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Mystery chisel

Mike G

Mike G

Petrified Pine
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Has anyone any idea what this might be?

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I bought a job lot of chisels for my son-in-law-to-be, and this was amongst them. It is really heavily and crudely made, and reminds me of a cold-chisel, for stone-masonry.....but with a wooden handle. Clearly, the handle isn't original. The skew at the business end again looks like it could be for stone work, but I haven't a clue really.
 
I don't know.

As it is, it's not a chisel, there's no bolster or other way to resist the forward thrust. But as said, the handle fits so badly it's unlikely to be original.

So I'd guess at something about that size that has been repurposed by putting a handle on. Maybe a thread chaser, that got broken off at the tip?

Although the old books say they need to be fitted into a handle, I've only ever seen old ones without. They normally were only tapered on the edges, to v- point, not a four sided taper.

Or it could be a much abused screwdriver, crudely rehandled and reshaped.

A broken tip could have been ground off for reuse. And opening paint tins looks like something it would do.

Is there a logo in an oval on one side? Could you try cleaning that up with some wire wool?
 
I'll have a go at cleaning it up tomorrow. It's massively bigger than any screwdriver I've ever seen......and almost square in section where it enters the handle.
 
How big is it? I'd assumed that was a piece of A4 paper behind it.
 
Looks like a screwdriver to me. My grandad had some chunky, rectangular section screwdrivers. I don’t really know what he did for work except that he was variously described as an “engineer” or a “machinist” so possibly some of his tools were self-made.
 
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Not remotely the same as your tool, but after doing some detective work (my gran worked for Ford at one point so maybe my grandad did too), I see a square section screwdriver in a 1911 ford toolkit on this page:

The 1911 Model T Ford Tool Kit – Model T Ford Fix

modeltfordfix.com modeltfordfix.com
So commercially produced, square section screwdrivers do at least exist occasionally in nature.
 
At the moment I think I can see letter N under the paint on image 5.
Which would put pay to it being a crude blacksmith made screwdriver unless it has been repurposed.
Cheers, Andy
 
Looks like a bit of homemade forging to me.... so not a definable chisel as such.
 
AndyT said:
How big is it? I'd assumed that was a piece of A4 paper behind it.
Click to expand...
It is A4. It's 275mm long over all. The handle is 120, and the "blade" 150mm. The steel is 22/ 23mm wide at the widest point. Here's a better photo of the end:

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Windows said:
commercially produced, square section screwdrivers do at least exist occasionally in nature.
Click to expand...
Here's another. I've probably had it 50 years. Made by Gordon Tools of Sheffield. Handy if you need to put a spanner on the shaft, in the days before electric impact drivers. The tip has been chipped by bad usage.

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AndyT said:
Handy if you need to put a spanner on the shaft, in the days before electric impact drivers.
Click to expand...
My Wiha screwdrivers are like that, with a hex section near the handle (and they also have a shaft that goes all the way through the handle and comes out the other end as a rounded-over metal thing so you can hit them with a hammer if you want to really abuse something!)

Photo from the web:

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I've used them sometimes (for really obstinate screws) with a ratcheting spanner (this sort of thing) on the hex section and they've been really helpful for getting screws out that I don't think I would have otherwise budged.
 
Dr.Al said:
My Wiha screwdrivers are like that, with a hex section near the handle (and they also have a shaft that goes all the way through the handle and comes out the other end as a rounded-over metal thing so you can hit them with a hammer if you want to really abuse something!)

Photo from the web:

View attachment 36173

I've used them sometimes (for really obstinate screws) with a ratcheting spanner (this sort of thing) on the hex section and they've been really helpful for getting screws out that I don't think I would have otherwise budged.
Click to expand...
Have you seen the Vessel impacta scewdrivers? They work very well I have found.

Pete
 
I've cleaned it up a little, and there are definitely no markings on it. There is, however, an odd sort of cross-hatch/ knurl pattern on the two broader sides:

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Just to emphasise the odd profile, here is what it looks like looking down the narrower sides:

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...and from above:

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It feels like tool steel, rather than mild steel......but it feels too like it has been blacksmithed (any noun can be verbed, right?!) from 1/2" square stock.
 
I wonder if it was a homemade gasket scraper made from a file .
Those of us who are old enough can remember cylinder head gasket replacement was a common diy task.
Life time: file, scraper, paint tin lever 🙂
 
One of the best carving gouges I own is made from an old file. It keeps its edge far longer than any commercial gouge.
But that does not look like any chisel as it has a curved taper. As such it would not be easy to use as a chisel.
I like the gasket scraper explanation.
So now an industrial grade paint tin level.
 
In the past I have advised using (large heavy) files to make woodturning scrapers. I don't now because apparently its far too dangerous... even if you anneal the rest of the blade!
 
I have an old set of masons tools. There is quite a range of different styles of chisel. And, a lot have been repurposed from old files.
 
There's a long tradition of economy in tool making, alongside the knowledge that worn out files were a ready source of good steel. Somewhere I've seen pictures of a lovely pair of pincers, where the toothed surface has been preserved as checkering on the handles. Not sure if I can find it now though.
 
Interesting, Andy. I bet Jack Millet had a tale or two to tell. There are parallels with the Arts and Crafts architectural style, too, in the belief that hand made was superior to mass produced.
 
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