Firmer Chisels

[swagman]

Today I spent some time free hand honing a set of 6 WM Marples Firmer Chisels with Boxwood Handles. Early Sheffield Steel. Excellent quality.



No steel hoops on the end of these chisels handles, so they need to be struck with a wooden mallet.



If your wondering what's in the wooden box. Its a set of 7 WM Marples Firmer Chisels that need to be freshly honed.



Stewie;

 

[Biliphuster]

Love those Marples chisels with the generous boxwood handles, though I wouldn't call them "early", the ones with the round shank and bolster (before moving moving to the conical bolster) are later than 1950 I thought, they don't seem to appear in the 1939 catalogue.

I have a couple of the larger size ones (though with beveled blades) and find them to be great all round chisels. Other than dovetails there is not really much need for the bevel edges so I am sure you will get great service out of these.

 

[AndyT]

Well spotted Biliphuster, definitely not early. I have a retail pamphlet which lists them, with the boxwood carver pattern handles as an alternative to the normal ash, as Pattern no 317, eleven sizes from 1/8" to 1 1/2". It's not dated, but is marked as Catalogue P61 which might mean it's from 1961 - the graphic design looks about right for then. It would still be good steel, but would not have been made in individual crucibles in the way that Benjamin Huntsman developed. A good set of chisels though - or maybe two sets, unless I am seeing double?

 

[swagman]

https://www.britannica.com/technology/Bessemer-process

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Bessemer converters tended to be used for bulk steel production - large quantities for applications such as structural steels, engineering steels, armour plate, railway rails, ingots for rolling into sheet and plate - that sort of thing. In Sheffield at least, the crucible was king for specialist steels such as toolsteel until WW1, when the use of small capacity electric arc furnaces expanded rapidly. The use of crucible steel dropped off quite fast, though WW2 extended it's life for the manufacture of some specialist steels. The last crucible steel was made (commercially) in the mid 1960s, by which time small to medium electric arc furnaces were everywhere. They are still used to this day for small-quantity special steel production, often operated in a vacuum, especially when very 'clean' steels are required. It's possible to have special steels made in Sheffield in small quantities (about a ton or so) to this day, though presumably at a price.

I wouldn't like to state categorically that toolsteels have never been made in Bessemer converters (or by the Siemens-Martin 'basic' open hearth process), but I suspect it's unlikely.

 

[swagman]

Steel making is always an interesting subject.

Stewie;

 

[Biliphuster]

My set of the bevel edge versions, though the condition is decidedly poorer than the ones Stewie is showing off. The 1 1/4 " in particular gets a lot of use.