Refurbing chisels

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--Tom--

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Sleeplessly browsing online I came across some unusual looking chisels and a few days later they arrived


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They’re both stouter than other firmer chisels I have but not as chunky as mortice chisels

Something quite pleasing about the Isaac Greaves mark
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Vs the usual stamping
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Another of the interesting aspects of them is that they both had additional bevels ground on them by their previous owner - I’ve got a few ideas but anyone come across this before or know why?
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As ever with older chisels a bit of a gamble as to how the backs will look. The ibbotson is the worse of the two but also the smaller. Worst area by the tip - exactly where I don’t want it as it makes it all problem rather than somebody else in 50-100 years time

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A chisel is just two flat surfaces meeting at an apex, the finer the finishes on each face the cleaner the edge. If I just sharpened the bevel I’d have a ragged edge from the pitting. Where the chisels are a good length - and that was part of getting them I didn’t want to just shorten back past the pitting either.

So I thought I’d see how quickly I could get the back cleaned up.
First few passes over the belt showed it was gonna take a bit of work.
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But after a few mins of carefully grinding it back, cooling in water after every pass and checking for flatness I got it cleaned up and at a rough 180g over 60g finish

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A piece of 120 on a granite block then does the final flattening work

Showing the unevenness from the grinder
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Maybe 5 mins persistence had it flat and clean

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And then 240g which only took a minute as at this point everything is flat so you’re abrading all of the surface evenly rather than chasing out scratches in dips.

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There’s still a few little black dots from the worst of the pitting but it’s in much better shape now and ready to sharpen up -and we all know that’s the uninteresting part.

So if you see chisels you like the look of, even if they’ve got a bit of pitting they can be made very serviceable in fairly short order.
 
I always have similar "bevelled corners" on my straight carving chisels - helps when I'm doing lettering as they can get further into tight corners if that makes sense? Maybe the thinking was similar for these? Nice job, by the way!
 
Cheers - clearance makes sense. They’re similar stoutness to my registered mortice chisels but about 50% longer. In my head the missing corners aren’t really suited to mortising so will have to give it a go and see what happens
 
a linisher /belt sander is the way to go if the pitting is bad. Just have to watch the heat. Good work as the steel will be nice on those.
 
I need to add a mister to the grinder to really speed things up - as stopping to dunk takes as long as the actual grinding if not longer. The mess is what puts me off as there’d be a definite spray zone.

The thickness of the chisels made them a decent heat sink - but trick is always to treat abrasives like they’re free - fresh ceramic belts will work surprisingly cool at the coarser grades. Ideally cutting wire wool strands off instead of just sparks.

Was going to hardness test them out of interest but the taper they have means I won’t get a reliable reading.

As they aren’t an alloyed steel they’re pretty free cutting which made them easy to work on. At an experienced guess they’re in the 55-60HRC range rather than anything higher with the Greaves the harder of the two.

Something nice about using tools made in 1800s - the user replacement handles show they’ve had a decent working life.
 
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