Stanley 720 chisel

[Downwindtracker2]

On my morning rust hunt at the Fleamarket I found some interesting tools, a couple of J Nowarth  gouges.  He had been partners with Henry Taylor until 1842 then was bought out in 1913 by Robert Sorby. A 1/4" mortice chisel and 1/2" chisel, both socket and only marked Germany . A type 3 (1941-1949) MillersFall #18C , with a brass adjusting wheel so it's likely  later of that period. The Stanley # is 6. 

But what I'm asking about is the Stanley 720 chisel, the back is pitted and there is 1/2" ground out corner so it's now only a 1 3/8" . It's a nicely shaped  chisel so I would like to make it usable again. Suggestion on how. I have  6x48 and a hand held belt sanders.

[blackhat]

Was it a 1 1/2" chisel to begin? A buggered up corner is a prime candidate to regrind as a skew but that would be a biggun for everything but timber framing.

[Downwindtracker2]

Yeah, a 1 1/2" . The 720 are long, so 1/2" shorter is no big deal. I couldn't really say what overall  length was, as the handle is an aftermarket, I have the very same handle on a very short Berg 1 1/2"  butt socket. A big skew chisel is a good idea, some plastic handled one may just suffer that fate. But a 720 is a little nice for that.

[Admiral]

Skew or straight, you'll be grinding it.  I made a pair of R and L skews out of vintage 1" chisels  a while ago that were the length of a 720, on an 8" grinder.  Jigged it in some scrap wood  to keep the angles consistent, it takes some time as you should quench pretty often, especially towards the end of the job - after each pass.  Keep the passes light and have patience.  I might try a belt sander all the way up the back, depending on how much pitting there is, but you really don't have to flatten near the edge more than an inch or so.  Worth doing if the chisel is otherwise nice.

[chriscos]

Seems like grinding it to make a nice skew is the logical way to go, but I'm curious how to do that relatively quickly without heating it up too much and ruining the temper. Seems like it would take forever to grind all that material if you tried to keep the heat down while doing it.

I grind my chisels on sandpaper on a granite plate and it only takes a few passes to make the tips get warm. But I only grind to fix minor nicks, I've never done any major chisel surgery. I was told by the kind folks at LN that if the tip gets hot enough that you can't keep your finger on it for a second or two then you are already wrecking the hardness and to slow down or hold the chisel against the granite in-between strokes to sink some of the heat off.

[Boatman53]

Lately I've been using a CBN wheel and just recently moved it from the bench grinder to the hand powered grinder. They can remove a huge amount of metal in a short amount of time with very little heat.

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Jim

[Bill_Houghton]

As to the Millers Falls plane: http://oldtoolheaven.com/bench/benchtypes.htm

[Downwindtracker2]

Thanks Bill, I had looked it up already. As a poor apprentice, I couldn't afford Stanley, so some of  my tools were MillersFall. 

Criscos, for general bevelling of plane blades and bench chisels I use this  http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/page.as...at=1,43072 , with a Vertas jig . I had to up the horsepower to 1/4 Baldor and added a reverse switch for stropping. I have to make a jig for butt chisels, though. I find it's much cooler running than a Cool White wheel in an eight inch each grinder. Still you have to be careful.

As for the 720, I'm scratching my head on how to grind the back to remove the rust pits. I've got to be careful about that,too, my hair isn't as plentiful as it once was,

[Timberwolf]

With care and a foot switch, you can use your 4x36 belt grinder to remove the pits on the back of your chisel...Just place the back of the chisel on the stopped belt, then hold the chisel and start the belt using the foot switch. Dont remove the chisel from the belt until you have stopped the belt. IOW, don't ever place the chisel ON the belt while it is running and don't ever lift it until the belt has stopped...One you become accustomed to using a momentary foot switch, you will be surprised at how accurate your grinding can become, because it allows you to hold the tool with BOTH hands and still be able to turn the machine "on".. I use a foot switch on my drill press also.