Thread: A Trayful (or two) of Titans

Ian.....I have a good mate (mechanic by trade) who does a bit of "horse trading of all kinds of stuff. In amongst his mechical tools he had a socketed Berg 1" wide. NO timber handle and yes it had been used a lot by a hammer striking the socket. As soon as I saw it I confiscated it!! Much to his dislike. He said it was a great piece for scraping old gaskets off a surface. So I went on Ebay and found some Stanleys that looked tired and gave him one to replace the Berg.
Not long after the Berg swap he gave me a very old Ward 1¼" firmer that he had acquired. Its a very "heavy" chisel. I cleaned it up and turned a hexagonal handle for it. The steel is pretty good and sharpens up well and will hold an edge. When I got back to a work ready state he asked me what I had done with it. When I showed him, he reckoned it was a different chisel to what he had given me.
Why is it, that we have a "soft spot" for quality tools that have been abused, and HAVE to bring them back from there otherwise abused state?

Nice work, Ian. I'm working on a 1/8" increment set of tang firmers that I plan to rehandle. Bit more of a PITA than the sockets, but still a good project. No judgement here for restoring them. If they're anything like those I've come across they need it pretty badly!

As soon as I can find the elusive 7/8" that I need I'll get onto it and post photos.

Originally Posted by IanW

The only job left now is to get the BEs all flat & sharp. I've made a start & done a couple of the easier ones, but lapping blade backs is NOT my favourite pastime! I've given each back a good rub on my coarse diamond plate, and they mostly look like this: 5 Flattening.jpg6 Flattening.jpg so I know I'm in for a lot of lapping! Someone has "cheated" and tipped this one up to make a reverse bevel about 4-5mm wide :8 Flatening.jpg which is not really satisfactory. I like to get at least 25-30mm properly flat & polished, but it takes an awful lot of rubbing to get there! This one is almost flat now, but there's still a lot of work left to take out the slight rounding near the tip, & then polish out the coarse grit marks: 7 Flatening.jpg

But I'll get there, a few rainy afternoons when I'm brain-dead & not wanting to do anything that requires thinking will see them all looking like real tools again. There is something very satisfying about seeing a bunch of what were pretty lame ducks all sprightly again....

Cheers,

Ian, I know you have rehabbed many more chisels than me, but I thought I would indicate how I handle chisels like this (I lack patience...).

For the first chisel above, after a quick rub on a stone/plate I hit the high spots in the middle (why are they almost all like this?) with a grinding cone on the Dremel, then all I need to do is flatten the edge, usually back about 2" or so. As a result the centre section is very slightly lower than the edges - not a much as a Japanese chisel. I creep up on the right depth with the Dremel, check rubbing on a plate 2 or more times.

For the second chisel, I grind back to the edge of the dubbed over section at 90 degrees, flatten the back, and grind a new bevel. May lose a bit of length, but at my age, I don't think I will wear the chisel out.

Cheers
Peter

Ian, those chisels are looking good mate. No criticism here for replacing the handles, done quite a few myself.
I think I would also do as Peter said and grind that one back, losing a couple of mm length wouldn't bother me.

All I can say is that there are not enough chisels in this collection.

Originally Posted by Heavansabove

....I hit the high spots in the middle (why are they almost all like this?) with a grinding cone on the Dremel, then all I need to do is flatten the edge, usually back about 2" or so. As a result the centre section is very slightly lower than the edges - not a much as a Japanese chisel. I creep up on the right depth with the Dremel, check rubbing on a plate 2 or more times.

For the second chisel, I grind back to the edge of the dubbed over section at 90 degrees, flatten the back, and grind a new bevel. May lose a bit of length, but at my age, I don't think I will wear the chisel out...

Apologies, folks, not ignoring you, just been out of interweb range for a couple of days.

Peter, I don't own a Dremel, & if I did, I'm not sure I have the skills to tackle the back of a chisel like that. The diamond plate is exceedingly tedious, but at least it's pretty safe. Like I said, it's the sort of job I keep for rainy afternoons when the neurons are resting....

The chisel with the giant back-bevel just might get the grinder apples to it, yet. I'll see how it goes after another few (hundred) strokes. There's still a bit of shallow pitting to come off, but if it looks like my arms will fall off before it's properly flat, yep, it'll be a few mm shorter. As you say, it's unlikely to make much difference in what's left of my woodworking time...

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Doggie

All I can say is that there are not enough chisels in this collection.

Not a 'collection', Dogs, it's a 'set'. There's a difference, you know.

You'll just have to tempt me, by finding a few 1/8th incremental sizes. I really would like a 1/8" for this 'set', but since you've informed me that Titan didn't do 1/8" in the 'fine' socket BEs, I'll just have to keep my eyes open for something similar in a decent brand......

Cheers,

I guess collectors just have bigger sets Ian.

Originally Posted by IanW

Peter, I don't own a Dremel, & if I did, I'm not sure I have the skills to tackle the back of a chisel like that. The diamond plate is exceedingly tedious, but at least it's pretty safe. Like I said, it's the sort of job I keep for rainy afternoons when the neurons are resting....,

Ian, the Dremel is very easy to use. Variable speed and a small grinding cone does the trick. If I can do it, anyone can. Not my idea, from memory Jim Davey showed me the technique, and I guess he saw the technique somewhere. A Dremel is pretty cheap, and comes with a stack of cutting wheels, cones etc. I tried cutting saw plate, but that was not succcessful.
Cheers

Originally Posted by Doggie

I guess collectors just have bigger sets Ian.

So yours is bigger than mine?

(Much, much bigger, I suspect....)

I don't care, I'm at the age where it doesn't matter much any more. So (or should that be ?)

Maybe a 1/8th socket berg?

Originally Posted by Doggie

Maybe a 1/8th socket berg?

A Berg would certainly do the job, Dogs, but it would stand out like a sore thumb because of that ridge they put around the top of the socket (I could grind & polish it off, but I don't think my tool vandalism extends that far!). There are other makes kicking about that would match better. For example, I've got a Greenlee socket that could easily pass for one of these Titans as long as you don't see the stamp, so I'll just see what comes along. I'm in no hurry, and it gives me something specific to look for whenever I come across a batch of old chisels. The chase is a big part of the fun, isn't it?.......

Cheers,

The chase and the research IS the fun for me.

Originally Posted by IanW

Not a 'collection', Dogs, it's a 'set'. There's a difference, you know.

You'll just have to tempt me, by finding a few 1/8th incremental sizes. I really would like a 1/8" for this 'set', but since you've informed me that Titan didn't do 1/8" in the 'fine' socket BEs, I'll just have to keep my eyes open for something similar in a decent brand......

Cheers,

I have made a few chisels a bit narrower to fill out sets. lay out the size you want it to be on the flat side, sharpie or blue tape, grind close and finish with a diamond plate.