Thanks for the info Brian. I'll study what you have posted so far and go
from there. I own about 40 buck bros chisels and gouges - that's what lead
me to think about some type of study - I'll start with what I have and post
so we can go from there. Many of the Buck Bros chisels I own that have "Buck
Bros - Cast Steel" also have "Buck Bros" slightly imprinted on the wood
handles - I also noticed that they were of the same general shape. Perhaps
they're from a similar time period? They came from a set of pattern maker
off-set gouges and patternmaker bevel-edged chisels.

I realize that many of the handles have been replaced, and I also know that
many just purchased the steel and fabbed their own handles - I'm just trying
to get a comparison of those that appear to be factory made. I think that
while I'm at it I'll do all the various handles that I've got - there seems
to be some consistency by maker. Thanks for your info and efforts in putting
that Buck page together.

-- John

John Eaton
http://modernwoodworking.blogspot.com
 
"OK, any time they're getting ready to light off seven-and-a-half million
pounds of thrust under you and you aren't a little bit anxious, you don't
understand what's going on." 
- John Young, 1981 
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Welch, Brian [mailto:brian_welch@h...] 
Sent: Friday, January 29, 2010 10:15 AM
To: John Eaton; 'galoots list serv'
Subject: Buck Bros type study (was Sure is Quiet)

> I spent some time earlier today cleaning up a bunch of Buck 
> Bros gouges.
> Does anyone know of a type study on Buck Bros? Especially the 
> chisels/gouges? I'm thinking about doing some SketchUp 
> renderings of the various handle types - be a good reference 
> for those who might have the iron and not the handle, I'm 
> thinking. 

I have been gathering information on the Buck Brothers for my website
(http://galootcentral.com/membersites/brianwelch/buck/index.htm) for quite a
few years now, and you can see my company history there and some of the
logos used, but doing a type study on chisels is an incredibly difficult
thing for a whole host of reasons:

1) Patents. Compared to some of your other more sexy tools, such as planes
and saws and braces, in which the newest patentable feature is all the rage,
the chisel is a more conservative tool that doesn't lend itself to fashion
trends.  A chisel is a hunk of steel (sometimes steel and iron) with a
handle and sometimes a ferrule.  What matters is the quality of the steel
and craftsmanship that goes into transforming it into a chisel.  Planemakers
and sawmakers and bracemakers were constantly adding new features and new
patents (which enabled them to briefly corner the market until the next big
advance came along).  If you look in DATAMP, there are 691 plane patents,
942 handsaw patents, and a measly 67 chisel patents.  With a few exceptions
(such as Stanley's Everlast chisels--see
http://www.oldtooluser.com/TypeStudy/everlasttypestudy.htm ) you can't date
a chisel by the patent because there aren't any associated patents.

2) Advertisements and Catalogs. For planes, saws, etc., your catalogs and
advertisements in the hardware trade journals had to be constantly updated
to keep up with the advancements.  You just don't have this in the chisel
world.  The first Buck Brothers catalog I have is from 1865.  A number of
the etchings done for that catalog were still in use in their 1890 catalog.
It is much more difficult to compare a chisel found in the wild to a picture
in a catalog for purposes of dating than it is for other tools.

3) Logos. The Buck Brothers logo changed in 1875 to the Buck's Head logo and
they started marking tools with this logo. Thus, if your chisel has a Buck's
Head on it, it was made on or after 1875, but not all the chisels made after
1875 has the logo.  Many chisels just aren't that big and don't have room
for a big logo on it.  And gouges even more so.  Logos on gouges have to be
small, because the curvature of a gouge doesn't give you a nice flat space
to put a big logo.  So many post-1875 Buck Brothers tools don't have the
Buck's Head logo.

4) Handles.  Unlike planes and saws, many if not most chisels were sold
without handles and the user made his own handles.  Newer Buck Bros. chisels
are more likely to have a factory handle, and these usually have the Buck's
Head logo stamped into them.  But by and large, in-the-wild chisel handles
are all over the map.  People buy chisels for the steel, not the wood.  And
unless you have a matched set and want to make a replacement handle to
match, lots of people like having a different style of handle for every
chisel.  Or you want to make a matched set of your own design.  But most
people don't seem to be copying the factory handles on Buck chisels in my
experience.

5. Stability.  Buck Brothers tools have been made in the same spot in
Millbury, MA with the same company name since 1864. Other companies changed
names or partners or locations numerous times and that is a big help for
tool collectors and researchers.  No such luck for Buck Bros. collectors.

6.  Model numbers.  Chisels are almost never marked with a model number.
Another disadvantage compared to saws, planes, braces, etc.

Other than the addition of the Buck's head logo in 1875, one surefire way to
tell the age of a chisel, or at least a tanged chisel, is to look at the
ferrule.  Older chisels are more likely to have thick brass ferrules,
whereas twentieth century chisels have thin brass (or even later, copper)
ferrules with a dimple in them holding them in place.  Older chisels are
more likely to say "cast steel."  Newer Swan chisels, e.g., are sometimes
marked "tool steel."

Does that mean a type study of Buck Brothers chisels can't be done?  Not at
all.  But it is not a task that I have the time or patience for at this
point in my life. Maybe in 20 years when the kids are grown up and I have
had time to collect a few hundred or thousand more chisels, then I'll have
time to sort it out.  If someone else figures it all out before then, I'd
love to read about it.

Hope this helps.

Brian Welch
Holden, MA (on the other side of Worcester from Millbury, MA)

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