Yesterday I had a woman give me some of her ex-husbands tools that he left a few years ago and hoped someone might could help me out with a couple of them. I know that she gave me two chisels and I think a third but I'm unsure. And I know this thing is a flat head screw driver but I've never seen a handle like this and hoped someone could shed some light on it for me.

I once saw that pattern screwdriver handle being labeled a "gunsmiths screwdriver". No idea if that was just to increase sales. I think those chisels could be hand forged.

The other two chisels look homemade (cut and ground) from a wrecking bar but this one had me baffled. I'm just assuming it's a chisel but with one side flat and the other side rounded over like that I'm at a loss.

I've seen a lot of those screwdrivers and only own a half dozen myself.  Pretty standard for pre plastic days.

So we're talking 1950s? I first saw the screwdriver as potential punch stock until I looked it over a little and thought I'd better ask about it first.

That screwdriver handle is called a Perfect Handle. There were patents back in the day but after a while a lot of manufacturers made them that way. Some of the Old Tool Galoots will redo the handle slabs with exotic scraps of wood. The really rare ones are the Perfect Handle Philips head screwdrivers. Should have bought them new in the 80's when I had the chance.

You'll occasionally see hammers, wrenches and hatchets with Pefect handles.  One guy I knew, an expert welder, used to make all sorts of Perfect handle tools that were never handled like that originally.

Thanks, Michael, I now know what to look for to learn more about my new screwdriver.

While the chisel might just BE that way because, I've seen the same general profile used like a plane. The single bevel lets you lay it flat against the stock and remove whatever's sticking up, say rivet heads, weld beads, etc. without the chisel wanting to dig in.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks, Frosty, for giving me a clue about that chisel. I've never seen that shape before so I was completely at a loss.

There are a lot of flat ended curved chisels used in old school plumbing to pack the lead poured over the oakum in the cast iron pipe joints, many are offset too and confuse the heck out of folks who have never seen or worked with such old school methods.  (I've owned old houses as you may have guessed)

Thomas,

do you know whether those plumbing packing chisels were typically made from decent tool steel?  I recently picked up a box of around 50 chisels that look a lot like the one the OP posted and would like to know whether they are worth reworking into forging chisels.  Some of them appear to have broken away ends, and the grain size looks a bit large.  Haven't had a chance to try forging same yet, or even spark testing, but that is the next step.

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

some yes; some no and some middling.  Depends on the manufacturer, date, quality level,.....

Junkyard rules apply!

I thought about tryin to make somethin useful out of this one but I might just leave it as it is and add it to the other tools in my 'useless tool' collection just in case.

as far as the screwdriver goes, I think I'll redo the wood scales and make it look spiffy and have it as a conversation piece in the shop. Of course since I'm the only one ever in my shop there shouldn't be too much conversation but I might get lucky and talk to myself one day, who knows  .

Edited July 17, 201510 yr by M Cochran

We have loads of those types of screw driver over here. Common as mud really. They're quite nice to use too. 

 

Andy

Thomas,

do you know whether those plumbing packing chisels were typically made from decent tool steel? 

If the shanks of the chisels are octagonal, then they should be tool steel

Just a few years ago, I installed an even dozen "Daewoo" ( Korean ) CNC Turning Centers, ... that included that pattern Screw Driver, as part of the "Factory" Tool Kit.

 

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I have a screw driver just like that one, only not as long.  My cousin found it in the wall of a house he was doing some remodeling on.  LOL.  I can just see it now.  "Hey, I dropped my screwdriver down the wall."  "Guess it will be there a long time, because we are NOT redoing that lath."

Still have one that my father acquired when he bought his first car in 1936.   He used it and I still do.  tough has taken a beating and was perfect "back in the day" when autos and machinery was less "refined"