Thread: Very old chisel with octagonal handle

Might be somewhat off topic but...

In 1596, Dutch explorers attempted a North East passage around Russia to avoid South Africa. They were forced to winter over in Nova Zembla (now called Novaya Zemlya). They built a hut from parts of their ship. In June of 1597 they started rowing back to Holland in a small boat. Twelve of the original seventeen made it home in November. This chisel was one of the artifacts left behind. It was frozen and untouched for 290 years. Perhaps if the expedition were successful, Derek would have been born in Siberia. Bill asked about features that might help to date it. Here are some notes; feel free to correct my suggestions.
1. Tapered octagonal handle. This seems to be the most common pattern late 17th to early 19th century. Later chisels are more likely to have turned handles. The amount of taper shown in Moxon (1683) is more extreme and I have wondered if it was exaggerated by the artist; this chisel is more moderate. It tapers to just a little larger than the bolster.
2. No ferrule. The ferrule also seems to be a 19th century innovation. I am having trouble thinking of 18th century examples.
3. Tapered blade. The blade tapers in width in most 18th century chisels. My feeling is that the amount of taper is reduced as the century wears on, maybe nearly straight by 1800. The taper on this chisel is pretty strong and perhaps the best clue to its early age.
4. Bevelled edge. I think this is a little bit of a surprise. We usually think of this feature as 19th, 20th century. These bevels are strong, maybe forged rather than just ground. Interesting.
5. Bolster. At first glance this looks like the filed octagonal bolsters we see on 19th century tools, but it is not quite so careful, so perhaps just forged, not filed.
It would be nice to see a lot more examples. However, I think it is interesting how little the design changed for the next 300 years.











This is a from a Dutch site for the Rijksmuseum. Here is another picture, click on extra groot right below picture to get large file. I got pictures of other objects by manipulating the number in the address. There are about 200 objects, but not every number gives a picture, so it is a lot of work.
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