# Chisel Restore Question: Crack In Bolster



## ZiCheng (May 13, 2012)

Hi,

I'm new to woodworking and I have decided to buy old tools and fix them up to working condition. Recently I acquired a few bolstered chisels at a garage sale. The one that has it's handle intact also has a crack at the weld joint (see picture). Is there something I should do to address this before I use the tool? Thanks.


----------



## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

Yep-- Do you have an oxy-acetylene torch with a #2 tip - should be able to weld that back together.


----------



## BubbaIBA (Nov 23, 2011)

Love pig stickers….hard to find good ones at a fair price, that's the bad news, the good is you do not need as many sizes as you need with your bench chisels, so a couple or three are plenty. I don't buy many new tools, prefer pre-WWII in almost every case but with pig stickers new has some advantages because as you can see from yours they get pretty beat up. Pig stickers in your condition, needing work to be put to work tend to run around $40-$50 USD, you can buy new Ray Iles for less than $100 USD and you only need a couple for most types of projects.


----------



## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

What is the stamp on those? Nice looking old tools….


----------



## ZiCheng (May 13, 2012)

Unfortunately I don't know how to weld, so I will probably hold off on repair and start using it first. Hopefully the crack won't get much worse. Thanks.

I got a great deal on these. 10 dollars for the intact one, and the ones without handles were just a few extra bucks lumped with other things I bought.

I think it says "Hale Bros" and "Sheffield" on one tool, while the others ones are too rusted.


----------



## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

Well sharpened mortice chisels are well worth the restore process. Use a good wood - ash, birch, maple, beech for the handles.


----------



## ZiCheng (May 13, 2012)

Thanks for that tip David. I'm also restoring planes and learning how to grind and sharpen which I will do before taking on woodworking projects. I was a little unsure about what wood ones uses for handles.


----------



## dbray45 (Oct 19, 2010)

Mortise chisels are made to be pounded on - with a wood mallet. The blades are thick so they can take a chunck out of the wood without breaking.

Bench chisels are also made to be pounded but not so aggressively - small bites or the blade breaks

Paring chisels are are not made for hammering


----------

