Skip to content
Woodworking Masterclasses
Facebook Instagram
  • Register Now
  • Video Library
  • GalleryExpand
    • Bedside Cabinet GalleryExpand
      • Assembly Table Gallery
      • Bathroom Cabinet Gallery
      • Bench Stool Gallery
      • Blanket Chest Gallery
      • Bookends Gallery
      • Book Shelves Gallery
      • Breadboard-end Cutting Board Gallery
      • Carrying Tote Gallery
      • Chess Board Gallery
      • Chest of Drawers Gallery
      • Christmas Gallery
      • Coasters Gallery
      • Coat Rack Gallery
      • Coffee Table Gallery
      • Corner Shelf Gallery
      • Craftsman-style Lamp Gallery
      • Dining Chair Gallery
      • Dovetail Boxes Gallery
      • Fly Swat Gallery
      • Frame Saw Gallery
    • Foot Stool GalleryExpand
      • How to Make a Table
      • Joiner’s Mallet Gallery
      • Joiners’ Toolbox Gallery
      • Keepsake Box Gallery
      • Laptop Desk Gallery
      • Leaning Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Mitre Box Gallery
      • Occasional Table Gallery
      • Picture Frames Gallery
      • Rocking Chair
      • Sawhorse Gallery
      • Shaker-Style Bench Seat Gallery
      • Shaker Stool Gallery
      • Sofa Table Gallery
      • Stepladder Gallery
    • Trestle TableExpand
      • Tool Cabinet
      • Tool Chest Gallery
      • Walking Cane Gallery
      • Wall Brackets Gallery
      • Wallclock Gallery
      • Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Winding Sticks Gallery
      • Wooden Plane Gallery
      • Wooden Spokeshave
      • Wooden Tray Gallery
      • Workbench Gallery
      • Other user projects vol. I
      • Other user projects vol. II
      • Submit Photos to Gallery
  • About Us
  • News
  • FAQsExpand
    • General FAQs
    • Workbench FAQs
  • Contact
Account Login
Woodworking Masterclasses

Butt Chisels…A useful addition or not worth bothering.

Search
Previous Back to: Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration7 Replies

Welcome! / Forums / General Woodworking Discussions / Tools and Tool Maintenance/Restoration / Butt Chisels…A useful addition or not worth bothering.

Tagged: Butt Chisels

  • This topic has 7 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 2 years, 3 months ago by Benoît Van Noten.
  • Author
    Posts
  • Paul Dallender
    22 October 2020 at 2:52 pm #683291

    I’ve not seen Paul mention or talk about Butt Chisels even if he owns a set.

    I’ll admit I haven’t a clue what they would be used for instead of the standard chisel and wondered what are the benefits if any of owning a set.

    Anyone else have any thoughts on these and if they own some do they find them useful?

    Paul - A southern lad living up north - Nr York England

    Settings
    Christian Rapp
    22 October 2020 at 3:27 pm #683294

    Paul said in a video if i remember correctly he does not see the value of them. More for carpenters for rougher jobs when you have just a few tool. I own some but do not use them (bought them when I started woodworking). Stick to usual ones…

    Settings
    sanford
    22 October 2020 at 7:43 pm #683326

    Stanley’s well known line of everlasting chisels included butt chisels so someone must have thought they were useful. I do not have any everlasting chisels, but I know some folk like them. I myself have some of those hardware store modern Stanley butt chisels, the ones with the plastic handles. Mine take a good edge. The main reason I use them in woodworking, which is rare, is to get into tighter spaces. I assume that is the main purpose of shorter chisels. Short chisels get into tight spaces, longer chisels, like some paring chisels, have extended reach. Is it that simple? If I am off there I hope someone can correct me. In any event, I would agree you do not need them, until you face a tight space and then you do.

    The modern Stanley plastic handled butt chisels are pretty rugged. I have used them when I need to hit a chisel very hard, say for carpentry type stuff. I prefer not to take my better chisels out into the weather and usually reach for the Stanley butt chisels when I have to work on something outside, like a deck or a fence.

    Settings
    Larry Geib
    22 October 2020 at 10:29 pm #683340

    Here is a page from the 1934-ish Stanley catalog during the Sweetheart era. Stanley differentiated their socket chisels by length.

    The 760’s and 750’s were Butt chisels. Carpenters used them mostly to cut the hinge gains for butt hinges on doors, hence the name.
    760’s are very rare. I’ve only ever seen one set.I think they were a depression era attempt at providing a chisel at lower cost. One advantage of butt hinges is they will fit into smaller places.

    They called their intermediate length chisels (740’s) Pocket chisels. These were only made from the early 1930’s to about 1955.

    And they called their 720 size cabinet maker’s or bevel edge firmer chisels, which is a bit confusing, because most manufacturers Called their square edge chisels firmers. These were Stanley’s longest chisels.

    The modern 750’s follow the sizing very close to the old 750 line, but some sizes are a little longer.

    I have 740’s and old and modern 750’s, and once the 740’s are shorter from sharpening, it’s pretty hard to tell them from a newer 750.

    The everlast chisels introduced in the 1930’s weren’t socket chisels, but had a tang that went all the way through the chisel so you could strike on it. And one variant were the original chisel with the yellow plastic. Stanley’s modern construction line of chisels are made the same way.

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Larry Geib.
    Settings
    Larry Geib
    22 October 2020 at 10:37 pm #683343

    Here is a page from the 1934-ish Stanley catalog during the Sweetheart era. Stanley differentiated their socket chisels by length.

    The 760’s and 750’s were Butt chisels. Carpenters used them mostly to cut the hinge gains for butt hinges on doors, hence the name.
    760’s are very rare. I’ve only ever seen one set.I think they were a depression era attempt at providing a chisel at lower cost. One advantage of butt hinges is they will fit into smaller places. The blades were about 3 1/2” long, which matches most modern chisel lengths.

    They called their intermediate length chisels (740’s) Pocket chisels. These were only made from the early 1930’s to about 1955.

    And they called their 720 size cabinet maker’s or bevel edge firmer chisels, which is a bit confusing, because most manufacturers Called their square edge chisels firmers. These were Stanley’s longest chisels.

    The modern 750’s follow the sizing very close to the old 750 line, but some sizes are a little longer.

    I have 740’s and old and modern 750’s, and once the 740’s are shorter from sharpening, it’s pretty hard to tell them from a newer 750.

    The everlast chisels introduced in the 1930’s weren’t socket chisels, but had a tang that went all the way through the chisel so you could strike on it. And one variant were the original chisel with the yellow plastic. Stanley’s modern construction line of chisels are made the same way.

    • This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by Larry Geib.
    Settings
    Paul Dallender
    24 October 2020 at 9:06 am #683484

    I’m a bit surprised they are only classed as a carpenter’s chisel especially as fine chisel makers such as Ashley Iles, Veritas and others still make Butt chisels and I would hardly think of them as making chisels for what we think as jobbing carpenters as opposed to woodworkes and furniture makers.

    I’ll admit my initial thought for them being shorter was maybe you could get more control over a shorter chisel but I guess not.

    Paul - A southern lad living up north - Nr York England

    Settings
    Christopher Manning
    25 October 2020 at 5:38 pm #683703

    I think that – like most tools – if it works for you, then it’s fine, and I know woodworkers who really like them. I have one which I acquired in a job lot, and I’ve never used it seriously, but I can appreciate that the shortness of the blade gives good control.

    For me, the technique of a sharp bevel-edge chisel held low down on the blade for better control works best, finished off to depth with a well-set router plane.

    Settings
    Benoît Van Noten
    27 October 2020 at 3:46 pm #683959

    Chisel control.
    Look attentively to the videos.
    Some time Paul holds the chisel near the edge and sometime by the handle, depending of the work to be done.

    Settings
  • Author
    Posts
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Log In

Security and Payments

Payments on this site are processed using stripe.com and gocardless.com. Customer's credit card details or bank details are stored on the secure servers of stripe.com or gocardless.com This entire site is secured by SSL.

About Our Company

Woodworking Masterclasses is a trading name of Rokesmith Ltd

Rokesmith Ltd



About Rokesmith Ltd | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About Us


Useful Links

© 2023 - Rokesmith Ltd

  • Register Now
  • Video Library
  • Gallery
    • Bedside Cabinet Gallery
      • Assembly Table Gallery
      • Bathroom Cabinet Gallery
      • Bench Stool Gallery
      • Blanket Chest Gallery
      • Bookends Gallery
      • Book Shelves Gallery
      • Breadboard-end Cutting Board Gallery
      • Carrying Tote Gallery
      • Chess Board Gallery
      • Chest of Drawers Gallery
      • Christmas Gallery
      • Coasters Gallery
      • Coat Rack Gallery
      • Coffee Table Gallery
      • Corner Shelf Gallery
      • Craftsman-style Lamp Gallery
      • Dining Chair Gallery
      • Dovetail Boxes Gallery
      • Fly Swat Gallery
      • Frame Saw Gallery
    • Foot Stool Gallery
      • How to Make a Table
      • Joiner’s Mallet Gallery
      • Joiners’ Toolbox Gallery
      • Keepsake Box Gallery
      • Laptop Desk Gallery
      • Leaning Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Mitre Box Gallery
      • Occasional Table Gallery
      • Picture Frames Gallery
      • Rocking Chair
      • Sawhorse Gallery
      • Shaker-Style Bench Seat Gallery
      • Shaker Stool Gallery
      • Sofa Table Gallery
      • Stepladder Gallery
    • Trestle Table
      • Tool Cabinet
      • Tool Chest Gallery
      • Walking Cane Gallery
      • Wall Brackets Gallery
      • Wallclock Gallery
      • Wall Shelf Gallery
      • Winding Sticks Gallery
      • Wooden Plane Gallery
      • Wooden Spokeshave
      • Wooden Tray Gallery
      • Workbench Gallery
      • Other user projects vol. I
      • Other user projects vol. II
      • Submit Photos to Gallery
  • About Us
  • News
  • FAQs
    • General FAQs
    • Workbench FAQs
  • Contact
Login Account
Search