T. H. Witherby Chisels

Witherby Chisels (I doubt the skew chisels are factory made)

I recently developed the habit of purchasing T. H. Witherby chisels when I stumble upon them for cheap. I bought a couple off ebay but mostly am buying them at flea markets and antique places here in CT.  Witherby chisels were made in Winsted CT which is only about twenty minutes from here. The Toolemera blog has a very informative piece on Witherby here:  http://toolemerablog.typepad.com/toolemera/2008/01/wither-witherby.html

I think my nearness to Winsted must be the reason why they are not difficult to find in this area. I've gotten several unused ones for a dollar apiece by sifting through junk boxes at antique malls. 

All the ones I have are socket chisels and very high quality. They are easy to sharpen and hold an edge extremely well. Interestingly, almost all the ones I have are paring chisels with lots of length still on them. How they managed to survive this long without being sharpened to a stump is beyond me. The reason I like Witherby chisels is firstly that they are very functional and second, I just think it's cool they were made so close to me. I certainly do not collect them in the sense that they are in a display cabinet. I use them in my shop on a regular basis. I have a 1/8" mortise chisel and would love to find some more Witherby mortise chisels but those seem far less common.

Paring chisels are kind of a strange beast. They are not meant to be hit with a mallet but rather the long blade allows for an extremely low angle to be held when paring. In woodworking this is especially beneficial when paring end grain. I use them to pare through-tenons, dowels, or anything that requires a light touch.  Using a paring chisel well is certainly something that requires a lot of practice. I don't think I am really using them to their full potential.