Thread: 2" E.A Berg Chisel information please!

Hi there!

I didn't see a link to a picture, maybe I missed it. Yellow plastic handle late 1940s early 50s. Red plastic handle 1950s. Red plastic handle with 'Bahco' 1960 on. Wood handle with blue Berg decal probably 1950s, with green lable probably 1940s I believe though not totally certain. in the 1950s you could choose wood or plastic.

2 in wide Bergs (or 51mm) are not super common - they often sell for 2-400 USD on Ebay - but they're not exactly rarities either. Bergs of size 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 38mm, 44mm and 55mm are less common than 6mm-32mm. Most 2-in Bergs that sell online are the wood-handled ones, but there are red handled ones too.

Big Berg chisels are really cool!

Originally Posted by sch549623

2 in wide Bergs (or 51mm) are not super common - they often sell for 2-400 USD

Is that $200 - $400 USD ?

TT

Originally Posted by sch549623

Hi there!

I didn't see a link to a picture, maybe I missed it. Yellow plastic handle late 1940s early 50s. Red plastic handle 1950s. Red plastic handle with 'Bahco' 1960 on. Wood handle with blue Berg decal probably 1950s, with green lable probably 1940s I believe though not totally certain. in the 1950s you could choose wood or plastic.

2 in wide Bergs (or 51mm) are not super common - they often sell for 2-400 USD on Ebay - but they're not exactly rarities either. Bergs of size 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 38mm, 44mm and 55mm are less common than 6mm-32mm. Most 2-in Bergs that sell online are the wood-handled ones, but there are red handled ones too.

Big Berg chisels are really cool!

Thanks sch549623 for that info.

It's wood with Blue decal, so I guess it's about 50's. I guessed it was newer than that, mainly because of its condition..


Thanks again

Yeah, lately prices for 2 inch Berg chisels have been in Oz. I noticed a used butt chisel go for like $160 the other day. It's a shame 'cause there's no way that buyer is going to use it. And tools were made to use. Everything Berg is 1959 or older since from 1960 on they were all labeled Bahco.

That said, new Berg chisels were sold by stores well into the 1980's. An aquaintence of mine recalls buying a lots of them in various Stockholm shops in the 1990's. There's even one store in the countryside from which you could buy new ones up to about five years ago. I guess they had a lot of stock to unload.

This one is unused,I picked it up from Stu at Toolexchange a while back.
Very hard to find an unused one.

Does one often use such a large chisel? What for?

Originally Posted by snafuspyramid

Does one often use such a large chisel? What for?

Often - no.
That would explain why so many are in such good condition.
Realistically, chisel manufacturers would not have made very many in this size, especially compared to the numbers of say 1 inch chisels that must have been produced.
Everyone has at least one chisel that is one inch wide because this size is so useful.
Today, many of us buy tools, not because we need them but to "complete a set" or for other reasons.
There must be some occupation somewhere that uses 2 inch chisels regularly, but I can't think what it might be.
And, sadly, yes I have a two inch chisel that I have only used about five times in the last ten years.

Cheers
SG

Hmm thought so. I have a 1 1/2 Titan firmer, also in suspiciously unused condition.

I'm still agonising over whether to sell it. I am a renter, so am concerned to maintain a ruthless no-useless-tool policy. (This explains, incidentally, why I don't own any powered machines - I can fit my pretty robust collection of hand tools in a single XL packing box, saws in another small one).

Plus, I don't know if I can emotionally survive flattening another hard-as-ice Titan chisel, especially in this size.

With that said, my 1 1/4" Titan is my "go to" chisel, along with the 3/4".

One thing I've been using larger chisels for is paring the bottom of cross lap joints, but I now have a router plane for that.

To the OP, unless you are a collector, I'd personally be looking at other more useful tools you might buy from the proceeds...

I used a 2" Berg, in good condition, so probably not used much - for splitting off tenons (12 for grandson's bench) in old oregon. Worked like a charm - and so quick, almost no paring to fit. Of course the oregon was straight grained (recyled door frames from 1952 build). Definitely staying in my tool kit.

Cheers
Peter

Originally Posted by snafuspyramid

........Plus, I don't know if I can emotionally survive flattening another hard-as-ice Titan chisel, especially in this size.

Strange you should say that.....
I spent a large part of the weekend also flattening the back of 11/2" Titan firmer. I had all of the heavy artillery out, Tormek, steel plates, diamond paste, shiraz, waterstones and was reduced to doing 10 minutes on it each hour until I could see a blurry reflection of myself ... but then again that could have been the shiraz!
Its now in the 'user drawer' but...........

fletty

For those interested, there is a nice short history of EA Berg here:
Erik Antonberg Short History

Sounds like quite a character!

I use a 1 3/4 Berg butt chisel to cut into knife lines for dados and stuff. It's faster than a narrower size. It's the chisel I use most often, even for paring. I would use a 2-inch, but don't have one in working order.

I think the shorter butt chisels are useful. The longer ones look nice, but they're heavy, I think unwieldy. But that's just me. I guess you can get used to anything.

Originally Posted by sch549623

I use a 1 3/4 Berg butt chisel to cut into knife lines for dados and stuff. It's faster than a narrower size. It's the chisel I use most often, even for paring. I would use a 2-inch, but don't have one in working order.

I was doing this yesterday with my 2 inch Berg. The full length is unwieldy due to the weight so i'll try it with the shorter one.