▼EXPAND THIS SECTION FOR MORE RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS VIDEO▼ *Tools used in this video:* Narex Chisels (high quality for an affordable price): lddy.no/sqm3 *More links:* -More videos on our website: stumpynubs.com/ -Subscribe to our e-Magazine: stumpynubs.com/browse-and-subscribe/ -Check out our project plans: stumpynubs.com/product-category/plans/ -Instagram: instagram.com/stumpynubs/ ★THIS VIDEO WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY★ Narex Chisels and Hand Tools from Taylor Toolworks: lddy.no/s80f *Please help support us by using the link above for a quick look around!* (If you use one of these affiliate links, we may receive a small commission)
Would love to see a video on that other process you refrained from getting into. I love how you bring out the history of tools , techniques and all of that.
It's the process of finding that perfect Ballance, not too hard and brittle and not so soft that the edge gives way on hardwoods. Even amongst identical tools you can see a variance. Guess that's why we all have those favorites we've found throughout the years. Great video!👍
As a mechanical design engineer of 40+ years, who learned all this stuff during my apprenticeship in the 1970's, I have to say that you condensed what is an essentially very complex and far reaching subject, into an accurate and understandable form that anybody who is remotely interested in woodwork would do well to watch and learn from.
As part of my apprenticeship as a machinist, I had to learn how to harden and draw steel back. I even had to make a chisel and punch set from a bar of steel.
@@sylvainforget2174 I did a Machinist's apprenticeship as well, somewhere in that cycle spent 3 months in aerospace Heat Treatment learning the bells n whistles: Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell hardness testers, Pack Carbeurising, Case Hardening, pre-heating, Salt Baths, Box Radiation Furnaces, Controlled Atmosphere Sealed Quench furnaces, Air Recirculation furnace, Annealing, Hardening, Tempering, Solution Treating, different kinds of quench bath, Solid State Physics, Applied Mechanics, face-centered and body-centered Re-crystallisation lattice, grain growth Austenite, Martensite, Pearlite, Ferrous alloys, Aluminium alloys. After that I could confidently select a bar of Mild steel and accurately estimate whether I should machine it flat or turn it round and why doing either mattered to me. When we wuz Kangz!
Professor Hamilton has done it again. We get a deep dive into something we don’t give much thought to and resurface with a new appreciation for the common place. Thanks, James, for all the research and the patience to share it in a most interesting manner. I did stay until the end.
Love the channel and your professionalism. Only drawback - the StevieY flashbacks I still sometimes get, triggered by your Redwings coolie. All in all, great stuff.
My dad, now 97, has tools that he bought nearly 70 years ago and others from his dad, including wooden planes. They are beautiful to use, take a good edge, and will last forever.
Having been a metallurgist for 45 years, and a hobby wood turner and wood worker for about the same time, this was an excellent overview of the steel making history. I think an added point of sintered steel would be good. The Scandinavian sintered chisels are awesome.
Nice job. I ran the engineering department for a punch company and we spent a lot of time on tool steel. I taught at a conference once on tool steel forensic failure analysis. So, I feel entitled to say "great job" - you really gave a nice overview and I loved the history I didn't know. And it was entertaining (I was one of those still around to the end).
As someone with boxes of handle-less old chisels awaiting restoration, I enjoyed this video. Thanks. Also Swedish chisels from Eskilstuna are fantastic
Yeah absolutely keep an eye out for them. They look pretty much like any normal chisel from that era so they often get dismissed so you can find gems like those in the junk tool piles.
Peugeot and Goldenberg had some really good batches of tool steel too (in the case of Goldenberg I believe the ones marked with an eye were the best quality), though I doubt they reached the US as much as English tools did.
I inherited handful of chisels and planers from my grandfather. Swedish manufacture in beginning of 1900's. Hard to sharpen, keep good edge and cut is very smooth. He got those when he was learning his trade in the end of 1930's . Fortunate, after "iron curtain" fell, most woodworking tools mass produced in USSR were crap. Among other things ;)
Great video, James. A couple of years ago I browsed through the chisels available at my local Lee Valley here in Ontario. Narex chisels really hit the price/quality sweet spot for me, so I bought a full set of bevel edge Narex chisels. The handles are perfect for my hands, better than the slightly more expensive basic Veritas chisels. I recently added a few Narex mortise chisels to my collection. They all need a fair bit of lapping on the back, but that's what my Worksharp 3000 is for. Oh, and BTW when I started woodworking I chased around for a while looking for vintage tools. I quickly got over that. I want to do woodworking, not antique collecting.
Everyone needs to made their own tradeoffs. I'm short on time more than money, so the return on investment of searching for an old tool needs to be really high for it to be worth my while.
I have a hard time passing up old tools in bargain stores that need a little TLC. Not because I think they're superior to modern steels, but because they still do their job admirably and have a lot of good life in them yet. The cheap price is also a motivating factor too, a dull #4 plane with a blade inserted backwards is surprisingly cheap when people think it's useless at planing.
Ok, while I enjoy learning the skills of wood working from the many wood working youtubers Stumpy has always remained a favorite. Your ability to educate in a 10 min video on the development of tool steel displays clearly why yours is one of the best channels to watch. Excellent video, thank you!
"And I'd lose the few of you that are still watching." Aww, I was rather interested in a deep dive into the various pros and cons of modern metallurgy with regard to steel production. I may be in the minority though. Great vid as always.
One of your best, such a well condensed, information rich explanation. I wonder how many people understand just how much work _and talent_ is required to give such a clear, thorough, but not overwhelming explanation of a topic with literally hundreds of years of history and science behind it. I certainly appreciate the effort you put into bringing new enthusiasts like myself up to scratch.
May I add that his accent and speed of delivery are well balanced..get either or, worse,both "too much" then it doesn't make for easy or even comprehensible listening. Great video, sir, right to the end.
You wouldn't have lost me if you'd kept going! I was riveted to the screen until the very last moments. I have a bachelor's in materials science, and the topic of one of my courses was literally "Steel." I've even gotten to tour a couple steel plants and iron mines during a study abroad in Europe. I'd be fascinated to hear about the more modern developments in toolmaking!
I will happily endorse Narex chisels. I own their cabinet-maker style chisels, rather than the carpenter's chisels shown in the video. The main difference is the thickness of the sides remaining after bevelling the top. Thicker equals stronger for the carpenters chisels, but harder to get into the corners of a dovetail. The carpenters chisels also have the split-protection ferrules at both ends of the handle. Narex are my main set of bench chisels and I find them excellent. They sharpen well and the handles show little wear after five years of solid use. I also have some carving gouges from them which are equally as good.
You are a fantastic teacher. Thank you so much for posting this video. I've been confused about the interrelationships of iron, carbon steel, soft steel, and brittle steel. You have cleared up a lot for me.
Narex is a legend in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. My dad's Narex drill is older than me, with no variable rpm's, just a two-stage gearbox. He used and abused it when building the house I grew up in, and yet the only thing he had to replace was the brushes. I am 38 and it is still working :)
There was a time when I thought that steel was just steel but it's amazing how many different compositions of steel there are, not just which elements are added but in what quantities. Metallurgy really is an art.
Hi, James, and thank you. Coming from Chesterfield (next door to Sheffield) and being a time-served plater; your history lesson on iron and steel jogged my memory and took me back 50 years to my apprenticeship. I am now retired, live in Sweden, and still enjoy using many tools for woodwork and metalwork in my home workshop. Just a few years ago I bought a set of 100-year old woodworking chisels for a song on eBay. They were all from various Sheffield firms, many long gone but some still in existence: Ayrewood & Co, Marples, Alfred Ridge, Robert Sorby, Stormont and Henry Taylor. Although most of these old chisels were care-worn and heavily pitted, they have polished up to almost new and sharpened to a razor's edge on both my Robert Sorby Pro-Edge and Tormek T-4 sharpening systems. They now have pride of place in my worksop and are used frequently. Your video channel is the most informative on the internet and your presentation manner is most pleasing. Keep up the good work, Sir.
I never expect channels like this, which are not steel related, to get the details of the western development and production of steel right, but you managed to. Good job.
Most of my chisels are from Japan, but the one I use most is my carpenter chisel. My first boss explained the difference. A cabinet makers chisel is sharp and the tip protected. The carpenters is the old Stanley floating around the bottom of the tool box with the cutting edge chipped till it looks like a saw and is not as sharp as your square. Great for cutting nails and leveling cabinets.
Very interesting video. I for one would be very interested in hearing about modern cryogenic steels and how they’re produced. Another top video, I really enjoy your channel and often refer people to your safety videos, particularly the table saw series you did a while ago, excellent work.
They simply cool the steel to cryogenic temperatures after a fairly normal heating and quenching. This finishes converting the last few percent of the steel to martensite and possibly allow a slight stress relief in the crystal structure. Then they temper it. Some do the cold treatment following some amount of tempering. It is more useful for some alloys than others. But in any case your talking about a fairly small improvement, but its low cost so probably worth it (to a manufacturer), and it the important part is a boost to margins because it sounds really good for marketing purposes. Really, a nitride [or similar] coating on the back of the chisel would probably be more beneficial.
I love how concise and information packed your videos are. You stay focused on the topic, never diverging to talk about yourself like so many other woodworking content producers do. Professional, information dense, excellent. Thank you!
Absolutely outstanding! Learnt more in that 101/2 minutes than I have for a long time! You, James, as always, continue to set the gold standard in information and knowledge. Thanks from NZ!
My father served his apprenticeship as a joiner in Glasgow before WW2, returning to his trade after service in the army. In his time the gold standard in saws to which every woodworking professional aspired and for which every apprentice was encouraged to save was a set from Henry Disston made from Philadelphia steel.
Check out Gough custom on here. He's a knife maker but he goes really in depth in his older videos to the heat treat and cryo of tool steel. And his newer stuff goes really in depth into the CNC side of it.
When i was 16, i wanted to be a carpenter. I learned about steels like this to try to understand chisels more. Long story short, i found it so interesting that by 19, i’m now an engineer.
I have a set of Narex chisels, both straight and curved and they are excellent tools. Not the cheapest, but for the price, probably impossible to beat.
Please do a video explaining the alloys that are being used in tools today, every video you have done, diving into the history, the techniques, and innovations made over the years have been well done and a pleasure to watch. I will also be checking out the Narex chisels in the near future, I don’t have much confidence in the ones I got from the big box store.
I bought one Narex Richter chisel and it is amazing! I also have a sharpening guide now, so that also helps! It keeps its edge for quite a while, it seems to me.
Always nice to hear about the history of my home town. I'm sure you'd love the museums in the city showing the industrial processes and large collections of tools, knives and cutlery.
This has has to be the most straightforward, well explained and easy to understand video on this topic. This is years of reading presented in ten minutes.
This makes so much sense now. I have an old wooden transition plane I got from an estate sale. I haven't sharpened it since the first time I did after bringing it home and it's my go-to fore plane, but can also be used for finishing and will cut through knots easily. I have a newer Stanly #4 which I use for a lot of finishing work, but it requires almost constant sharpening.
I have gotten an Encyclopedia with of information from you, your channel and news letters. BUT, this is one of the COOLEST videos! Love the history, explanation and the outstanding presentation. I love history. To combine history with tools and woodworking! I'm all in. More please!
Most of this I knew a smattering of and understood the process. However, to have been educated this well and in a manner that is both interesting and entertaining is what makes me keep coming back to Stumpy Nubs. Thank you for that presentation.
*James* , this is quite an excellent presentation and we can see, that you have a firm grasp on your subject matter. I have owned both Sheffield steel in the form of Marples brand, as well as Swedish steel chisels made by Berg Mfg Co, also known as Fish brand or Eskilstuna, sporting a blue oval label. The Swedish steel has been far superior to the British iron in terms of edge formation and overheating at the ole carborundum wheels used ages ago. I’ve owned both of these for over 50 years purchasing at the Woodcraft store in Woburn, MA in 1970. Many blessings young man.
Steel chemistry 101. I bet universities take a whole semester to teach what James just did in about 10 minutes. Thanks James. Have a great day and stay safe.
For folks new to some of the metal (particularly carbon steel) ideas a look at the iron carbon eutectic diagram is interesting. It shows just how many different materials are produced depending on the ratio or iron to carbon and what occurs depending on temperature achieved and rate of cooling
Agree though, weed out the gimmicks for us. I have a hellishingly expensive 'cryogenic' steel bowl gouge and would love to know whether I was sucked in by the hype, or if it is superior. It certainly holds a long edge, which is lucky because I’m terrified of sharpening it…
Cryo is just an extra step in the heat treating process, it’s not a magic bullet but does help, especially with stainless. Check out a dude named Dr. Larrin Thomas, he’s the goat on metallurgy. You’ll be getting more into knife making territory than wood working but the information will be useful if you’re interested in what the different processes actually do.
I work in modern metalworking, you give a great short explanation of current methods. But what I enjoyed was the historical perspective. Well done. Thank you.
thanks for metal working mini course. You remind me of an old shop or vehicle manual from the early 1900's. The text in the older books spoke what we now call "plain English". It was a necessity for our country to survive. Whether agriculture, logging, transportation, building etc. it was a time when many working folks were just learning to read. Things had to be explained clearly just like you do in 2022.
Omg James: 400 years of history and I didn't even have to put a quarter in. This comment was given to me as I was explaining to some scouts in a caravan as we cross the American southwest by a CBR who happened to be listening in. Sir this is an outstanding history lesson which you have well researched and all should respect and once again we thank you for
This channel has actually earned an important place in our homeschool curriculum, my boys are going to grow up developing skills I didn't even know about til my 40's. Always good, informative videos. And without the ...saucy/sexy some woodworkers feel the need to add to their videos. Channels like Stumpy are literally the only reasons I don't get rid of our computer.
Please do a follow up video on modern tool metallurgy! You explain it so clearly. Really amazing, far superior to most CZcams channels on woodworking and tools!
Thanks James for this video. Super informative as always. You have obviously done your homework. I was sent to college by my employer, a steel producer, in the 1970s to learn all this stuff. None of it really made much sense then and it seemed to have little relevance at the time. Who would have known that i would need this knowledge later on when I took up woodworking? Your video condenses everything I learned in two years into one short lesson. Thanks again and good health to you.
The development of turning tool for turning wood has made great strides… From very hard chrome steels to m2 steel over 10 years ago and the M2 steel holds an edge much longer than the chrome steel..Now in the last 2-3 years a M42 steel was developed and holds and edge 2-3 times longer than M2 steel.. These new steels have cobalt in them.. I still use all 3 listed here.. But if your starting new.. start with the M42 and you will be pleased.. See Carter and Sons in Seattle..
This is a beautiful video…..not only for the educational value, but for the envious collection of “visual aids”! I’m building my T. H. Witherby collection of socket chisels. When things get hectic “upstairs” with my wife’s growing honey-do list, or the world gets too crazy, my Aussie (she just follows me and falls asleep) and I find it cathartically pleasing to retreat to the basement workbench, and work on my growing collection of chisels! Thank you, sir…..well done on another great visit to CZcams-land!
When you work with hand tools so much of the value in a tool comes from the knowledge and feeling that your chosen tool, particularly edge tools that you use to create with, was also made and shaped by someone with their bare hands. So many Sheffield tools circa Victorian times, bare such marks.
Huh. Now I appreciate my antique hammer that says "cast steel" on it way more now. And I definitely think you could do more episodes like this. Tool history is awesome.
good information, compact and easy to understand superficially something as complex as steel. finding the balance between excess and lack of information is difficult ! great screenshots of the steps at 10:02 👍
How times have changed.... I want to thank you for existing, you are one of the people I see as my teacher, I learn from you and other youtubers, who would have thought... beginners, students of crafts can nowadays find ancient masters of so many crafts right here on CZcams. So knowledge can be shared, by those willing to teach and those willing to learn. One does not exist without the other. You are a fine example of a human being, proud to be learning from you. Thank you
You are dead on. My best and most used chisels are those my grandfather had and the antiques I find at estate/garage sales. I also cut off the ends of old brace bits and use them as well.
I, for one, would watch a video on exotic modern tool steel. Part of the pleasure of using fine tools, for me, is appreciating the science and technology behind them.
Simply fascinating. Thanks for such a clear delivery, I had heard most of these terms but wasn’t fully aware of what they actually meant and you have brilliantly explained the topic. Thanks.
Great stuff, thanks. Between this and James Wright's very indepth analysis of various chisels, we have all we need to make an informed decision about which chisels we want in our shops.
Professor Hamilton should be brought to the attention of the MacArthur genius grant foundation. As an educator, I'm awed by how advanced and gifted this educator is.
Best explanation for tool steel and edge tools I've seen and I was a materials science technician and tool maker. I used to teach heat treatment of various steels to mechanical engineering students in the laboratory and then test for hardness and strength (toughness to resist impact damage). Well done!
Incredible and we'll out together video. Balanced knowledge with information and just well presented. I however would wager the majority of us watch all the way through. We are wired that way.
I've got a set of narex richter. Absolutely love them. I'm a newbie woodworker and these are my most expensive tools. Mostly older Stanley stuff other wise. Sharp and hold a great edge for me.
i have both the richters and the ones shown in vid. both are great tools for the price, richters feel great, but for the price, one cannot beat the premium narex line, which, arent the orium richters, lol. i paid less than 100 for the set of twelve, and though the handles are bulky, they were worth every penny.
I have read and watched many explanations on tools and steel. This has been the most concise and informative presentation of the topic I have ever seen. Seriously, the best. You took a many hours' long explanation and condensed it into ten minutes. Nicely done, and thank you.
Came here to find out if my old Sorby chisels are as good as people make out, got a cool lesson in history of metallurgy and toolmaking on top. Love it! I honestly prefer my old tools; they just feel nicer to use, even though modern equivalents are objectively better in almost every way.
I'm from Sheffield, looking at the picture at 0:19 that seems be Lady's Bridge over the River Don, albeit a bit stylised. The view is looking towards Snig Hill and Waingate where the tram is, although the artist is not showing how steep the road is going up from the river. The building on the right with the pillars in the water was the Exchange Brewery with a pub on the corner, it can still be seen in google maps with the 3D view, its now offices. I think the sketch is depicting the 1850's I don't know when it was drawn.
I learned a LOT from that video. I may not retain all of it, but I will take away a better understanding of how tool steel has evolved, and why the old tools I collect aren't necessarily better than the new ones I can buy (an ignorant prejudice I confess I had, until just now). Your explanation of hardening and tempering modern tool steel was also very educational.
I live very near Sheffield and honestly at most car boot sales you can buy vintage Sheffield made chisels for less than £5 each yet some of them seem to go for tons more on eBay
▼EXPAND THIS SECTION FOR MORE RESOURCES RELATED TO THIS VIDEO▼
*Tools used in this video:*
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*More links:*
-More videos on our website: stumpynubs.com/
-Subscribe to our e-Magazine: stumpynubs.com/browse-and-subscribe/
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Thanks once again for a fascinating video. Really appreciate you and your crews work to put this together.
Would love to see a video on that other process you refrained from getting into. I love how you bring out the history of tools , techniques and all of that.
It's the process of finding that perfect Ballance, not too hard and brittle and not so soft that the edge gives way on hardwoods. Even amongst identical tools you can see a variance. Guess that's why we all have those favorites we've found throughout the years. Great video!👍
Really interesting. Please, dive deeper. Thanks
Do the hardening video.
As a mechanical design engineer of 40+ years, who learned all this stuff during my apprenticeship in the 1970's, I have to say that you condensed what is an essentially very complex and far reaching subject, into an accurate and understandable form that anybody who is remotely interested in woodwork would do well to watch and learn from.
As part of my apprenticeship as a machinist, I had to learn how to harden and draw steel back. I even had to make a chisel and punch set from a bar of steel.
I like the part where he says the steel was used for railway ties. 'Tisn't.
@@sylvainforget2174 I did a Machinist's apprenticeship as well, somewhere in that cycle spent 3 months in aerospace Heat Treatment learning the bells n whistles: Brinell, Vickers, Rockwell hardness testers, Pack Carbeurising, Case Hardening, pre-heating, Salt Baths, Box Radiation Furnaces, Controlled Atmosphere Sealed Quench furnaces, Air Recirculation furnace, Annealing, Hardening, Tempering, Solution Treating, different kinds of quench bath, Solid State Physics, Applied Mechanics, face-centered and body-centered Re-crystallisation lattice, grain growth Austenite, Martensite, Pearlite, Ferrous alloys, Aluminium alloys. After that I could confidently select a bar of Mild steel and accurately estimate whether I should machine it flat or turn it round and why doing either mattered to me. When we wuz Kangz!
@@alext8828 You'll be shocked to know that some railroad ties are made out of steel. 'Tis.
@@Yawyna124 Never knew that. Cheerio!
Professor Hamilton has done it again. We get a deep dive into something we don’t give much thought to and resurface with a new appreciation for the common place. Thanks, James, for all the research and the patience to share it in a most interesting manner. I did stay until the end.
So did I. And well said Corey.
I stayed as well. I find the history interesting and your style is very engaging.
Love the channel and your professionalism. Only drawback - the StevieY flashbacks I still sometimes get, triggered by your Redwings coolie. All in all, great stuff.
Professed nubs is holding class ladies!
This format is MUCH improved AND appreciated, James. Congratulations and keep it up!
I love James’s style and never tire of his history lessons... go as deep as you care sir, there are many of us out here who crave your knowledge
I could listen to this all night - informative and yet relaxing :-)
My dad, now 97, has tools that he bought nearly 70 years ago and others from his dad, including wooden planes. They are beautiful to use, take a good edge, and will last forever.
Having been a metallurgist for 45 years, and a hobby wood turner and wood worker for about the same time, this was an excellent overview of the steel making history. I think an added point of sintered steel would be good. The Scandinavian sintered chisels are awesome.
I think we should also appreciate lack of jarring jump cuts, such a nice delivery in your videos :)
Nice job. I ran the engineering department for a punch company and we spent a lot of time on tool steel. I taught at a conference once on tool steel forensic failure analysis. So, I feel entitled to say "great job" - you really gave a nice overview and I loved the history I didn't know. And it was entertaining (I was one of those still around to the end).
"It depends" proves once again it is the most versatile tool to answer many questions.
It’s known as hedging your bets lol CYA
I stayed until the end. Your calm manner of speaking appeals to me greatly. No excess drama or histrionics.
As someone with boxes of handle-less old chisels awaiting restoration, I enjoyed this video. Thanks.
Also Swedish chisels from Eskilstuna are fantastic
Yeap forgot to quote that place.
Straight razors made there are among the best you can get. They take longer to put an edge on but they hold the edge for a long time.
Yeah absolutely keep an eye out for them.
They look pretty much like any normal chisel from that era so they often get dismissed so you can find gems like those in the junk tool piles.
Peugeot and Goldenberg had some really good batches of tool steel too (in the case of Goldenberg I believe the ones marked with an eye were the best quality), though I doubt they reached the US as much as English tools did.
I inherited handful of chisels and planers from my grandfather.
Swedish manufacture in beginning of 1900's. Hard to sharpen, keep good edge and cut is very smooth. He got those when he was learning his trade in the end of 1930's . Fortunate, after "iron curtain" fell, most woodworking tools mass produced in USSR were crap. Among other things ;)
Great video, James. A couple of years ago I browsed through the chisels available at my local Lee Valley here in Ontario. Narex chisels really hit the price/quality sweet spot for me, so I bought a full set of bevel edge Narex chisels. The handles are perfect for my hands, better than the slightly more expensive basic Veritas chisels. I recently added a few Narex mortise chisels to my collection. They all need a fair bit of lapping on the back, but that's what my Worksharp 3000 is for. Oh, and BTW when I started woodworking I chased around for a while looking for vintage tools. I quickly got over that. I want to do woodworking, not antique collecting.
Everyone needs to made their own tradeoffs. I'm short on time more than money, so the return on investment of searching for an old tool needs to be really high for it to be worth my while.
I have a hard time passing up old tools in bargain stores that need a little TLC. Not because I think they're superior to modern steels, but because they still do their job admirably and have a lot of good life in them yet. The cheap price is also a motivating factor too, a dull #4 plane with a blade inserted backwards is surprisingly cheap when people think it's useless at planing.
Ok, while I enjoy learning the skills of wood working from the many wood working youtubers Stumpy has always remained a favorite. Your ability to educate in a 10 min video on the development of tool steel displays clearly why yours is one of the best channels to watch. Excellent video, thank you!
"And I'd lose the few of you that are still watching." Aww, I was rather interested in a deep dive into the various pros and cons of modern metallurgy with regard to steel production. I may be in the minority though. Great vid as always.
One of your best, such a well condensed, information rich explanation. I wonder how many people understand just how much work _and talent_ is required to give such a clear, thorough, but not overwhelming explanation of a topic with literally hundreds of years of history and science behind it. I certainly appreciate the effort you put into bringing new enthusiasts like myself up to scratch.
May I add that his accent and speed of delivery are well balanced..get either or, worse,both "too much" then it doesn't make for easy or even comprehensible listening.
Great video, sir, right to the end.
You wouldn't have lost me if you'd kept going! I was riveted to the screen until the very last moments. I have a bachelor's in materials science, and the topic of one of my courses was literally "Steel." I've even gotten to tour a couple steel plants and iron mines during a study abroad in Europe. I'd be fascinated to hear about the more modern developments in toolmaking!
I will happily endorse Narex chisels. I own their cabinet-maker style chisels, rather than the carpenter's chisels shown in the video. The main difference is the thickness of the sides remaining after bevelling the top. Thicker equals stronger for the carpenters chisels, but harder to get into the corners of a dovetail. The carpenters chisels also have the split-protection ferrules at both ends of the handle. Narex are my main set of bench chisels and I find them excellent. They sharpen well and the handles show little wear after five years of solid use. I also have some carving gouges from them which are equally as good.
You are a fantastic teacher. Thank you so much for posting this video. I've been confused about the interrelationships of iron, carbon steel, soft steel, and brittle steel. You have cleared up a lot for me.
Narex is a legend in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
My dad's Narex drill is older than me, with no variable rpm's, just a two-stage gearbox. He used and abused it when building the house I grew up in, and yet the only thing he had to replace was the brushes. I am 38 and it is still working :)
There was a time when I thought that steel was just steel but it's amazing how many different compositions of steel there are, not just which elements are added but in what quantities. Metallurgy really is an art.
Hi, James, and thank you. Coming from Chesterfield (next door to Sheffield) and being a time-served plater; your history lesson on iron and steel jogged my memory and took me back 50 years to my apprenticeship. I am now retired, live in Sweden, and still enjoy using many tools for woodwork and metalwork in my home workshop. Just a few years ago I bought a set of 100-year old woodworking chisels for a song on eBay. They were all from various Sheffield firms, many long gone but some still in existence: Ayrewood & Co, Marples, Alfred Ridge, Robert Sorby, Stormont and Henry Taylor. Although most of these old chisels were care-worn and heavily pitted, they have polished up to almost new and sharpened to a razor's edge on both my Robert Sorby Pro-Edge and Tormek T-4 sharpening systems. They now have pride of place in my worksop and are used frequently. Your video channel is the most informative on the internet and your presentation manner is most pleasing. Keep up the good work, Sir.
You are a gifted lecturer! You make it look easy. But achieving that level of clarity is rare.
I never expect channels like this, which are not steel related, to get the details of the western development and production of steel right, but you managed to. Good job.
Most of my chisels are from Japan, but the one I use most is my carpenter chisel. My first boss explained the difference. A cabinet makers chisel is sharp and the tip protected. The carpenters is the old Stanley floating around the bottom of the tool box with the cutting edge chipped till it looks like a saw and is not as sharp as your square. Great for cutting nails and leveling cabinets.
Very interesting video. I for one would be very interested in hearing about modern cryogenic steels and how they’re produced. Another top video, I really enjoy your channel and often refer people to your safety videos, particularly the table saw series you did a while ago, excellent work.
I hereby second the motion. Please, do a follow up video. Don't leave us hanging off the cliff!
Ditto
Likewise
I would too. Thanks so much for the really interesting history.
They simply cool the steel to cryogenic temperatures after a fairly normal heating and quenching. This finishes converting the last few percent of the steel to martensite and possibly allow a slight stress relief in the crystal structure. Then they temper it. Some do the cold treatment following some amount of tempering. It is more useful for some alloys than others.
But in any case your talking about a fairly small improvement, but its low cost so probably worth it (to a manufacturer), and it the important part is a boost to margins because it sounds really good for marketing purposes. Really, a nitride [or similar] coating on the back of the chisel would probably be more beneficial.
I've been doing carpentry for just under 3 months and I finally took the time after school to sharpen my chissels yesterday.
I can't wait to use them.
Good for you! What brand of chisels do you have?
I love how concise and information packed your videos are. You stay focused on the topic, never diverging to talk about yourself like so many other woodworking content producers do. Professional, information dense, excellent. Thank you!
Absolutely outstanding! Learnt more in that 101/2 minutes than I have for a long time! You, James, as always, continue to set the gold standard in information and knowledge. Thanks from NZ!
Totally agree. Very good quality content. I did enjoy it!
Kia Ora bro
@@thatellipsisguy8984 Tena Koutou back bro!
Great stuff - thank you!
I always put my chisels bevel down on the bench (and, for the same reason) planes on their side.
I was still watching at 9:50 and would have loved to hear more about alloys, tempering, and steel types. more on this topic please.
My father served his apprenticeship as a joiner in Glasgow before WW2, returning to his trade after service in the army. In his time the gold standard in saws to which every woodworking professional aspired and for which every apprentice was encouraged to save was a set from Henry Disston made from Philadelphia steel.
Very well said James!
As a novice blacksmith who makes all my tools including chisels, you really did a great job explaining the manufacturing process of steel and history!
I would love to see a video going into detail about the modern steels and process. Like you mentioned at the end of the video.
Absolutely! As a woodturner, more info on the various grades of High Speed Steel would be good, too...
Check out Gough custom on here. He's a knife maker but he goes really in depth in his older videos to the heat treat and cryo of tool steel.
And his newer stuff goes really in depth into the CNC side of it.
When i was 16, i wanted to be a carpenter. I learned about steels like this to try to understand chisels more. Long story short, i found it so interesting that by 19, i’m now an engineer.
I have a set of Narex chisels, both straight and curved and they are excellent tools. Not the cheapest, but for the price, probably impossible to beat.
Please do a video explaining the alloys that are being used in tools today, every video you have done, diving into the history, the techniques, and innovations made over the years have been well done and a pleasure to watch. I will also be checking out the Narex chisels in the near future, I don’t have much confidence in the ones I got from the big box store.
I bought one Narex Richter chisel and it is amazing! I also have a sharpening guide now, so that also helps! It keeps its edge for quite a while, it seems to me.
Always nice to hear about the history of my home town. I'm sure you'd love the museums in the city showing the industrial processes and large collections of tools, knives and cutlery.
Combining my 2 favorite things. Tools and history. Please do more like this!
Im in awe of your ability to take my career and passion into such articulated beauty. Thank you sir.
You're a great speaker and I really appreciate that you showed us a piece from each of the intermediate steps of modern chisel production.
This has has to be the most straightforward, well explained and easy to understand video on this topic. This is years of reading presented in ten minutes.
This makes so much sense now. I have an old wooden transition plane I got from an estate sale. I haven't sharpened it since the first time I did after bringing it home and it's my go-to fore plane, but can also be used for finishing and will cut through knots easily. I have a newer Stanly #4 which I use for a lot of finishing work, but it requires almost constant sharpening.
I have gotten an Encyclopedia with of information from you, your channel and news letters. BUT, this is one of the COOLEST videos! Love the history, explanation and the outstanding presentation. I love history. To combine history with tools and woodworking! I'm all in. More please!
Most of this I knew a smattering of and understood the process. However, to have been educated this well and in a manner that is both interesting and entertaining is what makes me keep coming back to Stumpy Nubs. Thank you for that presentation.
and you are just narrating that like a total pro, and it's so concise and relevant and actually easy to follow
*slow clap out of sheer admiration*
*James* , this is quite an excellent presentation and we can see, that you have a firm grasp on your subject matter. I have owned both Sheffield steel in the form of Marples brand, as well as Swedish steel chisels made by Berg Mfg Co, also known as Fish brand or Eskilstuna, sporting a blue oval label. The Swedish steel has been far superior to the British iron in terms of edge formation and overheating at the ole carborundum wheels used ages ago. I’ve owned both of these for over 50 years purchasing at the Woodcraft store in Woburn, MA in 1970. Many blessings young man.
Steel chemistry 101. I bet universities take a whole semester to teach what James just did in about 10 minutes. Thanks James. Have a great day and stay safe.
It was about three weeks in my metallurgy classes and I got more from this video then all of the course materiel.
I can confirm! In mechanical engineering, we had an entire course in steel and heat treating.
Sorry but you would learn a lot mot pertinent and important information from school. And not, it wouldn’t take a whole semester…
I'm using M42 Cobalt steel now, for the majority of my wood turning gouges, grinds sharp and stays sharp and feels really nice.
im a bricklayer in Denmark but i love woodwork! and this channel deserves a price for being so goddamn good . i really learn alot ! thanks
For folks new to some of the metal (particularly carbon steel) ideas a look at the iron carbon eutectic diagram is interesting. It shows just how many different materials are produced depending on the ratio or iron to carbon and what occurs depending on temperature achieved and rate of cooling
I'd love an even more in depth getting into the different metals like O1, A2 or D2 tool steel.
A2 can hold a great edge when given a cryo treatment
He wasn't going to get too far into the weeds on info that strayed from the Narex finalé
Agree though, weed out the gimmicks for us. I have a hellishingly expensive 'cryogenic' steel bowl gouge and would love to know whether I was sucked in by the hype, or if it is superior. It certainly holds a long edge, which is lucky because I’m terrified of sharpening it…
Cryo is just an extra step in the heat treating process, it’s not a magic bullet but does help, especially with stainless. Check out a dude named Dr. Larrin Thomas, he’s the goat on metallurgy. You’ll be getting more into knife making territory than wood working but the information will be useful if you’re interested in what the different processes actually do.
You're looking at a whole different world there. Knife/Tool making metallurgy. s90, M4, D2 go look at the modern blacksmiths.
Man, and don't forget you have to put tool steels in a preheated oven not letting it go below 125 f, but bellow 150 f, for tempering
Yet another fantastic video!
I love steel history, and this is a great overview of tool construction from the soil on upwards!
Thank you!
I work in modern metalworking, you give a great short explanation of current methods. But what I enjoyed was the historical perspective. Well done.
Thank you.
thanks for metal working mini course. You remind me of an old shop or vehicle manual from the early 1900's. The text in the older books spoke what we now call "plain English". It was a necessity for our country to survive. Whether agriculture, logging, transportation, building etc. it was a time when many working folks were just learning to read. Things had to be explained clearly just like you do in 2022.
Omg James: 400 years of history and I didn't even have to put a quarter in. This comment was given to me as I was explaining to some scouts in a caravan as we cross the American southwest by a CBR who happened to be listening in. Sir this is an outstanding history lesson which you have well researched and all should respect and once again we thank you for
Thank you for explaining all of this - in one video you have explained multiple things clearly that I never really understood before.
The evolution of metals and materials has advanced so much that they are very often put in specific categories of sciences and trades.
Informative, concise and in no way condescending, Brilliant!!
This channel has actually earned an important place in our homeschool curriculum, my boys are going to grow up developing skills I didn't even know about til my 40's.
Always good, informative videos. And without the ...saucy/sexy some woodworkers feel the need to add to their videos. Channels like Stumpy are literally the only reasons I don't get rid of our computer.
Please do a follow up video on modern tool metallurgy! You explain it so clearly. Really amazing, far superior to most CZcams channels on woodworking and tools!
Thanks James for this video. Super informative as always. You have obviously done your homework. I was sent to college by my employer, a steel producer, in the 1970s to learn all this stuff. None of it really made much sense then and it seemed to have little relevance at the time. Who would have known that i would need this knowledge later on when I took up woodworking? Your video condenses everything I learned in two years into one short lesson. Thanks again and good health to you.
The development of turning tool for turning wood has made great strides… From very hard chrome steels to m2 steel over 10 years ago and the M2 steel holds an edge much longer than the chrome steel..Now in the last 2-3 years a M42 steel was developed and holds and edge 2-3 times longer than M2 steel.. These new steels have cobalt in them.. I still use all 3 listed here.. But if your starting new.. start with the M42 and you will be pleased.. See Carter and Sons in Seattle..
Thank You so much. Your explanation of how steal is made is the best I've ever seen.
This is a beautiful video…..not only for the educational value, but for the envious collection of “visual aids”! I’m building my T. H. Witherby collection of socket chisels. When things get hectic “upstairs” with my wife’s growing honey-do list, or the world gets too crazy, my Aussie (she just follows me and falls asleep) and I find it cathartically pleasing to retreat to the basement workbench, and work on my growing collection of chisels! Thank you, sir…..well done on another great visit to CZcams-land!
When you work with hand tools so much of the value in a tool comes from the knowledge and feeling that your chosen tool, particularly edge tools that you use to create with, was also made and shaped by someone with their bare hands. So many Sheffield tools circa Victorian times, bare such marks.
Huh. Now I appreciate my antique hammer that says "cast steel" on it way more now.
And I definitely think you could do more episodes like this. Tool history is awesome.
Not only was this engaging until the end I never expected to reach, I want more!
You have a talent.
Thank you.
good information, compact and easy to understand superficially something as complex as steel.
finding the balance between excess and lack of information is difficult !
great screenshots of the steps at 10:02
👍
How times have changed....
I want to thank you for existing, you are one of the people I see as my teacher, I learn from you and other youtubers, who would have thought... beginners, students of crafts can nowadays find ancient masters of so many crafts right here on CZcams.
So knowledge can be shared, by those willing to teach and those willing to learn.
One does not exist without the other.
You are a fine example of a human being, proud to be learning from you.
Thank you
You are dead on. My best and most used chisels are those my grandfather had and the antiques I find at estate/garage sales.
I also cut off the ends of old brace bits and use them as well.
I, for one, would watch a video on exotic modern tool steel. Part of the pleasure of using fine tools, for me, is appreciating the science and technology behind them.
What a teriffic video. Short concise history lesson and not a spec of sawdust in site. Thanks
Simply fascinating. Thanks for such a clear delivery, I had heard most of these terms but wasn’t fully aware of what they actually meant and you have brilliantly explained the topic. Thanks.
This channel is a gold mine of knowledge.
Great stuff, thanks. Between this and James Wright's very indepth analysis of various chisels, we have all we need to make an informed decision about which chisels we want in our shops.
As a woodworker with an engineering background who enjoys history, this was excellent! Great presentation, great content! Keep 'em coming!
That was a blazing-fast tour of steel manufacturing techniques, and for that I applaud you. (Going +50% on the speed helped, too!)
Great history lesson! Thanks for all the time and effort to pull all that together. Kudos
Professor Hamilton should be brought to the attention of the MacArthur genius grant foundation. As an educator, I'm awed by how advanced and gifted this educator is.
A great potted history of western steel production. Thank you.
I really enjoy these history lessons, James.
Best explanation for tool steel and edge tools I've seen and I was a materials science technician and tool maker. I used to teach heat treatment of various steels to mechanical engineering students in the laboratory and then test for hardness and strength (toughness to resist impact damage). Well done!
I have had my Narex chisels for several years, I like them and think that they were a good value.
That was super interesting! Would love to hear more!
Great video ,I still remember learning about hardening steel chisels and learning to how to temper when I was in metal shop in junior high school
I for one, really appreciate the knowledge that you pass on.
I absolutely love this channel. Satisfies my love of wood working, and history...
Please continue the discussion of steel and heat-treatment. It's fascinating
Excellent explanations, very well spoken and as a mechanical engineer it was refreshing to walk through the process logically 😁
Incredible and we'll out together video. Balanced knowledge with information and just well presented. I however would wager the majority of us watch all the way through. We are wired that way.
I've got a set of narex richter. Absolutely love them. I'm a newbie woodworker and these are my most expensive tools. Mostly older Stanley stuff other wise.
Sharp and hold a great edge for me.
i have both the richters and the ones shown in vid. both are great tools for the price, richters feel great, but for the price, one cannot beat the premium narex line, which, arent the orium richters, lol. i paid less than 100 for the set of twelve, and though the handles are bulky, they were worth every penny.
I have read and watched many explanations on tools and steel. This has been the most concise and informative presentation of the topic I have ever seen. Seriously, the best. You took a many hours' long explanation and condensed it into ten minutes. Nicely done, and thank you.
Came here to find out if my old Sorby chisels are as good as people make out, got a cool lesson in history of metallurgy and toolmaking on top. Love it!
I honestly prefer my old tools; they just feel nicer to use, even though modern equivalents are objectively better in almost every way.
Man, I really enjoy your videos. I always walk away a little smarter than when i walked in. Much appreciated Mr. Hamilton.
I'm from Sheffield, looking at the picture at 0:19 that seems be Lady's Bridge over the River Don, albeit a bit stylised. The view is looking towards Snig Hill and Waingate where the tram is, although the artist is not showing how steep the road is going up from the river. The building on the right with the pillars in the water was the Exchange Brewery with a pub on the corner, it can still be seen in google maps with the 3D view, its now offices. I think the sketch is depicting the 1850's I don't know when it was drawn.
I have 18 years in a steel mill in Illinois, awesome video...
I learned a LOT from that video. I may not retain all of it, but I will take away a better understanding of how tool steel has evolved, and why the old tools I collect aren't necessarily better than the new ones I can buy (an ignorant prejudice I confess I had, until just now). Your explanation of hardening and tempering modern tool steel was also very educational.
I live very near Sheffield and honestly at most car boot sales you can buy vintage Sheffield made chisels for less than £5 each yet some of them seem to go for tons more on eBay
Don't stop, make a follow-up video! Fascinating stuff.