Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Stanley chisels
Guy
>Have a question for the Stanley experts out there. What is the difference in the metal of the Everlasting chisels with the wood handles and the later black hard rubber/plastic handles. My friend's dad has the black handle version that he bought new way back when and he said that they were top of the line back then. He still uses them and they are still sharp as razors. Any thoughts? Don't want to start a flame war, just curious.
Re: Stanley chisels
david
>Not sure it's the metal. For me, it's the fact that the Everlast tang extends all the way through the handle and becomes the striking point for the mallet. Hit with a wooden mallet, the transfer of force results in noticably better performance than hitting a rubber, plastic or wood handle. Something about the percussion wave.
David
Re: Stanley chisels
Clay C in Miami
>I thought the black-handled ones also had the through-tang and metal butt cap - not so?
Clay
Yes they do, and
dennis mcdonaugh
>the steel seems the same in both. I'm sure the plastic handled ones are cheaper to make than the wooden handled. The black handled ones were sold up through the 60's so they are not as collectable as the wooden handled chisels.
Re: Stanley chisels
Mike L (Orange County, CA)
>Yes, Stanley made an Everlasting-style chisel (#40 from memory) with a black (synthetic?) handle.
On a side note, I have a set of truely bottom-of-the-line Stanley chisels from ~1980 vintage. They have tiny, not-very-comfortable handles, and a thin, flat neck that would probably break with any serious levering. Nonetheless, the steel is good enough to get pretty sharp and retain an edge (though admittedly not field-tested chopping mortises).
Regards,
Mike