Thread: chisels ID?

pampelmuse,

The prancing horse logo is from "C. Nurse & Co" often seen with "Invicta" in a ribbon underneath.
The other is a mystery to me.
Regards,
Peter

The handled chisel probably started life as something else, that does not look like a chisel tang. If you remove the handle you may find a maker on the "tang".

Cheers
Peter

The mystery chisel may be an owner-made? Very unusual shape/tang arrangement, and the handle is very cleanly turned....

Cheers

I agree, it's possibly owner made. As I said it stood out because of its looks and unusual construction... I have never seen a chisel like it. I'll be interested to see how it cuts. It certainly seemed to have a different kind of steel in the blade.

Is the C. Nurse & Co. socket chisel a mortice chisel then? It is so heavy-duty I can't really envisage another use for it.

Peter McB: Do you know anything more about C. Nurse and Co. ? Does it date the chisel to a particular era?

Thanks for the help,
Martin

HA ha.
I now see this exact putative "C. Nurse & Co" chisel has been discussed and deemed an unknown in a previous post and I have inherited the mystery via ebay.
Oh well, at least I hope I can resurrect the chisel to useful status rather than just being a curiosity.

Originally Posted by Heavansabove
For trademark reference try, cutlery includes edge tools , files, saws

http://www.sha.org/documents/Parks_Canada/Trademarks on Base-Metal Tableware.pdf

Note that Charles Nurse are not there, which is surprising. The horse on the chisel is not the same as the Nurse illustration above, or in Goodman - so is either an early undocumented mark, or a different company. Also the Nurse horse mark has the Invicta banner below it, and that is missing here.

Cheers
Peter Evans

Hi there Peter. Sorry for my late reply, Thanks for he link to the pdf for some reason my pdf reader doesn't like it but I'm sure its not a problem with the file.. the reader I'm using is a dog. I have saved the file in my folder of sheffield stuff and look forward to having a gander at it.
I agree that the nurse horse doesn't look like a match. It'll keep, eventually I'll see it somewhere.

Not looking too closely, but the tang on the "odd" one looks a bit like a turnscrew (screwdriver) pattern.

Retribution for all those who use chisels as screwdrivers!

Regards
Ray

The handled chisel has a blade that closely resembles a chisel I had once. It was branded either Sorby or Marples -( grey cell failure here )- and was light in construction just like this one. Same scalloped edges near the ferrule. It had a much lighter handle and was not designed for striking. More like a paring chisel in my opinion.
Your handle looks out of place with that blade.
It is clearly designed for some hefty striking where necessary and closely resembles a Titan handle. I know that some English chisels sported a similar shape.
I am guessing that the blade and the handle are a composite from two different chisels. I may be wrong, but that handle is overkill for that blade.
Doesn't really matter. Sharpen the blade and see how it performs.
Cheers
SG

Originally Posted by RayG

Not looking too closely, but the tang on the "odd" one looks a bit like a turnscrew (screwdriver) pattern.

Retribution for all those who use chisels as screwdrivers!

Regards
Ray

It did remind me a bit of a turnscrew, Ray, but they have tapered sides, don't they? Of course, our enterprising chisel-maker could have cut the screwdriver down.

Pampelmuse comments on how hard this thing is. A screwdriver is usually not that hard - you can file any screwdriver I've had dealings with. But of course it's entirely possible said chisel-maker knew that & hardened the steel, then missed the target a bit with his tempering.

I well-know what can happen when amateur metallurgists try their hand. I recently hardened a fairly new chisel - (a named brand which shall remain nameless, but let's just say it was on the cheaper side of the ledger). It was a complete POS. I was suspicious when I honed it, and my suspicions were confirmed as soon as I tried to use it - the sharpened end turned round to see what I was doing!

My neighbor is a farrier, and often works at his forge in the evenings, so I wandered over one night & asked if I could harden my chisel. That took all of about a minute, but it bent slightly in the process. Without thinking, I laid the freshly-quenched chisel on the anvil and gave it a bit of a rap with a hammer. I now have a very, very hard piece of bevelled steel 19mm by about 75mm and a very, very hard stubby chisel. I know, it was a very stupid manouvre, and I am truly, genuinely sorry I didn't pause to think.

So one day when LOML is out for the day, I am going to try tempering it in the oven - I hope to end up salvaging something from my stupidity.....

Cheers,

C Nurse were planemakers and merchants, so the chisel was made by someone else and marked with the Nurse trademark. Whilst Nurse were taken over in 1937, the mark may have continued for some time, but this chisel probably earlier than 1937. Not a mortise chisel but a firmer chisel, probably one this thick is a "Strong" firmer Chisel. Mortise chisels max at 3/4", imagine trying to cut out a 1" mortise.

Cheers
Peter

Originally Posted by Heavansabove

Not a mortise chisel but a firmer chisel, probably one this thick is a "Strong" firmer Chisel. Mortise chisels max at 3/4", imagine trying to cut out a 1" mortise.

Cheers
Peter

Peter, Funny you should say that. I also recently acquired a 1inch Ward oval bolstered mortice chisel amongst others. It is so big and heavy that I also couldn't really envisage ever using it for it's intended purpose (Maybe building bridges?). Judging by the chipped blade I think it has lived its life as a tool for cutting heads off nails or prying apart timber during demolitions. I think I'll sell it as I don't have the sharpening gear to deal with removing all the metal required to repair it not to mention ever having the requirement let alone the timber to cut a 1 inch mortice in. Even the work bench I am building at the moment is not that massive!

Peter, Also I posted earlier (reply yet to vetted by a moderator) that a bit of digging in the archive (circa Jan 09) amusingly revealed the suspected Nurse and Co firmer chisel had been bought by another forum member (slow6) and later sold to me through ebay. I believe you ID'd it then too . The ID was inconclusive at that date as the horse didn't appear to match the Nurse and Co horse logo closely. I am not fussed about the exact origins as I am after 'users' at the moment more than keepsakes.

The user made chisel may have started life as a file.

I tried reshaping an old file to make a scraper tool for turning and gave up flattening it because it was just too hard.

It was common practice to make small molding plane irons from old files. My grandad said they would take a file and a wood template along to the blacksmith for any special shaped cutter they needed. It would be likley to make a chisel too if the cost was less than a bought one.
Regards
John

Originally Posted by kman-oz

The user made chisel may have started life as a file.

I tried reshaping an old file to make a scraper tool for turning and gave up flattening it because it was just too hard.

If you magnify the picture a bit, the marks on the side would seem to support your theory.
Cheers,
Jim