Old chisels

[Chris152]

I picked these chisels up from my dad's old garage yesterday. They've been sat unused for 15+ years. I'd like to restore them - is it white vinegar for the steel and just scrape and clean, then oil for the handles?

Is the one in the middle for carving? It's curved in cross-section.
Finally, do you know what make the regular chisels are? Here's the transfer, not much to read but maybe someone will recognise it.

Thanks
C

 

[Sideways]

Looks like Ward & Payne

 

[Chris152]

Which appear to be the world's best...

 

[Phil Pascoe]

If they're not, they're close.
Light oil and wet and dry to clean them. If the faces are badly pitted you may need to flatten them - wet and dry on piece of glass will do, or I use a disc of scrap ply or MDF on a lathe faceplate with Alox stuck to it for bad ones. You'll never sharpen them properly with too many pits.
As for the handles, I just lightly sand to clean them off then soak them in linseed for a few days. Raw seems to soak in better, but boiled dries off quicker - wipe them off well when you remove them from the oil or it'll skin over.

 

[custard]

Is the one in the middle for carving? It's curved in cross-section.

Maybe. But given the context of where it was found I'd guess it's a gouge for doing coped work.

You know what a coping saw is and where it got it's name,

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/wood ... in-coping/

Well a couple of gouges allowed a craftsmen to do an even tidier job on a coped joint.

 

[Chris152]

Yep, I can't imagine what dad would have been doing with a carving chisel, so coping chisel it'll be (I hadn't heard of one before)! I'm going to try using it for carving, might be fine?

I cleaned the steel with wet and dry and walnut oil, and the same with the handle - it looks far better and has a decent edge after regrinding and sharpening. Once I've cleaned them all, I'll soak the handles.

Thanks all!

 

[ED65]

That looks great Chris. If I'd been able to post a few days ago I would have suggested steering clear of the vinegar for these, mainly because the rust looked light enough that just scrubbing it off with coarse steel wool seemed like it would do the necessary.

 

[That would work]

I have a 'Ward' 1inch bevel edge chisel approx 100yrs old. I use it very frequently because quite bizarrely it is ALWAYS sharp

 

[memzey]

I have a 'Ward' 1inch bevel edge chisel approx 100yrs old. I use it very frequently because quite bizarrely it is ALWAYS sharp

I have a number of Ward chisels of similar vintage. They have the best steel of any chisels I’ve used. Just the right balance between ease of sharpening, absolute edge and edge retention. I’ve never tried any of the modern, premium chisels with exotic alloys but if they are as good or better than my Wards then they must be fantastic.

 

[D_W]

I'm not aware of any modern chisel that offers what wards do in terms of sharpening and edge retention/sharpness, etc. Edge retention, yes, you can find that, but I have looked at edges of chisels and knives, etc, under a microscope and the older chisels sharpen more finely per grit, and they lose their edge more uniformly (meaning they feel sharper and smoother).

White #2 is probably similar if it's not too hard. But you won't find it in western chisels, at least none that I'm aware of.