Dogwood's new/old drawknife, I am chuffed at last!

[dogwood]

As a language lover, I have been amused by the British use of the word "chuffed" -- it's slang that we don't have here in the states.

It's just a great word and I've been waiting for the proper moment to describe myself as chuffed.

Well, I'm chuffed -- completely, utterly and blissfully chuffed -- by my new/old drawknife.

It's a T.H. Witherby 10 inch drawknife from sometime between 1855 and 1865. Witherby was one of America's premier makers of edged tools in the mid 19th century. In fact he won the silver medal for chisels and drawknives at the largest national competition sponsored by the American Institute of the CIty of New York in 1850. (You have to love the 19th century and early industrial revolution when we had competitions for things like chisels and drawknives...)

It's a beauty that I've gotten shaving sharp. Tonight I spent an hour using it to shape a massive chunk of ash into a new fleshing beam for tanning deerskins. The thing moved the ash like it was butter... It far outclasses my other drawknives....

Here's she is (with a couple of friends):

As if that wasn't good enough, here's another bit that has me thoroughly chuffed -- it only cost me $32!

Significant cause for chuffage, don't you think?

 

[Mesquite]

I'd say you were very well chuffed indeed

It's nice when you can rescue old tools like that and put them back to use.

 

[Toddy]

Oh well chuffed indeed
Good tools like those beat modern cr*ppy ones every time.

I think they really understood how a tool would be used back then, now the makers just want a shape that they can program into a machine and hit the buttons out comes a generic *something* that gets a coat of pretty spray paint, a nice plastic sealed packet round it and a ridiculous price tag.

Tools used to be left in folks wills since they were so highly regarded, now it's the age of disposable

Nice to know other folks use good ones and value them too

cheers,
Toddy

 

[jojo]

Nice one dogwood! Craft people used to use these tools day in, day out. They had to work efficiently and last so they were well made, unlike most of the carp you can buy nowadays. Reason indeed for plenty of chuffage!

 

[dogwood]

The points you all make about old tools are interesting because among craftspeople here, there is a pretty active trade in 19th century tools to be users rather than sit in a collection.

In particular, older chisels are sought out by woodworkers -- apparently those really knowledgeable about such things feel that the design and quality of surviving 19th century tools makes them super desirable.

I gather that the theory is that when a tool has seen daily use (as Toddy notes) for 150 years, it must be good... I can attest to that in this case -- the Witherby draw knife run rings around my modern Frost drawknives and push knives and my Oxhead knife, which was my previous favorite.

I imagine that in the UK old tools from Sheffield are hotly desired (they are here, I know). Is that the case?

 

[jojo]

Yep, by collectors who are prepared to pay lots of money to get the sticky hands on them, pricing craftsmen out :twak: You can occasionally get some good ones at car boot sales and the like but they are rarer I think now.

 

[weaver]

I have a couple nice old ones that work well, you can feel the quality and balance when you pick it up. The new stuff feels like junk if you make it far enough to pick it up. Most look so rough and cheap they don't get a second glance.

My best drawknife was found in a junk store with rotten handles, I turned new ones as close as possible to the old, cleaned the metal and sharpened the edge. It shaves nicely and I like it better than most any tool I have.

Chuffed indeed!

A good tool brings that about.