some progress using the belt sander and guide:

Setting the angle for the guide:



The two on the left still need some roughing out:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I've seen that style asterisk on a handful of sockets. Without going to the shop to check, penens comes to mind as the brand. I'll get a chance to check in the morning.

Those are very small and not a logo. They're marking the location of the detent.

 

[d42jeep]

Those are very small and not a logo. They're marking the location of the detent.

They started that marking towards the end of PL∇MB production.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

They started that marking towards the end of PL∇MB production.

Yes, they did, and it was certainly not confined to just the PENENS brand. But, just so @Zrxrunner understands that you're adding to my information, by elaborating for him on the start of the practice, not disagreeing with me about the purpose of it, I will re-emphasize that it is not a logo, it is identifying the location of the detent hole on the inside of the socket.

 

[d42jeep]

Absolutely. I was agreeing and posting an example. That’s why I quoted your post.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]