aristocrat chisels or not

[neilyweely]

thats a negative for Bedford Library

am gonna try and find it online and maybe print the bit i need.

Will pick up chisels tomorrow and post mo pictures of any curios.

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Neil,

If you don't have any luck with the 'Toolbox Book', I'll see what I can do about a drawing.

Regards
John

 

[neilyweely]

I now have 4 half inch aristocrats. I am wondering what they are worth and if they are sellable?

I really don't need 4, maybe I will keep 2, depending what they are worth.

If they are only worth a fiver each I shall keep 'em, otherwise I may let a couple go. Would like someone who appreciates 'em to have 'em, not someone who is gonna ruin em or take them for granted (like me!!)

Any ideas what they may be worth anyone???

Cheers

neil

 

[Rock Crusher]

I recently acquired a box set of Aristocrat chisels at a yard sale here in Oregon. I have not been able to find out much about them until a search led me to this fine site. All of the original packaging is still intact and none of them has been used.

I presume they are from 59'...same year as me. They look to be top quality and I guess plastic was new enough to be a change from wood handles. The fellow I bought them from told me they were his grandfathers who was an attorney and presumably woodworker. Any comments? Ed.

 

[DaveL]

Hi Ed,

Welcome to the forum.

Your picture has been caught by our spam trap, this will stop once you have a few more posts to your name, here it is:

I have never seen any of these Aristocrat chisels, thanks for posting the picture.

 

[neilyweely]

rock crusher

Wow, great chisels mate,

can you let me know the sizes they came in?
They look good in the boxes, don't they, but I think I would be afraid to use' em, so am kinda glad mine have been used already.
!959 you say, they were cutting edge (doh) back then then. Can you also post a picture of the literature you have there with them, I would love to be able to read that.

Thanks a lot, and welcome to the forum.

neil

 

[Rock Crusher]

From what I have been able to glean from a few weeks of online searching only 4 sizes were available...1/4"...1/2"...3/4" and 1". Here is a couple of pics of the flyer they came with.

Its good to finally find a place to discuss such things as these as my wife and kids are thouroghly unimpressed with my tool collecting. Ed.

 

[DaveL]

Ed,

Here are your pictures:

As to SWMBO, best she doesn't understand too much about workshops and tools. :twisted: :wink:

 

[Evergreen]

Rock crusher

A boxed set of unused Aristocrat chisels? That's got to be unique! They look terrific and I'm sure you're right about their quality because Ward and Payne were well respected tool makers. The design award of your chisels dates back to '59 but it's possible they were produced in the early 1960s, allowing time for the design to get into full production. I never knew they were still hand forging then because it was a time of great industrial change, with an emphasis on automation. Your chisels would have been absolutely top of the range at that time and very unusual. I started buying tools in the mid 60s and don't remember seeing them on sale. Many thanks for posting the pictures. Made my day.

Neil

It's difficult to know what your spare Aristocrats are worth because a) they're not well known (like Sorby tools) b) I guess we all end up with lots of the smaller size chisels and c) perhaps people are not yet ready to spend more than a few quid on chisels with plastic handles! I came across a beaten up 1/4 " Aristocrat in a flea market last winter for £6. I've got a nasty feeling you wouldn't get much more.

Regards.

 

[Hokie]

Those look great. How do they sharpen? I've been looking for some here in the US.

BTW, been seeing alot of socket chisels showing up on the Bay without handles...

Mortise:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330232262113

 

[neilyweely]

evergreen
.
Cheers mate for all your help, don't think I'd sell em anyway.

One of mine is pristine, the others have marks on the striking plate, but ALL the blades look brand new, which makes me think they are very good quality- some of mine came from an old school!!

Rock

thanks for all that mate, couldn't find it anywhere else.

Guys
Today I was at a 'cavalcade' which was a redneck steam engine fair, but had LOADS of tool stalls. Oh my days I was in my element

I found an old LN socket chisel (similar to aristo's) for 6 quid. It is now at dads for cleaning etc, but I will post pics soon.

And I got a few HSS router bits, including a BIG dovetail bit ; why don't they make them BIG? I wanna cut some huge dovetails!!!

Thanks fellas

neil

 

[Rock Crusher]

A one word search of this site using "aristocrat" will turn up but a couple of posts. One of them titled "More old tool adverts" by Mirboo will have two adds for these aristocrat chisels. There is also some discussion there regarding the asking price of these. I would attempt to post the link but I have already caused enough extra work for the moderator who I have yet to thank for getting my pictures posted. Thank you Dave. Ed.

 

[bugbear]

There's been another full boxed set of these, with paperwork on eBay:

Item 291929223894, sold for £128, 10 bidders.

Seller appears to be a flea market dealer type - lots of misc bits, including tools.

BugBear

 

[AndyT]

£32 per chisel looks high compared to 50p at a boot fair - but these are not ordinary!
When a set of five bench chisels from Blue Spruce Toolworks is $575, I think whoever bought these got a bargain.

 

[D_W]

£32 per chisel looks high compared to 50p at a boot fair - but these are not ordinary!
When a set of five bench chisels from Blue Spruce Toolworks is $575, I think whoever bought these got a bargain.

I would agree. The grind work on these chisels is superb, and they are not made of nonsensical A2 steel, which never made sense to me in a chisel in the first place.

Reminds me of the $100 beautiful dovetailed moving fillister planes that people scoff at, but nobody scoffs at buying a slightly less refined modern version for several hundred pounds.

I have seen those aristocrat chisels on ebay and have been tempted to buy them just because they are ward and the refinement of their grind is special, to say the least. Not a low-effort chisel by any means.

 

[mbartlett99]

No idea about their chisels but my mum was given a full set of gardening tools by Ward and Paine as a wedding gift - she was their head nurse in the early sixties - three house builds and a few decades on and they're still going strong.

 

[johnrichardwhite]

I have an opportunity to purchase 3 aristocrat chisels which to my untrained eye look ok; black h andle, screw-in blade, striking plate etc

Anybody ever heard of aristocrats??

Are they worth having?

Thanks again-

When I was an apprentice carpenter and joiner 55 years ago an old chippy gave me a 3/4 inch aristicrat chisel it was the best steel I have ever had but be very carefull when grinding it will burn very easily so use plenty of cooling water,you have the best set of chisels in the world.