Best selling wood projects - The Disston Number 9 Backsaw A Lucky Find

Best selling wood projects

My hometown is Brisbane, and we often travel there - as I have oceans of family in that lovely city.

On one of our recent trips, we were making good time, so we planned a late lunch and pulled off the highway into the little hamlet of Bangalow.
There is a particular park that has been a stopping spot for us for decades.
Well, on this occasion, the town was busy - no car parks anywhere - not even down by the old railway station.
We drove around and around before spotting a vacancy at the bottom of the hotel carpark.
For Patrons Only didnt worry us, as we were going inside to order drinks in any case.

Unknown to us all these years, was the fact that we had parked next to the back gate of HEATHS OLD WARES & COLLECTABLES

After lunch the emporium begged us to go see.

heathsOldWaresCounter.jpg

Apart from having cornered the market in old wooden ladders, Heath had aisles full of wonders.

It was down this next aisle that I discovered a milk churn full of saws:

aisle1HeathsOldWaresBangalo.jpg

And among these saws there was this:

Needless to say, it didnt look this good at the time, and it has had a set and a sharpen since, but it was an unmistakable Disston Number 9 Backsaw.

The handle was complete, with no cracks or chips out of the spurs.

Even the brass saw nuts were in good shape.

The blade was straight and had only the slightest suggestion of rust dimpling.
This was a must have!
A quick check of my wallet showed that the moths had long ago vacated, and I was in the position of convincing my beloved of what an awesome buy this was, and could she go find an ATM while I guarded this piece of royalty of the sawmakers art.

Long story short - it travelled with us to Brisbane, where I bored every one of my relatives who had not already been warned to avoid me, on what a miraculous find this had been, and how hard it was to find one of these in the wild.  Maybe they are common somewhere, but this is the first that I have seen in thirty years of sniffing out old tools.

There is a little more on Disston Backsaws HERE.

no9saw.jpg

I have now more backsaws than I regularly use and a cull is in order.
It has prompted me to consider for my next BLOG post a small presentation on Backsaws from the perspective of usefulness.
Stay tuned.

In the meantime I am one happy little vegemite.

Interestingly, Peter has responded to this post with an application for a patent by William J Reagan, issued on December 8 1874 for an Improvement in Handles for Saws, that contains the recess for the thumb.
The inventor thought that this same improvement could be added to other tool handles such as those on planes.
The link can be found here:

Patent number: 157634 Filing date: Nov 14, 1874 Issue date: Dec 8, 1874

Many thanks Peter.

NOTE: - All images used from other websites are acknowledged under each image.



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Best selling wood projects - Chisels and Such

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One of the most useful of our workshop tools is the humble chisel.  In historic terms, it is also one of the oldest in homo sapiens toolbox.  From stone - through copper, bronze and iron - the modern steel chisel has a long heritage.  As woodworking has refined itself over the centuries, chisels have evolved into the variations on the chisel theme that we have today.

We now have bench chisels, butt chisels, paring chisels, dovetail chisels, mortice chisels, and all the variations of carving chisels that you can imagine.  There are likely to be other categories that I have left out.

You will find treatises on chisel types in numerous publications, so I wont go into them here, but the most common garden variety of chisels these days - is the bench chisels.  These are sold everywhere from hardware stores to specialist tool manufacturers, and usually in sets.

Here are some that are on offer at present:

• Plastic handled chisels
• Traditional design chisels
• Evolved design chisels
• Combination design chisels  

These modern steel chisels can all trace their lineage back to something like this one - a chunky firmer chisel with a socket for the handle.
This one was made by Ward and Payne in Sheffield in England.

It is only one inch wide, but is a beast of a thing and quite heavy - even without the handle.

Modern bench chisels have bevelled edges, which helps reduce the weight of the chisels in the hand, giving them better balance.

To further reduce the mass of the chisel at the handle, it can be mounted with a tang like this old Robert Sorby - also made in Sheffield.

Here is a set of tanged bevelled edge chisels (except for the smallest which is too narrow to carry a bevel).  All of these are English - made in Sheffield, but from many years ago.   Most were made in the first half of the 20th century.  The majority of these handles are English London Pattern chisel handles.  They look lovely but are an acquired taste as far as comfort in the hand is concerned.

They take and hold a keen edge, and more than hold their own against their modern equivalents - when used for general woodworking. Belting holes in jarrah or spotted gum all day will pull them up, but very few of us do that.

Most of these are F Woodcocks (made between 1939 and 1957),  but there are plenty of quality English makers, whose chisels are just as good.  Here are some:

English Chisels

• Robert Sorby
• William Marples
• Hale Bros
• Charles Taylor
• Edward Preston
• S J Addis
• Lindley
• Herring
• Pearson
• Ward and Payne
• Alex Mathieson (Scottish)
• Brades
• F Woodcock
• Greaves
• Thomas Ibbotson
• I & H Sorby

The best English steel was made from Swedish ore, and has some of those same qualities as the famed, and widely sought after Swedish steel chisel makers - Berg, Jernbolaget, Kronan, Toledo.  Sadly, older English chisels are overlooked in this country, except by those who know how good they are.  Not in the UK of course, where they are still valued.

The point is, that old English chisels are not the flavour of the month here in Australia - either at Sunday Markets or online auction sites. They are cheap, and excellent value for money.  It is easy to put together a set of English bench chisels for very little outlay.

I have put together this set over many years.  If I was doing this again, I would concentrate on the makers in bold type simply from personal preference, and the fact that I consider them to be the best in their class - but there is not much in it.  It may take quite some time to put together a set from the same maker, but a composite set like mine could be done at one Sunday market - for around the cost of a single new 1 inch chisel from the links above.

Because E A Berg - Sweden - chisels are often used as a benchmark for fine steel in old chisels, I will add a link for more information.
For a short history of E A Berg and his steel product making ventures - see here:
E A Berg

Enjoy Your Break
I will be taking a break from The Village Woodworker Blog for a few weeks, while I attend to other matters.  You will have an enforced break from the happenings in this neck of the woods.  Enjoy .....

I hope that your segue from autumn to winter - (late spring to summer for our northern cousins) is full of the joys of the season .....................
.................... and happy woodworking to all .........................
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Best selling wood projects - Woodwork in Southern China Old and New Part 2

Best selling wood projects

On the Tibetan Plateau, summers are short and the winters are very cold, with deep snow.
The wet season is late this year.
Note the trees!

 I was surprised to find that wood is a most common material for building houses.  A traditional house has two floors and a loft.  The ground floor is for housing the animals - essential in winter - while the second floor is living space.  Most commonly, this is two large rooms separated by a foyer cum store room, which houses the steps up to the loft.

One room is the kitchen - dining - lounge, while the other is a multi-purpose room which also acts as a bedroom. Bedding is stacked away against the walls during the day, leaving lots of floor space.

The loft is bedded  with earth for insulation, and is used for storage of fodder for the winter. It is open at one end and is also used for drying materials including clothing.

The houses often have a front walled courtyard and gate - like this one being built by the owners.  Up to three generations will share the one home.  We found the people to be engaging and wonderfully hospitable.

Rammed earthen walls - much like Australian pise, or Mexican adobe - frame the courtyard.  These need a small roof to prevent erosion.  The lads are building this in the left of the picture.  Below is a view from the outside.

Note the extra wide eaves on the house roof to protect the walls.
This end also has the opening to the loft.

Of course, with the rise of tourism in all areas of China, changes are happening to traditional building.  The tourists are ninety nine percent Chinese who are travelling within their own country.  Westerners, like us, make up a very small proportion of visitors.

And so some of the new houses are fancier, and the ground floor rooms are for guests. There are also many more windows. Cop an optic on those pillars.  Brought from the deep forests far away.

Here is some sub floor detail showing the carpentry involved.  Timbers are almost exclusively native pine or fir.  There are spruce forests, but I did not recognise spruce timber used in construction.  That is not to say that it isnt used, just that I didnt see any.

We were lucky enough to walk in the spruce forests - way up high.  They are stunningly beautiful.

 I cannot get over the genuine beauty and warmth of the people that we encountered in Southern China.  They are gentle, hard working folk with a fabulous sense of humour.  We made many friends here.

Love life ..... and live ...............



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Best selling wood projects - A Value Far Beyond Pearls Old World Chisels

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Yep - Old Tools time again.
By now you will know that I have a relationship with old hand tools that permeates my woodwork.  And from time to time I wax lyrical about them.

Anyhoo, years and years back - cant remember when, it may be decades by now, I acquired one chisel among a few others, that I liked immediately, and have used ever since. It is a Mathieson bevelled edge with a lovely fine blade.

Ever since, I have kept looking for others - and every few years or more, another has come along.

On Sunday, I found another, and now have a grand total of four.
These are 1/8, 1/2, 5/8 and 1-1/4.
The handles are a joy to hold, and the steel is very good.

Alex Mathieson - Glasgow - made hand tools from 1822-1966.  Just when these particular four chisels were made is unknown to me, but Id like to think that they are either late 19th or early 20th century tools.

The handles are beech, and brass ferrules guard against splitting - as these are tanged bevelled edge chisels.  They are excellent paring chisels, the shape of the handle aiding their dexterity.

Having shared my find with some friends, the subject of American chisels came along, specifically in relation to trying to identify trade marks stamped on the chisel face or socket.

This is the one that sparked the discussion, and next to it, what it would have looked like in its younger days:

Specifically: Union Hardware Co - Torrington Connecticut
It occurred to me to post some more of the American made chisel logos to assist in identifying troublesome and hazy trade marks in the future.
So - here they are.

Chisels Manufactured in the USA
Brand and Trademark

Of necessity, this will be a work in progress as I do not have access to all the possible trade marks and logos - there are hundreds.  It is but a start.

Blue Grass by The Belknap Hardware & Manufacturing Co

D R Barton - Rochester NY - One of the best

Douglass Manufacturing Co - Precursor to The James Swan Co - and as good as ...

Greenlee - Rockford Illinois

C E Jennings & Co

G I Mix & Co

And ........

Peck, Stowe & Wilcox - later to become:

Pexto - along with P S & W - one of the best

Sargent & Co NY

Stanley - of course!  Of which there were numerous trade marks.

The James Swan Co - successor to the Douglass - One of my top two US chisel makers of all time.

L & I J White

Image courtesy of Nicholas Bourke - Gratias my friend

Winsted Edge Tool Works - aka Thomas Witherby

T H Witherby - The other of my top two US chisel makers of all time.

Well this is a start - Ill add to these marks as they come to hand.  In the meantime here is a small reference for those seeking clarification of US Chisel Trade Marks & Logos.

If you have any different logos or trade marks that you dont mind sharing, you can:

....it would be very much appreciated.

Happy chiselling
SG

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Best selling wood projects - Cheap Chinese Chisels Good Value Or Just Plain Junk

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A Small Review

They are multi-branded and ubiquitous - racked on shelves in discount stores, bundled in hundreds at Sunday Markets, sold on the internet by the thousands, and packaged in boxes at every hardware store in the country.

I have seldom even given them time of day - let alone taken them seriously.  Funny how end of financial year sales can trigger a persons consciousness to think in a completely different way.

I was in our local big green hardware store last week (because it has a toilet and ........ never mind!) and I had to pass the GOING CHEAP sales trolley.  There it was - a box of Trojan bevelled edge bench chisels for $15.

How bad could they be?

Now, a set of five Veritas bench chisels sells for $295 plus freight, and a set of five Lie Nielsens is $340.  A set of six Ultimax Harold and Saxons will set you back $750.

For less than $4 each, these seemed insanely priced - even if they were junk.  If that turns out to be the case, I could always use them to open paint tins.

To say that my expectations of these chisels were low, is almost akin to the hopes that supporters have for the success of the Parramatta Eels and the Western Sydney Giants this year.

So, off to the checkout to part with some small change. 
You know that these have a lifetime warranty quipped the checkout chap.
Yeah, sure, as soon as they break, their lifetime is over - thought I as I walked out the door.

Heres what was in the box - four bevelled edge chisels sized 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 1 inch.  On the front - precision ground for easy cutting ......!   Hmmm, the grinding might be precise, but it was done with a fairly coarse grinder - look at those striations on the back of the blade.

So, first task will be to flatten the backs of all four chisels.

Here was the first surprise - the backs were all quite flat and didnt need much to remove the grind marks. Only the area closest to the edge of the blade needs immediate attention, the rest will get flattened over the course of the chisels sharpening lives.

The bevels that create the cutting edge were indeed precision ground, and merely needed a touch up on the fine oilstone, followed by a honing on a hard white arkansas stone.  In both cases I use a kerosene/oil mix of 3/1 for lubrication.

The handles are made from red polycarbonate, and can take a beating.  There is a black rubberised material on both sides to aid hand use and provide grip.  The blade has a type of socketted tang connection to the handle, which is moulded onto it.

The handle flares just before the blade, and also has a built in hollow for the thumb.  This works equally well with the left or the right hand.  I am right handed, and when I used the chisels for paring, they felt very comfortable - the design obviously works.

Sadly, I discovered the hard way that the side edges of the back of the blade were quite sharp - a by product of the precision grinding no doubt.  Nevertheless, while paring, it is my custom to support the blade in my left hand and slide it forwards into the cut with my right.  My left index finger sported a band-aid for the rest of the day.

All of the blades need the edges relieved on the oilstone to prevent this occuring again.

So - how good are they?

An easy test that anyone can perform on a sharpened chisel - is to see how well it handles the paring of end grain.  I tried paring blackbutt, rose gum, spongy pine, and even western red cedar.  These latter two are likely to simply fold under dull chisels.  No trouble at all.  Above is a sample series of cuts in black wattle - like a hot knife through butter.

They even come with plastic blade guards to keep them sharp and protect ones fingers.

Will these chisels slice through jarrah and gidgee all day - dont know - probably not, but what chisels will.  I usually dont use those timbers, and neither do the majority of woodworkers, Id venture to suggest.  For the kinds of woodworking that most of us do, most of the time, these chisels will not only be fine, they will perform very well.

Clearly they arent junk - if anything they are an absolute bargain - even at full retail price.  On sale, they are a steal, and they would not be out of place in any workshop, or as a set in a mobile tool chest.

...... and happy woodworking to all ........
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