Restoring Vintage Stanley No. 750/720 Chisels

[Yodascaretaker]

My favorite tool is definitely the bench chisel, and the original Stanley 750 is my favorite one.  I own a set of Lie Nielsens, but I also have been trying to complete a set of 750’s.  

I was wondering if anyone might know what kind of finish is on the original red/maroon handles.  Some of mine have fading and/or damage and I’d like to get them looking nice while keeping the original handles on.  I can’t seem to find an answer and it’s impossible to buy these original handles by themselves.

Has anyone restored these handles and gotten a matching finish?  Oh, and if anyone has a 1.75” (1 & 3/4”) 750 I would pay you VERY GENEROUSLY for it.

Cheers

[Mike Brady]

I have restored a few 750's and made new handles for them in the process.   I used hickory stock and turned the handles after glueing layers of leather to a tenon turned on the end of the blank.  As a finish to duplicate the original 750, I first stained the wood with red analine dye stain.  After that dried, I used brown gel stain over the red, including the leather.  I lastly used a clear wipe-on varnish as a final finish.  The result is almost identical to the original 750 finish. Sorry, I havent had much luck posting pics  in Windows 10.

[Yodascaretaker]

Hey, I sent you a pm.