Thread: Opinionated = Good

I think " Bodger Bob " would have been thrilled with the newest technology. " At last ! I can have crappy technique and still make a perfect joint in half the time !

In addition to pig stickers there were also these hefty so-and-sos ... made with the "good steel" laminated onto the rest of the body ... so I think it is fair to say there were some jobs unsuited to the bevel-edge type of chisel.


Paul

P1010004.jpg P1010006.jpg

Thanks Soundman.
Does anyone know when the term 'pigsticker' came to be used for mortise chisels?
Cheers,
Jim

"Pigsticker" is quite a derogatory term for the serious student of these chisels. "English Oval Bolstered Mortice Chisel" is the preferred term. I am not sure when pigsticker was first used, but why the term was used is quite self-evident. I generally refer to them as OBM chisels.

Paul, what separates the OBM from the (very worn!) examples you have are simply that yours have sockets. OBM chisels are tanged. By logic, the tanged versions will go back further in time. I have had the socketed type in the past. They were just too long in the blade for my taste., but otherwise really excellent chisels. Here are two Ibbottsons and a Ward I rehandled and sold on the forum.



.. and a few of the vintage OBM chisels I have (I mostly use 1/8", 1/4" and 5/16", but the 3/8" and 1/2" do get occasional work time).



Regards from Perth

Derek

While searching for the origin of the word pigsticker in relation to mortice chisels I came across an article on making handles for them. I thought the style was familiar. Sure enough, there was your name at the bottom Derek.
cheers,
Jim
ps every time I tried to put a smiley in the message the website froze on me. This is the fifth time of asking.

Originally Posted by jimbur

Jim
ps every time I tried to put a smiley in the message the website froze on me. This is the fifth time of asking.

IE related? ... https://www.woodworkforums.com/f36/up...ml#post1559459

"Pig sticker" is a term used for any heavy crude looking knife.

If you have an understanding of pig hunting with dogs....you need a heavy knife both to punch thru the rib cage and not get broken off as the pig struggles in the grip of the dogs.
Ya punch the knife in and give it a big twist, hopefully putting a big cut in the heart or decending arteries.
The last thing you need is to be left with nothing but a handle in ya hand.
My brother tells the story of a mate pig hunting with a knife made from a power hacksaw blade and exactly that happening....left with no knife and the dogs' grip failing....he climbed a nearby tree......nearly lost his best dog and ruined a pair of underwear.

If you look at the second picture, those chisels would not but unreasonable to use for actually sticking pigs.
They look more like knives than a chisels and if the hilt was lenghtened instead of being rounded to match the handle and the blade was sharpened with a long edge and may be a loittle wider.....they would be almost ideal pig stickers

cheers

Never been pig hunting but we used to kill our own pigs and I just used a heavy knife for the bleeding. But then they were stunned first. In the old days when the world and I were young you could buy a "sticking of pork" at the butchers which included the part the knife went in.
Cheers,
Jim

Warning Gratuitous Photos of My Tail vise.
These are my mortise chisels. The new looking ones are over 30 years old. Purchased new in the late 70's and used a lot back then, not so much now.
Sizes: 15mm, 12mm, 10mm, 5mm, and the ring in old one 3mm. This is the set I use.
The old ones are 9mm, 7mm, 6mm, and 5mm. The 7mm is Marples. The others only fragments of information, Nottingham and Warranted.
All have Beech handles. These are the only duplicate tools I have that I don't use.