Ok, it's a big chisel.

[Richard T]

In the recent "Another Grand Day Out" thread, I eluded to the "small" chisel that Jim presented me with, right in the middle of the village hall. I was being moro ...er ironic. It's a big chisel.

I thought I had some pretty big chisels; a 1 - 1/2" flat and a big paring gouge ...

... but put this one along side them and they become decidedly tiddly.

All right, so it's humungous,

ginormous,

It's 2" wide and 20 and a bit inches long. I could open for Warwickshire with it.

When it was presented to me at MacTimbers, I walked two paces forward to Brian Jackson's stall and asked him what he thought about it. (There are not many places where this kind of thing happens.)
He said he had seen one of a similar size that was made for the Great Exhibition of 1851 but that this one was older. More like 1830.
After a good few hours on the XXCoarse diamond stone it is finally yielding to flatness. It is SO hard I was begining to worry that it was too hard and that might have something to do with its chipped corners, but it is just not the sort of steel I am used to - it feels different on the stone and its particles are much darker than anything else, and much less rusty.

It had its other corner chipped which I have nearly got through - I really thought I would have to put my proposed wet grind wheel together before I could get through the other one but it has gone down so much already that I might carry on with me diamond stone. Thanks again Matthew.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Richard - forget the mallet, just use a 14lb sledge....

 

[jimi43]

Exactly why I chose you as the recipient of the monster Richard....probably the only one on this forum other than ALFIE who could handle such a behemoth!

Don't forget...he has a little brother...

You have a ways to go yet mate!

....before the thing gets its bite back....EH ALF?!

Yup Dad!!! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[Andrewf]

My grandfather had a similar one , but it had a longer handle more like a wood turning chisel. He called it a slick. Not normally used with a mallet but as a large paring chisel.

 

[No skills]

Love it, chisel ****.

 

[Richard T]

I'm hoping to use it with its own weight CC ...

Yes Jim. a ways to go but I couldn't wait any longer to post it up - it's a very big secret to keep. :mrgreen: I never did hear the story of these btw, when you got it out of the bag there was so much excitement, I missed the story.

Yes Andy, we had an extensive discussion as to whether it was a true slick on not - and came to the conclusion that it might be a bit of an all rounder - note the ring on the back for bash protection.

 

[jimi43]

These are the two I got in a field in Kent one Saturday morning....yours complete and mine - just the steel....

I used the handle of yours to make a pattern for mine...

Remember the pogo stick!?

The one I have kept is an I & H Sorby...so that should give us some dating information...

I suppose they shouldn't be apart...maybe they will meet again when Kent plays Warwickshire!!! :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[Richard T]

Ahh, the pogo stick. How could I forget.

A Sorby .... seems strange that mine is not marked at all - it is in such good nick that it's obvious that there never was a mark.

It is so well and expertly formed - a work of steely art. Odd then, not to sign it. Though I can't talk of course - still yet to get my metal stamping sorted out.

 

[RogerP]

Timber framer's chisel methinks. http://sessile-oak.co.uk/Resources/FramingTools

 

[woodbloke]

Such chisels are still available and Matt used to keep a bigger range of sizes, but this seems to be the only one he does now - Rob

 

[AndyT]

One interesting difference is that Richard's is a tanged chisel (with leather washer, ferrule and extra ferrule on the whacking end) whereas some of these other big chisels are socketed.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

Hello everybody. Although I live in Bedfordshire now, I was born and bred Sheffield (Sheffield Tony was the name I acquired at university !). Anyway, I'm old enough to have shopped at Ken Hawley's tool shop in Sheffield, which is long since gone. Happily his tool collection remains, and is housed at the Kelham island industrial museum in Sheffield. If you have not been, it is worth a visit. Amongst the collection are several "outsize" tools, presumably made for exhibition. There is certainly a display case of Aaron Hildick "Diamic" chisels going up to large sizes (they are still shiny and new like they were made last week !). But there are also overgrown saws, mouldling planes, screwdrivers etc. And a Bulldog garden spade over 11' high !

 

[SammyQ]

"Slick" is a term (and tool) much beloved of one periodic FWW contributor - you know, the boatmaker....him....there is a thread on (I think) Sawmill Creek of him with just such an item being worked up to a fine state of readiness.

Sam, cuddling up to Rob's vino collapso.....no, not a senior moment at all, no, no, really.....

 

[AndyT]

"Slick" is a term (and tool) much beloved of one periodic FWW contributor - you know, the boatmaker....him....there is a thread on (I think) Sawmill Creek of him with just such an item being worked up to a fine state of readiness.

Sam, cuddling up to Rob's vino collapso.....no, not a senior moment at all, no, no, really.....

If you mean Rob Smalser and this article it's a socket chisel again:

 

[AndyT]

Hello everybody. Although I live in Bedfordshire now, I was born and bred Sheffield (Sheffield Tony was the name I acquired at university !). Anyway, I'm old enough to have shopped at Ken Hawley's tool shop in Sheffield, which is long since gone. Happily his tool collection remains, and is housed at the Kelham island industrial museum in Sheffield. If you have not been, it is worth a visit. Amongst the collection are several "outsize" tools, presumably made for exhibition. There is certainly a display case of Aaron Hildick "Diamic" chisels going up to large sizes (they are still shiny and new like they were made last week !). But there are also overgrown saws, mouldling planes, screwdrivers etc. And a Bulldog garden spade over 11' high !

Hi Tony and welcome to the forum. I think you'll fit right in - in fact we may have a backlog of questions for you!
I fully intend to get to Sheffield for a visit to Kelham Island and the Hawley Collection some time soon, and I know I'm not the only one who would enjoy it.

 

[zb1]

It's almost definitely a 2" Sorby firmer framing chisel. Looks identical to my 1-1/2" Sorby. Bought new no stamp. The handle grain is even the same. It's my main work weapon goes lovely with a no.3 Thor rawhide faced mallet. Deffo not a slick. they are socketed and the socket is cranked up so the slick can be pushed along without fouling the work piece.

Zach

 

[Cheshirechappie]

There was a thread several weeks ago on the Handtools section entitled 'I & H Sorby Firmer Rehandle', in which Jimi and Alfie recorded the work to rehandle this little monster's brother. The subsequent comments included some research by AndyT, including the posting of a page from the Sheffield List and a page from the 1921 catalogue of Melhuish, which pretty conclusively showed that this is a Millwright's or Coach Chisel - intended for the heaviest of work, and suitable also (I would suggest) for shipwright work, framing and similar duties. The type of handle fitted - with ferrules at both ends - shows that it's intended for use with a mallet. A 'slick' is usually thinner in the blade, socketed, and has a much longer handle (about 3 feet long or thereabouts), often with a largish knob on the opposite end to the blade, and is intended for heavy paring by pushing from the shoulder for such tasks as cleaning up the side faces of large mortices; the sort that shipwrights and framers would use.

By the way - the Meluish catalogue page showed that an unhandled 2" Millwright's Chisel could be had in 1921 for 3s. How times change...

 

[dickm]

"When I were a lad" (194-something) there was a chisel with a blade about 2" across and a long handle in the farm workshop. The only use it ever got was paring the bull's hooves if they got overgrown.................

 

[SammyQ]

AndyT, that is indeed who I meant, Thank You; for the life of me last night I could not recall his name, and being mired in the mud near Glastonbury, I did not have access to my HDD at home to find out. He has such a prosaicly practical approach to tools.

Sam

 

[yetloh]

Here's mine:

I didn't realise quite how big it was when I ordered it from ****. Flattening the back and sharpening were a bit of a challenge simply because of the weight, but it's magic to use. The delicacy of control thet the length and mass give when paring with it is fantastic, and it takes a brilliant edge. Not a tool I use every day but I have been very glad to have it on several occasions.

Jim