beefcake Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 Could this be a purpose made hot chisel,or just run of the mill homade chisel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 To me it looks like a purpose made plumbers chisel, for packing oakum prior to pouring lead in waste pipe joints. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 23, 2023 Share Posted March 23, 2023 What do they call a packing "chisel"? I used to know, there's a craft and trade named for it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 They were called caulking irons in the ship building and plumbing trades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmall Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 ForgeClay is right. I've used the chisels back in the 70's to drive Oakum into the bell joints of cast iron water pipes and then put the forms around the joint and poured lead to harden and hold the oakum in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 Caulking irons, YES! I remember now, I wonder for how long? Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefcake Posted March 24, 2023 Author Share Posted March 24, 2023 Wow didnt take you guys long to sort that out.I had to search oakum ,never done learning.Thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 24, 2023 Share Posted March 24, 2023 It also could be used to separate the mass on a bar where you want a vertical cut on the side thats not forged. Think tenon as an example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 26, 2023 Share Posted March 26, 2023 You lost me there Anvil. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 27, 2023 Share Posted March 27, 2023 Lol, won't be the first time. Where did I lose you? Was it separating the mass or the vertical cut? When you make a tenon, you separate the mass of the tenon from the parent stock. the vertical cut is on the parent side and the angled cut is on the tenon side. Hope that helps. A little crude on my words, but so is the tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 28, 2023 Share Posted March 28, 2023 I think I get it. Boy do we make tenons differently. I use a butcher to define the parent bar and tenon and forge the tenon down till it's time finish it in the tenon dies. I use kiss blocks in the power hammer and SOR the tenon. My tenon dies work under the hammer or on the anvil. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 Actually I remember a very early hot chisel I made that looked very similar in my very first forge setup with Beelers book in hand. . So early I was just beginning my farrier business. Looked about as crude as well. And I used it to make my first tenons. Thats why I suggested it may be what it was used for. Who knows, really. These are my tenon tools plus a monkey tool and my 25# lil giant. Pretty crude drawing of my hot cut, but hey, works for me. No need for a kiss block. By the way, the bending fork is out of brand new store bought grader blade,,, work in progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 29, 2023 Share Posted March 29, 2023 That's close enough to a butcher as to be same same. Mine is very similar, I wouldn't have to point it out to you. IF it was on the table and not the shelf under it. I welded the springs on my tenon tools and you can have the 1" Vascowear grader blade I brought home when I thought it'd be useful. My last thought for a use for it and only reason it's still around is to silver solder it to the top of an ASO I was given years ago and see if it'd make a decent face plate and potentially useful anvil. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anvil Posted March 30, 2023 Share Posted March 30, 2023 I have no clue as to the brand on the grader blade, but there are many types. For what its worth, the suggestion for using grader blade for scrolling wrenches and forks came from Francis Whitaker. Once normalized, which is all the heat treat I do, I've never had any problem cutting it with a hand hacksaw, filing or forging it. The springs above are old buggy springs and the top and bottom tenon dies are W1 tool steel. The first one I made was a match for the top one and I rivited on a square shaft that fit my hardy hole. It didn't hold up and the tool steel broke. Most likely a combination of the sway in my anvil, which I fixed and it was my first large piece of tool steel and I prolly blew the heat treat. Learnings never free. I water quench all my W1. Once you get the hang of it, you can beat it all day with no problem. The tool above is about 30 years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Yeah, those wouldn't be any kind of grader blade I've encountered but I worked for AK DOT and we scraped a lot of pavement for 7+ months a year. I'll have to change my grader edge recommendation to include a simple test to evaluate what kind it is. Just take a file to a piece of Vascowear type edge and you'll know instantly and have a dull file to forge into something else. A file doesn't skate like on hardened high carbon steel, it feels rough, almost like it's cutting but it's not the grader edge being cut. Hmmm, another good reason to carry a small sharp file in your glove compartment with the bearing balls, small ball pein hammer an strong magnet. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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