The Firmer Chisel Debate
Is it a Firmer Chisel or a Bevel Edge Chisel? One of those questions only die hard hand tool fanatics ask: Is this a Firmer Chisel or a Bevel Edge Chisel? General internet opinion has been that the Firmer Chisel has a squared edge. When in doubt, I always turn to old trade catalogs and even, yes, books. This C. E. Jennings 1901 catalog provides one possible answer. Manufacturers could be somewhat loose when it came to nomenclature depending upon what trade they were selling to. Jennings shows both a Bevel Edge and a Square Edge option. Both had a thicker cross sections, both had sockets and both had heavy, leather tipped handles. Is this the last word on Firmer Chisels? Doubtless, no. I have seen references to Firmer Chisels that fly in the face of Jennings. If that was due to poor catalog editing, geographic preferences or nothing more than internecine hand tool manufacturer competition, I dunno.