Warren in Lancaster, PA
Thanks for pointing out the grinding video. It is a good reminder of what skill and experience can bring.

I had never seen a video of glazing before. Chisels from the 18th century and up to at least mid 19th century were glazed. They did not have side bevels so it was probably very little time. That is one of the reasons I was skeptical of the "factory grind" on the Sorby mortise chisels; I have never seen chisels of that era that were not glazed. A guy who was skilled enough to grind a mortise chisel could have glazed it it in not many seconds.

The bending test on the palette knife might have been partly to see how flexible it was, but also to identify places where the knife was too thick. Workers may have used this method for evaluating saw thickness.