I checked the archives but didn't find much on Wyeth.  Here's what I
know.  Wyeth Hardware was located in St. Joseph, Missouri.  They were
one of the hardware companies, similar to Simmons, Shapleigh, Belknap,
HSB (OVB), and others.  In the latter 1800's and early 1900's they
supplied farmers and ranchers of the central and western plains with
tools and hardware.  My wife's grandfather lived in eastern Kansas,
not far from St. Joseph, and he owned a number of Wyeth hand tools
which I inherited.  These included some auger bits and 5 Wyeth
chisels.  I have since found 3 more chisels.

http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65k/wyeth.jpg

The makers (sellers) marks are different.  The mark on the largest
chisel is quite elaborate, some are simply stamped Wyeth, but most
look like this:

http://home.earthlink.net/~kvaughn65k/wyeth_mark.jpg

The large Wyeth chisel is my favorite hand tool.  I use it all the
time, but only need to hone it every couple of years.  It holds an
edge extremely well and you could shave with it.

Question:  Does anyone have any information on who may have made the
chisels for Wyeth?  Even an educated guess would be appreciated.

Ken Vaughn

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> You should try to get in touch with the guy on this page:
> http://www.thckk.org/mailbox.html
>
> Scroll down--you'll see it.

Thanks Brian,

I had visited the "thckk" site before but did not look at all the 
correspondence.  The shield emblem which he describes as from a saddle 
is exactly the mark on the large (1 1/4") chisel.  The top of the mark 
on my chisel is faint so I never knew what it looked like.  I will 
follow up with the author of that letter.

I looked at some of the Witherbys on your website and agree that there 
is a lot of similarity.  My 1 1/4" Wyeth has an identical profile to 
the paring chisel you show on your site (More Witherby Chisels from My 
Collection).  The graceful curve toward the edge of the chisel is 
identical to my 1 1/4" and two or three others.  The 1/8 lock mortise 
chisel looks very much like my 1/8" also.

Ken Vaughn

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Ken,
  I have a full line Wyeth catalog last updated in
1967.According to the title page the company was est.
in 1859 and was still in business the mid 1970's as I
recall.By 1967 the only chisels shown , were Stanley
and Fuller.Pretty cheap fare compared to what they had
previously handled.They still had top of the line
Stanley miter box's, and Plumb Autograph hammers.
Roy Smith
> 

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