Old Sorby chisels question
Kerry in FortSask, Alberta
>Hi all,
I picked up a tray of chisels at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago for $10 which contained quite a variety - a few EA Berg socket chisels, a few Sorby's and some newer ones by Stanley and Fuller. The Sorby's all seem to have a black layer of something on them, not totally covering the whole blade, but nearly. Did Sorby sell their chisels painted or japanned or something, or is this just some kind of residue built up over the years. They appear to be quite old and given that the same old gentleman owned them all, I don't see why the Sorby's would be covered in residue and not any of the others which are just as old.
This is the 2nd garage sale this year that actually had some tools (and only the 3rd since I started woodworking 3 years ago). At these two sales this year I've managed to acquire this tray of tools, two Disston #8 saws and a saw set, a Rapier #700 plane and an eggbeater drill labelled Hoppe. Does anyone know who Hoppe was or is? I've been googling but can't seem to find anything relevant.
Cheers,
Kerry
