Titan Sizes in Bevels.

[Deesinister]

God I hate this forum sometimes. I had just stopped in to enquire about Titan chisel sizes. I was on a mission. It was to be a brief visit as I have lots to do.
I have now spent 20mins looking at Liogier rasps vs Nicholsons and looking at pretty pictures of Bow saws. This place is deadly!

Ok now onto the reason I was here. I whacking a heap of stuff on Ebay and was just putting up a bunch of Titan Chisels (bevels) they are a motley bunch but all have good lengths although some are butt chisels. Anyway, when I was measuring them for width I noticed one had a peculiar width - 15/16ths to be precise. Is it me or is that a really odd size? Ive seen a link somewhere here to some pages with the sizes on but can't seem to find it. Any help PLease Pic below.
From left to right is
1 1/4", 1", 15/16", 7/8" 3/4", 5/8",1/2", 3/8" and 1/2".

D

[nick_b00]

Dee,

Officially it's 1/8, 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8, 1, 1 1/4, 1 1/2, 1 3/4, 2.

Unofficially I've seen and have some inbetweeners. And I don't mean the UK TV series - The Inbetweeners - E4.com

The website is Peters Peter Robinson's Galoot Pages

Happy hunting!

NB

[Deesinister]

Thanks nick. I was pretty sure it would be 1:8 but that chisel was bang on 15/16th all the way down the blade. It's an original handle as well as you can see traces of the Rosette logo transfer. Who knows? Thanks for the link .
D

[issatree]

Hi D,
The only correct Handle to my way of thinking is the Last one.
I have some Titan's, but I prefer Mathieson's ? of Glasgow.
Just collect them, but rarely use them.

[Deesinister]

Hi Isatree,
All the handles bar 2 are correct (or at least Titan made). The Largest chisel and the sec on from right seem to be user made. They had quite a selection over the years. On the one Im talking about, you can see the earlier rosette pattern (see pic below)and Poppas pic which I stole (apologies) for comparison. Im not sure if they signify any particular time order though.
You're right about Matheisons, nice chisels.

Cheers
D

[Claw Hama]

D, just a note on your first paragraph, there is ZERO comparison between a Liogier and a Nicholson. You shouldn't even speek of them in the same thread. Do youself a favour and get a Liogier and give the Nicholson to someone you don't like
Chisel brands and models are such interesting tools, have fun.

[tonyw]

I got out my old bevel edged Titan chisel that I must have picked up at flea market decades ago. It's width is a little over 1 7/16". This must have been the original size since the original grinding marks on the side bevels go over on to the sides. The handle is broken so that if I ever decide to use it I will have to make another one, as well as spend a lot more time sharpening it. The edge is quite rounded.

[Scribbly Gum]

Titan chisels are very good, and IMHO every Australian woodworker should have at least one.
If it doesn't get regular use, then it can be brought out on Australia Day to show that we once actually made decent tools in this country.
Having said that, I have seen quite a few Titans over the years, and odd sizes do come along fairly often. I am guessing that not every chisel that left the factory was measured for width using a micrometer, and Titan did manufacture chisels by the tens of thousands.
So the law of averages is going to suggest that some will be not quite factory spec.
Who cares.
These are great chisels, and working with a 15/16 inch chisel is going to show no recognisable difference to working with a 1 inch or a 7/8 inch chisel in most cases.
Of course there might just be that one occasion where a 15/16 inch wide dado needs chiselling, and only a 15/16 inch chisel will do - but I doubt it.
Rejoice in the fact that you have an excellent product that was made in Australia, and enjoy using it.

Cheers
SG.

PS: Happy Australia Day

[Deesinister]

These are great chisels, and working with a 15/16 inch chisel is going to show no recognisable difference to working with a 1 inch or a 7/8 inch chisel in most cases.
Of course there might just be that one occasion where a 15/16 inch wide dado needs chiselling, and only a 15/16 inch chisel will do - but I doubt it.
Rejoice in the fact that you have an excellent product that was made in Australia, and enjoy using it.

Cheers
SG.

PS: Happy Australia Day

Quite right Scrib, I have a full set of Titan firmers and they sharpen up lovely.
These are just odds and sods I've bought over years with the intention of rehandling but the shed needs a clear out as I have way to many "good intention" tools. Having said that, pretty much every week at the swap meet finds me coming home with at least one orphan.

Looking Forward to Australia Day and the Cricket!(If they're still playing)

[IanW]

It seems to me that there is a huge amount of variation in chisel widths - exact sizes as boasted by LN et al are a pretty recent development. If you study the measured sizes of chisels on sites like 'Tool Exchange' a lot of them are off by a mm or two from any 'standard' size, metric or Imperial. I have always assumed that is a result of the way they are made & the skill of the operators doing the final grinding. At least one of the Sheffield manufacturers boasts that their products are still finished one at a time by 'skilled craftsmen'...

We were taught to ignore the nominal size of a chisel because of the variation from chisel to chisel. You always started with the size chisel that looked appropriate to the particular job, and used that as the basis for setting out. For e.g. the mortise gauge was always set from the chisel you intended to chop the mortise with - you didn't mark out an exact 1/2" mortise & go looking for a 1/2" chisel.

Until very recently, I never had any concerns whatever about precise chisel sizes. But I now have one situation where it does matter, caused by the acquisition of a hollow-chisel mortiser. These are great little machines, but the mortise often needs a bit of quick attention after the machine has finished, to clean small dags from the sides. I had to sort through a few old mortising chisels to find a couple that are really close to the 1/4" and 3/8" hollow chisels for the machine. This is the only example that I can think of, where precision in chisel size has ever been a concern.

Cheers,